"I am in the process of buying chassis 990 which William Medcalf is selling on behalf of the owner in Australia. It is now in the UK awaiting paperwork to be completed."

"In 1957 Noel Coldray sold Chassis 602 together with a second 'parts' car to Richard Knight, the two cars were sold on to Allan Jones in 1959. Allan rebuilt 602 but utilised some parts from the 'parts' car, including rear axle and engine, before selling it on. I note from the recent 3rd edition of Clare Hay's book The Vintage Years, that Chassis 990 has the banjo numbered 602, Chassis 602 is now fitted with engine 612 which was in Chassis 990 in the 1950s. It seems possible therefore that 990 was the parts car sold by Allan Jones."

Update:
ST990 has engine 953. ST990 lost her 1005 engine in the 1940s. The story I was told when I bought the 990 project was an owner had both this blue label tourer and a red label car in the 1940s. He put a conrod through the sump of his red label. So he swapped the damaged crankcase from the red label with the engine from the blue label. The crankcase of course carries the engine number. Whether the story is true or not, the engine 953 does have a repair done to the crankcase in keeping with conrod damage. The rest of the engine is as for a tourer not a speed model including updraft Smiths carburetor.

But ST990 does run extremely well and as recorded has done many international rallies and heads off to Europe again next year for another grand tour and motoring adventures including the 110th anniversary Gordon Bennett rally in Ireland.

Engine 1005 is now in Chassis 610 which is a red label. However engine 953 came out of Chassis 948. So who knows - mist of time stuff...

As with most vintage Bentleys ST 990 has done many thousands of miles since her restoration crossing Australia on three occasions, toured New Zealand twice, covered 12 countries and 14,000 miles in Europe in 2003 and crossed
South Africa from East to West in 2007. (Re the 3-litre chassis numbers: 'ST' stands for Standard which indicated it was the longer 10ft 10inch chassis for the touring cars to which more roomy four seater bodies were fitted. It had extra chassis bracing and it carried a blue radiator badge and updraft Smiths carburettor. The Speed model was 9ft 9inch chassis with sloper SU's and was given a Red radiator badge. The 100mph super sports was a 9ft chassis and had a bonnet set down between the front chassis rails for a lower profile. Many of the STs have been cut down to 9ft 9inch and fitted with SU carburettors and Le Mans bodies to look like speed models which I think is a pity.)

Re the coachwork of 990: It is an original 1920s body with unknown history. While the car arrived in Australia in 1925 with a Gurney Nutting four seater tourer body it came to me with this four seater tourer body made in the Gurney Nutting English style but carries plates indicating coachwork by Jas Thompson Coachbuilder of South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia."

Bentley Tour of South Africa 2007

1925 3 litre, Reg No: WO 1925, Engine No: 953, Chassis No: ST990

This car was delivered in Australia in April 1925 and has an Australian-built body that is reminiscent of a Gurney Nutting body. The 3 litre was dismantled in 1954 and passed through several hands as a restoration project until bought in 1993 by its present owners. It was restored by Dennis over a number of years with help from many BDC friends.

He and Lesleyann motored across Australia to attend the 2002 BDC National in the Barossa Valley. The car was then shipped to Europe in 2003 and in three months covered 8000 miles touring through 12 countries including crossing three alpine passes of about 2800m altitude. It competed in several rallies including the Gordon Bennett Centenary, the Brooklands to Beaulieu and the St Moritz British Classic Car meet. The car ran on its original five-jet Bentley-Smith carburettor producing 25mpg (yeeaaah!) and cruised at 60mph on motorways.

It completed this Down Under Tour Australian crossing without any major problem and was then toured on to Brisbane.

From there it shipped to the South Island of New Zealand and covered 3000 miles in the Vero 2006 rally before shipping home for a much-deserved TLC session before its next Bentley adventure - South Africa 2007.

In 2005, BDC Western Australia organised the first Bentley Drivers International rally in Australia attracting 50 entrants from nine countries. They started with their rear wheels in the Indian Ocean and finished with their front wheels in the Pacific Ocean north of Sydney.

These photographs show Dennis Lingane with his 1925 Bentley 3-Litre Tourer during the rally.

Christmas 2005 in Australia. Dennis Lingane's 3-Litre freezes outdoors.

This car was purchased by Dennis Lingane in 1993.