Classic & Sports Car UK – September 2019

Bugatti

Type 59

UndertheskinofEttore’s most

gloriousGrandPrixmachine

PLUSExecutivedecision:Chrysler

2-Litre,Peugeot 504 orFiat132?

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OFCLASSIC&SPORTSCARFIRSTEVERYMONTH

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*Onsale 5 September

IN THE OCTOBER ISSUE

*

GreatScot

Intheearly’90s,mywifeandI were
house-huntingclosetoInverness
andwenttoviewa largebungalow
setin extensivegrounds.Sadly,the
houseneededsomemodernisation,
whichpushedit overourbudget.
However,it didhavea substan-
tialgaragecontaininga largeand
imposing shapeundera fitted
cover.I hada fairideaof whatit was
and,whilemywifedistractedthe
agent,I managedtosneaka peek
tofindtheBentleynowownedby
PeterFawcett(Yourclassic, March),
completewiththenumberEST1.
Mytongue-in-cheekenquiryon
whetherthiswastobeincludedin
thesalewasmetwithsucha weary
smileof resignationthatI wasobvi-
ouslynotthefirsttoask.
Actually,I wasmoreinterestedin
thenumberthanthecar!EST 1
wasissuedbyInvernessCounty
Councilon 12 June 1950 toan
‘AustinSaloon3990cc’(presuma-
blya SheerlineA125),andwas
transferredtotheBentleyin’52.
YST 343 wasissuedinmid-’69as
partof a seriesof numbersallocated
in cases,forexample,wherea previ-
ousnumberhadbeenretained.
Nicetoseethecarinthehands
of suchanappreciativeowner.
ChrisSilver
Kincurdie,Ross-shire

Separatedatbirth?

In the May 2019 issue there was an
intriguing article about the Rover
P8. Intriguing because for many
years I have wanted to know more
about this car. In the early 1970s
I worked for a local Leyland dealer
here in New Zealand when the
Leyland P76 arrived: an Australian
product to compete with the Local
‘Big Six’/V8 models produced by
GM, Ford and Chrysler.

One-offwonder

EversinceI readabouttheHWM

Coupéasa 16-year-oldschoolboy

I havelovedthelookandconceptof

thiscar,andoftenwonderedwhat

hadhappenedtoit.SimonTaylor’s

articlein yourAugustissuewasthe

answerto a long-heldquestion,and

thatthecarstillexists,andinsuch

wonderfulcondition,is immensely

pleasing.Congratulationsonfind-

ingit andpersuadingtheownerto

allowyoutodriveit.

Ona ridiculouslypedanticpoint,

I thinktheRileyinyourpicture

(usedinTheAutocarinMarch’61)

is a 4/68. The 4/72, externally iden-

tical but with slightly longer

wheelbase, wider track and another

133cc, appeared for the October

Motor Show that year. But neither

was exactly the epitome of British

design and engineering – and I say

that as someone who passed his

driving test in a 4/68 in 1961, just

a few days after my 17th birthday.

Roger Tagg

Farnsfield, Notts

Silver spotted Fawcett Bentley in the ’90s

Was the P76 related to the stillborn P8?

Tagg spotted ‘our’ shot in The Autocar test

Looking over the car, I noticed

the strange way the bottom of the

’screen was held in place: not by a

rubber seal, but by adjustable screw

clamps. I have only seen this used

on one other car, a Rover P6 2000.

Surely this car was designed by the

same people who designed my P6?

As a bit of a Rover fan, it got me

wondering: did the Australians

have enough resources to develop a

whole new car? They had produced

a few local models in the past, but

they were adapted from British

designs. Was this also an adapted

design from Britain? Maybe a

model that did not proceed ‘back

there’? Even the name seemed a

clue: P4, P5, P6 and then P7(6).

Can anybody confirm or deny

this, so I can sleep at night?

Bruce Keddie

Canterbury, New Zealand