The Continental 50th Anniversary Celebration

Saturday the 31st of August was a truly magical day. Our celebration had perfect sunny weather, with just enough cloud and breeze to prevent the day from becoming too warm. The first Continental on display, BC-29-C owned by Dr.George Daniels, was in the paddock before the organisers had arrived. More began to appear at 9:00, half-an hour before the gates were due to open. By 10:30, the volume of arriving cars nearly overwhelmed the paddock volunteers. Continentals had come from Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Isle of Man, Japan, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Portugal, the US and naturally many from the UK. Virtually all the cars were on display in the Paddock before noon.

There were 90 cars, 87 Continentals and 3 prototypes, present on the day. Six enthusiastic overseas owners attended without their cars. This was a staggering number of these cars to have in one place and represented over 40% of the 200 cars that are still in existence. There have never been this many Continentals gathered in one place and it is unlikely that it will ever be repeated.

In addition to the many H.J. Mulliner Fastbacks, there was a Park Ward Drophead BC-28-D, a Graber Drophead BC-55-C, a Graber/Koeng Coupe BC-68-D, a Franay Coupe BC-21-D and the Mulliner/Bristol Fastback BC-4-C. Also present were 4 of the original 7 Le Mans Continental support cars: BC-4-A, BC-5-A, BC-4-B and BC-38-LC. The Rally Prepared Continentals were well represented with BC-3-B, BC-19-C, BC-22-C, BC-27-C, BC-47-LC, BC-65-C and BC-35-D. Continental ancestors present were a Cresta B-98-KM, a Graber Coupe B-190-BH and an H.J. Mulliner Lightweight B-9-EW.

On the social side, Dunhill hosted an exquisite lunch in the British Race Drivers Club for all the owners and their guests. From the Club House, participants enjoyed the best views of the six superb vintage races organised by the Bentley Drivers Club. At 1:30, Prizes in a variety of categories were awarded to the owners by the Rajmata of Jaipur and other notable enthusiasts. Perhaps the most amusing being the Polisher's Trophy won by Manrico Iachia BC-6-E, for his unpainted Continental with highly polished bare aluminium coachwork.

The highlight of the afternoon for all the owners was the three-lap demonstration run on the Silverstone Circuit. Despite instructions of caution from the circuit officials, some very spirited driving was exhibited throughout the field. This was quite an awesome sight from the stands.

The entire day was a very momentous occasion. Like all good times, it was over far too quickly, but will not soon be forgotten by anyone present.

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