1934 DERBY BENTLEY SPORTS SALOON
Rodney Hutchison’s interest in Bentleys began when he was about 17 years old. He recalls that, one Christmas holiday, as his family was camped in the Greymouth camping ground, a post-war MKVI arrived towing a modest caravan. To his eye, this was an incongruous combination, but the car had oh-so-much presence. Rodney made a pledge that, one day …
‘One day’ finally came to pass about 40 years later! During a visit to Bruce Mcilroy’s workshop in Ashburton, Rodney was introduced to a Derby Bentley, and was instantly smitten. After much research and several false starts, he received an email from a contact in the UK to say that he knew of a good one that was about to come up for sale in Germany. Many emails and photographs later, Rodney became the proud owner of B87BL, a 1934 3.5-litre Derby Bentley. Having acquired the car from afar, sight unseen, it was with mounting excitement that Rodney tracked the container over the 12 weeks or so that it sailed slowly halfway round the world. Coincidentally, it arrived in Christchurch in time for its container to be opened on a big birthday, and what a present it was. The Bentley was given a thorough onceover in Christchurch as part of its compliancing and commissioning, and was confirmed to be a very good example of the marque.
The car has a full history, with Rodney being only its fifth custodian. It was delivered in August 1934 to one Col. Hugh Campbell of Ascot, and then passed through various hands until, in 2012, it was auctioned by Bonhams to Mr Marc Jaeppelt in Stuttgart. He owned the car for less than a year before Rodney became its current owner.
This is a driving car rather than a show car. It drives incredibly well; to quote Marc, it drives like a “modern”. It shows no sign of the chassis shake that bedevils so many others — hence the Wilmot Breedon front bumper dampers fitted to most. It is also a relatively effortless drive, which has been further enhanced by the fitting of a Laycock overdrive unit, enabling it to keep up easily with normal open-road traffic.
So far, the car has been relatively trouble-free. Rodney fitted a new cylinder head shortly after its arrival — it had done a lot of sitting idle, and the very narrow waterways were well clogged.
Every time Rodney takes the car out, he reminds himself how lucky he is to own and drive an amazing piece of motoring history, and one with such a distinguished story.