NOBLE BY NAME:
Fancy wanting to drive a beautiful car like that through such execrable terrain—that, or words to that effect, was the reaction of another club—when Peter Noble told them that he was entering his Bentley in the London/Peking Rally. Knowing that Peter and Sue Noble cherished their SI Continental and that no trouble or expense would be spared in preparing the car for its arduous task, I took quite the opposite view.
I admired and encouraged their enthusiasm and dedication, and was delighted when they achieved their objective. Based on that hard-earned experience the Nobles then entered the London-Saigon Rally, which included a unique foray into Tibet where motor-cars were virtually unknown.
Their experiences on this momentous drive are stupendous. My own ‘long-distance’ drives in Bentleys pale into insignificance compared with this journey—in any case my philosophy tends to rest on a Hilton-to-Hilton basis rather than sleeping-bags in a yurt!
The Noble’s trans-Asian trips are testimonials to the overall performance capability of a car designed primarily for high-speed motoring on paved roads. (What a contrast to the current plethora of four-wheel drive vehicles in our upmarket residential areas whose drivers’ only experience of off-road motoring is when they park inconsiderately on the footpath.)
Now, I commend you to settle down and experience vicariously the drive across the largest land mass in the world without suffering the hardships of participation.
Truly, we are a DRIVERS’ Club.
Stanley Sedgwick – patron of the Bentley Drivers Club GB