Beverley-Barnes

Sir,

My uncle, Captain Harry Pilling, worked for Beverley-Barnes during the period of the Company’s existence. I am not sure of his actual position in the Company, but it was either Sales Director or Sales Manager. This was evident from the foreign stamps he sent me. (I must have been 12 or 13 at the time and these came from Persia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania and what is now Yugoslavia. I wonder how many of your readers have stamps from Bosnia and Herzegovinia, or even known where they are!) Obviously I would say a drive to sell to the reigning Monarchy of the time. During 1920/1930 I lived in the North of England and my uncle visited us, driving up from London in a white straight-8 tourer, virtually identical to the one shown in your photograph. In fact the gentleman shown at the wheel looks very much like my uncle. As far as I recall, the car I saw had a separate windscreen for the rear passengers, with a built-in waterproof cover for further protection. Over the years memories fade but I also recall that the radiator badge was not as shown in your article, but an intertwined B-B similar to the R-R of Rolls-Royce. It was this badge and the overall similarity of the radiator to Rolls-Royce that led, I believe, to Rolls-Royce taking legal action against Beyerley-Barnes. Rolls-Royce won the case and it was the consequences of this case that crippled Beverley-Barnes financially and put them out of business. [Is this a fact? —Ed.]

All this was 50 years ago and I have nothing to substantiate the foregoing. As a small boy, this beautiful large, white tourer was really out of this world!

Pangbourne G. N. PETTY