Bentley owner Harold Halkyard drives 1996 bridal couple in his HR 9538

Contributed by Adrian Cole

"This car was owned by my wife's uncle, Harold Halkyard, for many years. He drove us in it at our wedding in 1996."

 

Former owner Harold Halkyard has passed on, but his brother has provided some information about the car's history. Read below photograph...

 

1996: Adrain Cole and his bride being driven in Bentley HR 9538 by the then owner Harold Halkyard

 

Bentley HR 9538

Harold Halkyard owned Bentley Reg HR 9538 for about 50 years and used it regularly in England and France. He bought it from a lady in the 1950s for £100!! It was a 3 Litre Red Label Bentley with a 4-seater open Vanden Plas Body. He totally rebuilt the car and joined the Bentley Drivers Club and raced successfully at Silverstone. He also competed in the Barbon Hill Climb in the Lake District around the year 1960. He sold the car in the late 1990s. He won a cup at Silverstone and at that time he put a 4.5 Litre engine in it and it was very fast. That engine was just borrowed temporarily and came out afterwards with the original engine being put back.

 

Harold Halkyard also competed and won a cup at The Monte Carlo Challenge in 1990 with a gentleman called Tony Moy's similar Bentley (Reg NK 9610 Chassis No 916). Near the finish they skidded on ice and hit the stone parapet of a bridge, bending the number plate, dumb iron and front axle, but still finished.