T H E
Love of Bentley
Vintage Bentleys have found phenomenal popularity as a rich man’s
toy and as a financial safe haven for investors who survived the GFC.
By Dennis Lingane
“People coming in here have one problem - where to invest their money,” said William Medcalf, one of the UK’s leading vintage Bentley restorers.
I was sitting on the mezzanine floor of Medcalf’s posh new premises, a former car showroom and workshop space in the Sussex countryside, which
now homes a collection of vintage Bentleys (1921-1931) instead of new cars.
The former business was a victim of the GFC and the vacated premises was the perfect answer for a booming old-car market that was also the result
of the GFC, according to Medcalf, who had previously been crammed into a bunch of sheds in the outskirts of London.
The showroom boasts a clutch of Bentley bangers worth more than $10m, while out in the workshop, there sits another dozen. Some have been
restored from the chassis up, others simply serviced or tweaked for upcoming rallies by a small but skilled team of specialist mechanics -several of
whom William had persuaded to move to the countryside with him from the grime of London.
12