Articles

STANLEY MANN
Aficionado, guru, salesman and racer — Stanley Mann was born for Bentleys.

What was your first car?
It was an MG J2 and very old. It fell in half when I part-exxed it for a Cortina at a Ford garage — never went back there again. God only knows how they moved it off their forecourt.

What do you own today and what is your daily driver?
Vintage Bentley 4 1/2 Litre, 8 Litre racer and Mother Gun Speed Six Brooklands car. Plus an Aston Martin DB6 and a Land-Rover Discovery.

What is the best car you ever owned?
4 1/2 Litre Bentley Le Mans. I still have it after 16 years.

What is the worst car you have ever owned?
Lancia Montecarlo

Which car do you most regret selling?
Ferrari Dino 246GT

Congratulations, you've won the Lottery. Which car are you going to rush out and buy?
A bus, to take all my mates in

Name one essential tool that all classic owners should carry at all times.
A chequebook

Are you a member of any car clubs? If so, which one/s?
BDC, Benjafield's Racing Club, VSCC, Brooklands, HGPCA

Which one person has been your greatest influence and why?
WO Bentley. Simple, he built great cars

Who is the best driver of all time? And why?
When the flag drops the bullshit stops so, after me, it must be Moss (after all, we have the same initials)

What is the greatest race you have ever seen?
I enjoy nothing more than turning off F1 on TV and watching the wonderful old racing films of the 1950s

What is your favourite motoring-related book?
Anothony Blight's superb book Georges Roesch and the Invincible Talbot

Which classic event are you most looking forward to this year?
Eifel Classic

Do you have a favourite motoring image (photograph or painting)? If so, what is it?
A superb shot. Picture this: Jack Dunfee in 1930, high on the Brooklands banking in Old Number 1

What is your favourite/most memorable drive?
Crashing a go-kart through a fence in 1968, only to look back and see the perfect cut-out of mine and the kart's shape in the fence

Why Bentley?
Why not? There's no argument: they are the best

Which is better: blown or unblown?
Depends on what company you're in

What prompted you to kickstart the Benjafield Racing Club?
To gets lots of vintage Bentleys on track with camaraderie and fun as it used to be

Which is your favourite Bentley of all?
Mother Gun single-seater outer circuit Brooklands car

What is your greatest experience in a Bentley?
Not breaking my neck at 152mph in a vintage Bentley at Millbrook in 1997!

What did you think of the VM-backed Hunadieres?
It's history repeating itself. Now we know how WO felt

Do you approve of Bentley being owned by a German company?
Gesundheit!

What are your favourite classic car events?
The Eifel Classic and the Mille Miglia

Who's the most famous person you've had in your showroom?
My mother

What have been the highs and lows of your career?
Highs: racing vintage Bentleys. Lows: paying the inevitable costs

What would your epitaph say?
I told you I wasn't feeling well