Of the 665 4½ liter cars manufactured by Bentley Motors, only one had a body built by Thrupp & Maberly. It is chassis number MR3390, engine number MR3393.

The original purchaser, W. M. Wallace, Jr., then residing at Stirling, Scotland ordered the 10’ 10½” chassis with 15/53 diff. and “C” gearbox. It was also equipped with the Tecalamit one-shot lubrication system fitted by the factory. The centralized lubrication system was a highly unusual feature on a 4½ liter chassis, it being more commonly supplied with the 8 liter chassis. The open sports tourer body created by Thrupp & Maberly (body no. 5187) is unique to this car. The original UK registration mark was MS34.

Oil on canvas by VintageBentleys.org

It is very handsome design, originally having two doors, a vertical windscreen, razor-edged wings and a collapsible second windscreen for the rear-seat passengers. The doors were to the nearside front and the offside rear. The spare tire mount was also unique to this car. They built no other like it. The car was delivered on My 14, 1929 with the standard factory 5-year guarantee effective through May 17, 1934.

MR3390 when new                                             From: BDC files

MR3390 is a car that was driven by Mr. Wallace, and some of its successive owners, with great enthusiasm virtually from the beginning of its existence. There is a substantial record of an extensive rallying history.

The factory records were kindly supplied by Alan Bodfish, who has been so very helpful with these articles, out of BDC archives. They show that MR3390 quickly accumulated the miles while being driven by Mr. Wallace. By November, 1930 the car was serviced with 15,850 on the clock; 23,658 by September 1931; by December 1932, 35,584; by May 1933, 36,667; 1934, 43,555; December 1935, 52,793; and by May 1936, 55,436 miles were recorded in the factory records. The 1936 service was the last with a mileage entry.

In early 1932, there is an interesting notation in the records. There is the statement that MR3390 had been entered in an RAC Rally on March 1st “without permission.” As consequence the factory warranty was voided.

Bentley Motors had been known to terminate the factory guaranty on any car that was raced without factory permission. There is no notation that any action was taken with respect to MR3390. John Thompson, a former owner, confirmed that the warranty was, in fact, terminated.

After finding that this car had an extensive rally history I rang Tim Houlding to ascertain what he might have in his personal files as the BDC records had little rally detail. He went into his files and found some very pertinent information about MR3390. He has kindly provided information pertaining to MR3390’s and Mr. Wallace’s rally history. These were extracted from Tim’s copy of British Rally Drivers – Their Cars & Awards 1925-1939 by Donald Cowbourne. The car was entered in the following Rallies driven by Mr. Wallace:

1932 – Royal Automobile Club Rally entry no. 368, result 157/232
1932 – Royal Scottish Automobile Club Rally entry no. 125, result 5/87
1936 – Royal Scottish Automobile Club Rally entry no. 23, result 17/22
1938 – Royal Scottish Automobile Club Rally entry no. 208, result 18/32

BDC archives, however, contained numerous period photographs of MR3390 being driven in various events. Upon magnification of the photos, the events were able to be identified coinciding with the listings identified by Cowbourne:

MR3390 on the 1938 Royal Scottish A. C. Rally, entry no. 208

The maintenance of MR3390 continued to be noted by Bentley Motors in the factory records up to 1938 at various service facilities in Scotland. It can only be assumed that this was while MR3390 was still in the ownership of Mr. Wallace.

According to the history of MR3390 assembled by Wayne Kennerley, the car remained in the ownership of Wallace until 1945. Wayne Kennerley is amassing data on W.O. Bentley cars that had been in service in South Africa. He has generously made his information available to this writer for MR3390. He had done the same for the first two cars in this series of articles (TB2542 and YX5106) that, by sheer coincidence, also have a South African connection.

In addition to the ownership history, Mr. Kennerley has also shed light on the changes to the body configuration of MR3390. Mr. Kennerley asserts that the coachwork was modified in 1938. The extent of the work included the changing of the windscreen from a vertical frame, as seen in the original photo, to one having a 2 inch slant at the top which can be seen in the later photos. An additional nearside rear door was added and the rear windscreen was removed.

Much of the history was confirmed during this writer’s telephone conversation with Mr. John Thompson in April of 2007. He owned MR3390 from 1965 to 1989 in South Africa. Mr. Thompson, I am pleased to report, is alive and well living in Guildford, Surrey. Mr. Thompson also added that the front seat was changed from its original twin bucket seat configuration to a bench seat. The wheels were changed from the original 21 inch to 19 inch. These changes remain with the car to this day. Mr. Thompson recalls that the reason for the changes is that Mr. Wallace had started a family thus precipitating the modifications.

There exists a period photograph of MR3390 with a new UK registration mark, WG8032, which indicates that either Mr. Wallace purchased another car and had the original registration mark (MS34) moved to the new car; or, there was a change in ownership by the time this photograph was taken and Wallace elected to retain MS34. The original vertical windscreen is still evident. Consequently, one can assume that this new registration number was issued prior to the body work alterations c. 1938 (?).

