For 1937, the car would utilise a 3-litre blown engine in a bid for higher speeds but would not see the successes of the previous year. Post-war the car would be stripped and refitted with two-seater coachwork but by the 1970s this would be replaced by a faithful recreation of the Brooklands bruiser's original look.
It’s been regularly raced ever since, with current-owner William Medcalf putting it to good use. It’s in safe and knowledgeable hands too, given this is the very same William Medcalf of the leading vintage Bentley preparer. Peking to Paris, Le Mans Classic and multiple race meetings here at Goodwood litter its recent competition history. In 2014 it would serve, rather comically, as a safety car at the Benjafield’s Racing Club 24-hour race in Portimão.
It wouldn’t be until this year, however, that the Pacey-Hassan Bentley with “safety car” emblazoned across its rump would take to the motoring world’s best-known Hillclimb-come-driveway. On taking to the Hill, Medcalf said: “The Pacey-Hassan is a bit of an animal with lots of torque. It looks to be a very narrow course of quite a polished tarmac with lots of different cambers going on. Finding grip in the wet could be an issue but I’m sure we can please the spectators with some sideways action and lots of noise”. It might have been the Pacey-Hassan’s first FOS but there was no doubting William’s understanding of what we’re all about. We hope this was the first of many visits to come. Here’s to the world’s maddest safety car!
Photography by James Lynch, Drew Gibson, Nick Dungan and Nigel Harniman.