In England in 2006 / Owned by a BDC member

World Cup Rally 1974. Driven by Keith Schellenberg.

Keith Schellenberg 1930 Bentley Sports Tourer in the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon.

Keith Schellenberg's vintage Bentley (Car no. 84) was among the 56 car entrants from Gt. Britain — the oldest car participating, and the only vintage Bentley (in fact the only Bentley).

Unfortunately, the car was involved in an 'accident' in Turkey, and though it recovered from it, it fell far behind and could not make it in time to Bombay (now renamed Mumbai), on the western coast of India from where the cars were to sail to Australia (Fremantle) for the last leg of the rally (finishing at Sydney).

The Schellenberg Bentley covered the following route: London - Paris - Turin - Belgrade - Istanbul - Sivas - Erzincan - Teheran - Kabul - Sarobi - Delhi - Bombay

What happened to Chassis no. YM5027 in Turkey
(extracts from various reports written at the time)

"...Car 84. K. Schellenberg, British entry... Turkey (also) claimed the oldest car in the rally, the 1930 eight-litre Bentley Tourer of British adventurer Keith Schellenberg. He stopped his heavy car on the edge of a road, only to have the bank collapse and deposit the Bentley on its side in the gully below... sadly ending its quest in the Marathon, before Erzincan."

"In the end there were 100 entrants, 98 of which actually started from Crystal Palace. Unbeknown to the competitors, Jack had been told by P&O, the shipping company, that there was space for only 70 cars on the ferry from Bombay to Perth in Australia. As a result everyone on the organisational side was hoping that there would be serious attrition on the way to Bombay. As luck would have it, 72 cars actually reached Bombay, and with a bit of judicious pushing and shoving, all 72 were squeezed onto the boat. Sadly it did not include the Schellenberg Bentley which had gone off the road, arriving in Bombay after an epic recovery to find that the boat had sailed..."

"Vintage 8-liter Bentley of Keith Schellenberg had developed a split oil line and was one of the few cars to be penalized on the road. It eventually retired when the dirt road beyond Sivas (a place in Turkey) proved incapable of supporting its weight."

 

 

"GY 7850 Leaving the Algeciras Tangier Ferry UDT World Cup Rally."