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1925 Bentley 3.0-litre
Speed
This treasured 1925 Bentley 3.0-litre
has been part of the same family for
nearly 60 years, yet its beginnings
with the McKaige clan were no more
romantic than those of your typical
urban runabout.
"My grandfather bought it for
my father in 1947," says the
Bentley's current owner, Chester McKaige.
"It was just like it is today
- a father buys his son his first
car and he uses it to go to work,
go to uni, to do all those sorts of
things."
It's a strange concept for a member
of a generation raised on a diet of
Corollas, Geminis and other humble
nameplates. But having a Bentley for
a first car was nothing unusual in
the postwar years says Mr McKaige.
"It was just an old car at that
stage," he says. "You could
have bought a Bugatti or a Vauxhall
30/98 or whatever for the same money.
He just happened to like Bentleys
as a kid."
The Bentley had been around the block
a few times by the time Mr McKaige's
father got his hands on it. It was
built in September 1925 and arrived
in Australia in March 1926, sporting
a red four-seater Vanden Plas body.
The original owner, no doubt emulating
Bentley's extensive motor sport involvement
at the time, regularly used his new
acquisition in hill climbs and trials
in addition to daily commuting. It's
thought that it was during one of
these events that the Bentley rolled
down a ravine, badly damaging the
chassis and body.
Repaired, fitted with a new coupe
body and painted black, the Bentley
was sold on to a new owner, a Bentley
dealer from Carnegie, sometime in
the 1930s. He removed the coupe body
and fitted the black four-seater touring
body the car still wears today.
"It (the body) was made in East
St Kilda," Mr McKaige says. "It
looks like it came off another Bentley,
though I've never been able to determine
which one."
Mr McKaige's father used the Bentley
as everyday transport until he left
for a stint in England in 1952. The
pair weren't reunited until 1961,
but the Bentley wasn't back on the
road until 1965. Thereafter, McKaige
snr used the car to contest the occasional
Bentley club rally and other events.
By 1975, however, the Bentley was
showing its age. It was taken off
the road for a full restoration, but
work was intermittent over the next
20 years. When failing health forced
his father to cease work on it in
1995, Mr McKaige stepped in to finish
the job. He was well qualified for
the task, having restored a bevy of
classic and vintage English cars over
the years.
The Bentley is more than 80 years
old but the engine specifications
read like that of a much more modern
car. "It's got a single overhead
camshaft, twin carbies, twin ignition
and four valves per cylinder,"
Mr McKaige says proudly. "And
it's also got two spark plugs per
cylinder."
"Bentley built aero engines through
the First World War and you can see
a lot of aircraft nuances, in particular
the twin ignition. I guess you could
say he was fairly ahead of his time."
It's perhaps not surprising, then,
that the Bentley copes effortlessly
with the demands of open-road driving.
"The brakes in it are phenomenal
and the suspension's good, and it
just lopes along," Mr McKaige
adds. "It'll do 60 mph (100 km/h)
day in, day out. It's been just about
everywhere; I've done a lot of miles
in it.
"And it's only come home on a
flat-bed twice in 10 years, so it's
pretty reliable."
Yes, Mr McKaige's loyalties might
be divided, but there's no disputing
which of his vintage British wonders
holds the tightest grip on his heart.
"The Bentley is just something
I'd never part with," he says.
"If everything had to go and
I had to keep just the one thing,
I'd keep that."
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