Mr. Thompson recalls the year of the body changes to be 1935. This is in conflict with photos of the car participating in various rallies. These date the car if one relies on the information provided by Cowbourne. Consequently, a bit of a mystery still remains as to when the alterations to MR3390’s body were made.

The factory service history during Mr. Wallace’s ownership ceases with the notation of sending two 6-volt batteries in 1938. Could there have been a change of ownership around that time? Was the new owner, if any, the one that ordered the changes to the body work? It is not unknown for an existing or new owner to make, what are essentially “modernizations,” to a coach built car to suit his particular taste and requirements. Perhaps our BDC readers can shed some light on this bit of a mystery.

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MR3390 with second registration mark WG8032 with original body configuration

There exists another period photograph of MR3390 with the second UK registration mark showing it participating in yet another rally, allegedly the Eastbourne Rally. The photograph clearly shows that it was taken subsequent to the changes to the body work which shows the windscreen to be slanted at the time the photograph was taken. Upon magnification of the photograph, the entry number begins with a “5” which does not coincide with any of the entry numbers assigned to Mr. Wallace as cited by Cowbourne.

MR3390 (2nd car) at the Eastbourne Rally?

Mr. Kennerley’s files provide that MR3390 was sold to G.A. Gordon-Watson in South Africa in 1960. Following Mr. Gordon-Watson’s ownership, MR3390 was then sold on to John Thompson of Pietermaritzburg in 1965 who owned the car for 24 years.

Mr. John White, a long-time BDC member and vintage Bentley owner in Capetown, recalls MR3390 in the ownership of Mr. Thompson from about 1972 on. Thompson and his brother Ian owned a Datsun agency at Pietermaritzburg and both were very active in rallying their cars.

As an aside, Ian Thompson owned a ’28 4½ (TX3237) that John White purchased. It is still owned and driven by Mr. White.

Mr. White was the organizer of the Port Elizabeth Rally for 13 years and MR3390 participated regularly in that event. John also ran the South African Veteran and Vintage Association which is affiliated with FIVA. He further recalls that Mr. Thompson drove MR3390 in numerous FIVA South African rallies as well as a few South African National Rallies. The rallying spirit of the original owner seems to have remained with MR3390 and continued with Mr. Thompson.

A photograph exists from 1970, taken in South Africa, with the South African registration mark, NP31997. MR3390, entered and driven by Mr. Thompson, was photographed on the 1970 Bill Milligen Memorial Rally with the slanted windscreen and the original wings but painted a dark green by that time.

MR3390 on the Bill Milligen Memorial Rally

It was during this period in South Africa that the original Thrupp & Maberly razor-edged wings were replaced with locally fabricated Vanden Plas-style wings which are currently on the car. According to John Thompson, this change was necessitated by the deterioration of the original wings after forty-plus years of “spirited” driving. Fortunately, the original wings were not destroyed but were kept and stored by Mr. Thompson. There is yet another period photo of MR3390, still in South Africa while on yet another rally, showing the new style wings.

MR3390 on a rally in South Africa with the Vanden Plas style wings

In 1989 Mr. Thompson sold MR3390 through Stanley Mann. The registration mark assigned to the car upon re-entry into the UK was DS8226 and is with the car today.

The car was purchased by an American, Mr. Charles Mallory of Connecticut, USA who imported the car into America. The car was driven sparingly while in his ownership.

As a small footnote, MR3390 in the ownership of Mr. Mallory, was one of the first cars this writer inspected when I commenced my search for a vintage Bentley in 1990-1991. MR3390 was effectively the car as it appears today when I saw it then, save for a different paint scheme.

Mr. Mallory ultimately sold MR3390 to Dr. Lynn Boynton, an avid vintage car enthusiast and driver, resident in Wisconsin and Florida, USA. Lynn drove the car very little. He is really a Silver Ghost man and is a past chairman of the Silver Ghost Association.

Dr. Boynton, with kind assistance from Tim Houlding, located and purchased the original Thrupp & Maberly wings from John Thompson with the intention of having them reunited with the original bodywork. One rear wing still retains the South African national identity mark.

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In 2004 Dr. Boynton sold MR3390 to Don Meyer of New Jersey, USA. Mr. Meyer drove the car on two North American Vintage Bentley Meets in 2005 and 2006. This writer had the opportunity to photograph the car on those rallies. The rallying spirit of Mr. Wallace continued during Don Meyer’s ownership.

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MR3390 on the 2006 NAVBM	The Myers enjoying MR3390, 2006
From: author

In early 2007 Don sold the car to Mr. Charles Crail, a vintage car dealer, at Santa Barbara, California. The car has now been sold to Mr. Scott Gulley of California. MR3390, as it now appears, with its new owner who will hopefully continue driving MR3390 in the spirit of Mr. Wallace.

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MR3390 May 2005
From: Don Meyer & author