Jack Barclay Bentley

Originally most of his collection of Cups, now owned by his eldest son Anthony, were for successes in Vauxhall cars especially at Brooklands, very few for Bentley.

But he couldn't resist another tilt at motorsport, winning the inaugural Brooklands 500 in 1929 at the wheel of a 4 ½ Litre with works driver Frank Clement, setting an average speed of 107.32 mph.

Bentley is credited for coining the phrase ‘service after sale’[3] to describe his business ethos and much of his commercial success was based upon maintaining close and friendly relationships with his customers, a philosophy still practiced today in the company.

The company was founded by its eponymous chairman in 1927[4] as Jack Barclay Ltd with two London showrooms (the chief one being in George Street) and a service centre, later in Battersea.

[5] Although motor retailing was suspended in the UK during World War II, Barclay bought coachbuilders Gurney Nutting in 1943 with the aim of restoring to roadworthy condition the Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars that had been stored during the hostilities, thus generating much-needed stock of used vehicles for the business.

In 1961 Lord Kindersley, then Chairman of Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars officially opened the Jack Barclay service center at 100 York Road, Battersea.

[citation needed] As the world's largest dealer in Rolls-Royce and Bentley cars the company forged strong links with the factory at Crewe.