Bentleys Down Under 2005
A Down Under Tale of Two Oceans and 50 Motorists
Fremantle SW Forests Nullarbor album Adelaide Party.htm Great Ocean Rd Echuca Album Alps Sydney Album Terrigal Album
BDC Western Australia organised the first Bentley Drivers International rally in Australia attracting 50 entrants from
nine countries. They started with their rear wheels in the Indian Ocean and finished with their front wheels in the Pacific Ocean north of Sydney. Dennis Lingane who took part in this unique 6000km 24-day Trans-Australia marathon in his own 1925 vintage 3-litre Bentley tells the story.
TERRY LISTER peered down from his great height and announced: “I have to say lad, this were a well organised event. I have been on many, but none better.”
Delivered in his measured (UK) Yorkshire accent against the backdrop of the blue Pacific Ocean in Terrigal north of Sydney, this was fulsome praise indeed from a man who is sparing with his words.
And he managed to convey them against a background of mayhem as the 120 entrants in the first-ever BDC Down Under International congratulated themselves wholeheartedly on completing the 6000km West-East Trans-Australia marathon in a collection of cars ranging in age from 1922-2004 – the majority of them pre-1931.
The jazz band, at the behest of David Hughes from Hong Kong, struck up the tune “We love to go a-wandering” which was the cue for the Bentley mob to break into the Bentley anthem: “We love to go a-motoring, // “We love the Bentley noise, // “We love to go a-motoring // “We are the Bentley Boys. //“Bentley Boys, Bentley Boys // “Bentley Boys, // “Bentley Boyoyoyoys, // “Bentley Boys, Bentley Boys, // “We are the Bentley Boys.”
As the jazz band swung into the second chorus Hughes assembled some of the mob and led a conga around the marquee.
Meanwhile, strangers who had become lifelong friends on the epic 24-day tour across Australia’s vast and diverse terrain rushed around taking final snapshots of each other on a battery of miniature digital cameras that changed hands with such regularity one wondered if they would ever find their way back to the proper owners.
Group photos were organised with short, bearded men herded into one corner, short ladies herded into another corner and tall men pushed in behind the short ladies to add emphasis to the bevy of vertically challenged females.
Nicky Bailey, who had survived a near heart attack in
Adelaide and carried on in the “BDC ambulance” ( Dr Mike Morgan’s S2-LWB Saloon) after his 3-litre was sent home on doctor’s orders, produced a bag of Indian Ocean beach sand brought all the way from Western Australia and built a mini sand castle in the centre of the marquee, topped off with an Aus flag signifying the uniting of the two extremes of Australia’s coastline 6000km apart.
Bentley drivers hugged, kissed, while the more formal shook hands and the more emotional shed a tear at the end of a wonderful driving experience that is unlikely to be repeated.
Charles Bailey, faced with flying back to the UK in two days to his London desk, pleaded to return to Balladonia, the small township at the start of the Nullarbor (population 19).
“You said it was the beginning of Australia, it was the beginning of the world for me,” he said mournfully.
David Hughes agreed: “I have to say the whole trip was special with the Alps, the Great Ocean Road, the Murray River and the wineries all providing fantastic motoring and dining experiences. But that two days driving across the Nullarbor was pretty bloody special and was the highlight for me."
It was also a highlight for many Bentley ladies who for the first time in their lives took the wheels of their husband’s vintage WO Bentleys because they were able to concentrate on the gear shift and centre throttle and right hand foot brake without a crossroad, roundabout or traffic light for 1300km.They were all duly awarded their Bentley wings by BDC International Chairman Jenny Ford, who was herself awarded the Ladies Trophy on the presentation night for being the first woman ever to drive a vintage Bentley coast to coast. It didn’t even have a roof or windscreen because husband Richard is still building it and was unable to drive after a recent shoulder operation.
It seemed like only yesterday that we had assembled in Fremantle at the docks to disgorge the wonderful steeds that had come from around the world for this epic adventure.
After the dipping-of-the-wheels ceremony in the stormy Indian Ocean (yes, after a week of perfect autumn sunshine the weather turned bracing with high winds and heavy showers) we were flagged off by Bentley Motor Company executive Felix Welch who flew down from Singapore to perform the official function as part of the company’s support for this great event.
Only two Bentleys were to fail on the long trip, Roger and Gillian Goodwin’s 1927 Speed Six that stripped a fibre timing gear and had to be shipped back to the UK from Adelaide for an engine-out fix before heading to North Africa for their next adventure,
and Roger and Dawn Cooper’s 1962 S3 that got confused about where the oil and water should be and seemed bent on reversing them.
That was trucked to Sydney for a rebuild before it headed even deeper south to New Zealand for the NZ International in January.
There were other problems and none were more amazed than Bentley UK guru John May when he broke a half shaft on his 1930 Speed Six in the middle of nowhere and a replacement appeared roadside within two hours from a Bentley enthusiast who drove from Geelong to deliver it personally.
The car was brought into Echuca on the back-up trailer and within an hour the new half shaft was fitted and May was once more burning rubber on his way east.
Michael and Sarah Hall had the roof of their 1938 Derby Bentley sucked off on the Nullarbor by a passing truck. That was tied up with rope and once they were safely off the Nullarbor a WO owner “fixed” it for them with a rubber hammer which brought the comment: “WO owners fix most things with a rubber hammer.”
