BENTLEY SEDANCA
RUN BY Simon Taylor OWNED SINCE October 1996 PREVIOUS REPORT July 2017
The Bentley’s spring oil change and check-over, performed by my friends at Frank Dale & Stepsons as always, revealed nothing worrying: clutch adjusted, voltage regulator cleaned to deal with a sometimes wayward ammeter. Plus one of the extended tyre valves, required by the full wheel discs, had to be repositioned because it was gradually disappearing behind the disc.
You may not know this – I didn’t – but the famous King’s Road in London is so called because in the 18th century only the king was allowed to use it. It took his carriage from St James’ Palace across green fields to Hampton Court, crossing the River Thames at Putney.
To mark 300 years since the road was opened to others, a Bank Holiday parade was organised for cars with a local connection. I was asked to bring my Sedanca because its body was built by Gurney Nutting in its workshop off the King’s Road in Lacland Place, long since redeveloped.
Two other Gurney Nutting cars appeared. Peter Blond’s charismatic Rolls 20/25 coupé was built for the Prince of Wales shortly before he became, briefly, King Edward VIII. It was finished, as are most of the cars in Peter’s collection, in two subtle shades of green: Smoke and Velvet. Richard Edgell brought his long-wheelbase 3 Litre Bentley, its full tourer body wonderfully unspoiled. We were joined by a smart T1 four-door and a lovely S3 Continental – HJ Mulliner had a service depot off the King’s Road.
But nobody told the authorities that there was a parade on. Stuck in the traffic jams among the Ubers, we crept from World’s End to Sloane Square and back, escorted by one of those rather vulgar modified Chelsea tractors with huge black wheels and silly arches. But the tourists liked us.
Two days later the Sedanca was pressed into service to take the son of a family friend and his three mates to their School Prom.
I thought these only happened in America, but now they’re the thing over here, too. All the kids vie with one another to turn up in something offbeat, and the queue included a stretch limo, a Model T Ford, a Tesla Model X with falcon-wing doors, a V8-powered Riley RME hot-rod and a
‘Nobody told the authorities there was a parade on. Stuck in the jams, we crept to Sloane Square and back’
Nissan Figaro decorated with flowers. I’d never had five-up in the Bentley before, but three fitted snugly in the back seat and we made a suitably impressive arrival.
So, two outings with lots of crawling. In both, the Sedanca remained unfussed. Once you’re rolling, second gear is fine and the torque looks after you, and the water temperature needle never went above 85ºc. But I’ve promised my Sedanca that our next trip will take the open road.