The Russian Prince

Sir,
Nice to see the picture of the ex-Prince George Imeritinsky 41/2-litre Bentley in the Bill Ford Collection (Motor Sport, January 1989). I knew the Russian Prince quite well; he was a respected amateur coachwork designer of his day. He said he would design a body more attractive than the standard VDP and cheaper. The price from Wylder was considerably less than VDP; I drove the Bentley when it was new and I thought it was splendid.

The car now looks very original except that the front wings used to be very long joining the running-boards. Prince George’s widow, Princess Nancy Imeritinsky, still keeps up the interest and sometimes visits Brooklands Track.

With regard to the Multi-Union/Alfa Romeo controversy, I agree with much written by Henry Wessells and Simon Coates. I too knew all the owners past and present, and have been involved with such cars for longer than almost anyone else. lf we try to be too clever about this originality fetish, we will kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. For heaven’s sake let’s pipe down. Vintage and historic racing is a sport; it is pretty good today — let’s keep it that way.

AF Rivers Fletcher, Kineton, Warwickshire