USA’s Peter Harnik struggled for a couple of days with fuel problems on the Nullarbor in his 4.5 only to find the vibrations of the long trip had loosened the needle seat in his SU carburettor.
So it went on, small problems surfaced and the rest of the team dug deep into the bowels of their cars to produce loan museum parts ranging from fabric universals to magnetos to keep the colourful convey motoring east
The hero of the trip for everyone was WA BDC member Kevin Cochrane who was back-up mechanic and spent long hours helping everyone keep going, only dragging them in on a trailer when roadside efforts failed - this was all about driving coast to coast.
The saddest story was Neil and Sheila Carpenter’s 4.5 that failed to proceed an hour from the finishing line and had to be trailered in. Not to be beaten, Kevin drove his 4WD into the Pacific Ocean with the 4.5 on the trailer and the Carpenters in the driving seats sipping champagne.
Given their 3-litre had been sent home when Bailey was deemed unfit to drive, Nicky Bailey and Michael McNally collected their spare wheel from the luggage truck and rolled that down the ramp and posed for photos to collect their finishing medallion.
In Adelaide, the Bentley dealership made its workshops available for the entrants who poured in to fettle their cars. Local vintage enthusiasts opened their garages to the WO owners to tweak brakes, massage
mechanics and do oil changes.
Layered on top of this fantastic camaraderie were the endless social nights including: An Aussie “point of no return” BBQ in the middle of the desert at Eucla, an Aussie evening complete with Aboriginal dancers and didgeridoo players in Adelaide where kangaroo and emu were on top of the menu,
A steam paddle boat trip up the Murray River at Echuca with a lavish lunch in the bush.
The dipping of the wheels in the ocean ceremonies in Fremantle
And then in Terrigal with marquees and jazz bands, dinners in exotic wineries including a seven-course degustation lunch in the Coonawarra region, and of course the 1920s Savoy Gala dinner at the end which saw the party go on until 4am and one athletic lady playing the piano with her derriere.
We have to give a special mention of the eight whales with their calves basking in the bay at the Head of the Bight, the group of koalas in the trees on the roadside on Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, and the kangaroo family that posed passively at the picnic spot in the Australian Alps for people to take photos.
They were at 4000ft. We know that because Bob Hickman has an altimeter in his Speed six – just above the row of Lancaster bomber switches.
Family themes were strong among the entries, with the father and daughter Southward team Roy and Libbi from NZ and the Crowley-Clough father and son team John and 15-year-old Adam from Victoria. David and Adele Cohen from Canada co-opted their grand children for a day from Lorne to Melbourne where their daughter now lives and Dr Mike managed to rope his grandchild and daughter into the act at Echuca for the paddle steamer trip.
So the party rolled on across Australia like a locust plague, according to Peter Morelli (NZ) “eating and drinking all before them” and in between the entrants wrote and performed songs, poems, and enacted minor extravaganzas to entertain each other as befitting any BDC event where the talents of the creative will out.
Those who transgressed received the nightly Rear-Ender Trophy and, as a penance, were charged with writing the daily journal until they found a recipient to pass it on to. Suffice to say they usually found or invented one the next night.
The Bugger award also was awarded nightly along with some alcoholic beverage that went to those who suffered unfairly.
The citizen of the event was Dr Mike Morgan and his doctor wife Jane.
They were presented with the WA BDC top award, The Maurice Brockwell Perpetual Memorial “Spirit of the Rally” Trophy.
Mike arguably saved Nicky Bailey’s life when he had a cardiac hiccup that put him in hospital for three days. Dr Mike stayed behind and then carried Nicky for the rest of the trip. Dr Mike also administered to the many who went down with a strange wog that cost them their voices and induced chest-wrenching coughing.
It should be noted that none of the members of the newly founded Bentley Irish Whiskey Club who were surviving on a nightly diet of Jameson whiskey caught this wog.
Whiskey bottles from the 60 carried as basic stock on the rally for the club-within-a-club were issued to the sick but it was usually a case of too little too late.
So it was that over the month this group of Bentley motorists became a community on the long haul east across Australia’s vast plains, mountains and coastal cliffs.
Behind it all was the three years of bloody hard work by David Shephard and his team from the fledgling West Australian BDC that was coerced in to staging the event by persuasive immediate past BDC Chairman Jim Medcalf.
He pointed out that there had never been an official Australian BDC International and argued that the WA BDC members with their enthusiasm for and experience of overseas rallies were best qualified to run one.
David Shepherd’s financial and organising abilities made him the only person for the job, backed up by his professional office and an enthusiastic team of members from WA.
It was with immense relief and a warm inner glow that the WA team returned home (many driving 6000km
back) with warm thanks from Bentley enthusiasts from around the world who were unqualified in their praise and gratitude.
As Jenny Ford said in her thank-you speech: “It’s events like this that make the BDC world-wide really special.
“Many of our group have been to Australia before, but none had seen the Australia we saw on this run, thanks to the work of David and the West Australian Team.”
Waterford Crystal trophies were presented to: Keith and Lorna Barton (top WO team), Bob and Ann Hickman (Runner-up WO team), David and Adele Cohen (Best Derby team), David and Elspeth Crossley-Cooke (best performing Post-War team); Nicky Bailey and Michael McNally (Most Spectacular Crossing), Chris Kingsbury (Chairman’s Award), Jenny Ford (Lady’s trophy), Dr Mike Morgan (Spirit of the Rally Award).
ends
