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