1925 Bentley 3 Litre Speed Red Label
Chassis No. 859
Engine No. 863
Registration No. EU 2406

My family is the current owner of this gorgeous car. My grandfather, George Ray Lyon bought this car (I believe around 1984) for my Grandma, Hazel Bilton Lyon, who was born in 1925. When my grandfather died in 1986 we had his 3 cars put in the Balboa museum in San Diego where they stayed until 2014 when we brought them to our house in Santa Barbara. We celebrated my grandma's 88th birthday that year with the cars - we were able to give her one last ride in the Bentley before she passed that year in September. The car is currently at our farm in Santa Barbara, if anyone has any additional information on the car or if anyone would like to see the car, please contact me. Happy to report that the car is still in great running condition and we'll be driving her to the Montecito Classic on September 22nd 2019.

There are some previous owners who want to reach out to me. How would I go about getting in contact with them?

"My father, the late Dr Robert A Robinson, owned this car from c. 1946-1962. He was a country GP in Danby, Whitby, North Yorkshire UK from 1949 - 1979 and used the car to visit visit patients. He sold it because it was not suitable for my elder brothers to use for learning to drive. I think he received about GBP120 for it and the buyer was a local garage which changed the body. Until then it was a 2-seater complete with a "dickie" at the back, I last saw the car in 1976 when its then owner (Chris Rose?) toured the country visiting all previous owners."

San Diego Museum

San Diego Museum June 2009

Concours d' Elegance, Santa Barbara (2008).

Automobile Museum, Balboa.

This car was purchased by Brad Lonson in 1984.

"I owned this car for a short time in 1983-1984, I bought it off Stanley Mann Bentley dealers in London, I do have some photos of this car, The price I paid then was I believe 19,000 pounds. I did quite a bit of work on her and sold her back to Stanley Mann for 23,000 pounds"

This car was owned by John Holliday from 1983 to 1984.

Jan 10, 2015
"I owned this car for very nearly eight years, from the beginning of 1976 until the end of 1983. I covered many thousands of miles in this delightful car. I have masses of history relating to it, but I shall offer this to its current owners before adding anything further. I am happy to report that I did not knowingly sell it to Stanley Mann. The car seems almost entirely unchanged since my ownership.I enjoyed meeting Dr and Mrs Robinson very much indeed. What delightful people."

Jan 11, 2015
"Please help me to get in touch with Gerry Robinson & David Wheatley. Well done with your website.

Jan 12, 2015
"I once met the first owner, Mr Gower Andrews' former chauffeur, in a viilage just outside Abergavenny. He appeared to be in his eighties. He took me to where the big house once stood, but all that remained was the garage/coach house. Clearly, a lot had changed in fifty years."

Jan 13, 2015
"859 no longer resides in the museum, which has never owned it. I have a nagging suspicion that it is owned by a celebrity, but I have asked to be put in contact with whoever that is. Just discovered today that it was owned by three distinguished wartime naval officers in succession. I am sure you would be thrilled to discover that about 869. Vintage Bentleys were always revered by posh people, even when they became old and shabby!"

Jan 19, 2015
"I thought I should mention that by diligent research, I was able to discover this car's original body had survived. It was not a doctors' coupe, as has been suggested, but a beautiful Mulliner 2-seater with a double dickey, painted black with red leather upholstery."

This car was owned by Christopher Rose from 1976 to 1983.

This car was owned by David Wheatley from 1965 to 1975.

"I bought the car from a dealer in East Yorkshire in 1965. I lived in the Leeds area at the time. She had been owned previously by a doctor in Whitby, North Yorkshire and I was lead to believe that the original body was a Doctor's Coupe. When I got the car a rather poor fabric 4 seater tourer body had been fitted.

She was running quite well at the time, but suffered from water leakage at the engine side plates. I replaced these with stainless steel. I used her for commuting daily 50 miles. I am pleased to see that she still has the original engine. She had lost her original red label radiator which had been replaced by a blue label one (overpainted red!)

I ran her for 10 years having a rebore and specialloid pistons during that time.

I sold the car to a dealer in Pately Bridge, and I believe that the next private owner was Chris Rose, who came to visit me in the late 1970s.

I paid £600 for the car and sold her for £4,500."

In 1946-1962 car was owned by Dr Robert A Robinson

Advertisement by Dan Margulies in "Thoroughbred & Classic Cars" magazine, March 1976. Text says: "1925 Bentley 3-litre short chassis Speed model"

"The second owner of chassis 859 was Mrs. Heskett-Wright of Devonshire House, Mayfair West, London. She acquired the car in 1927."