Beschreibung:

Young William Berkley ‘Bummer’ Scott came from a privileged family. Father was a judge and home was Calgary Castle in Scotland. At Fettes he was captain of cricket, he earned a rugger Blue at Cambridge University, was selected to play in a Scottish Rugby Trial and won the Scottish Squash Championship. An early interest in motorcycles nurtured his mechanical interests and soon after he was able to drive he acquired his first racing car, a 5 litre Indianapolis Sunbeam, surely a baptism of fire. This was to be followed by a remarkable sequence of truly historic and significant cars, including a 1924 Grand Prix Sunbeam, the 1927 1 1/2 litre Grand Prix Delage, an Austro-Daimler, Amilcars, the Thomas Special and a number of Bugattis. His wife Jill shared his interest and their passion for racing saw them setting up home at Grasmere, a handsome house at Old Byfleet, a stone’s throw from the Brooklands Circuit. Scott maintained a shed at Brooklands from which he bought and sold cars and maintained his racing stable. His first Bentley was a 3-litre Le Mans car, YF 2503, the No.2 car driven by Duller and d’Erlanger in the 1927 race. Scott was to campaign this car in the 1928 Brooklands Six Hours Race but did not finish. In 1929 Scott, a privileged and favoured customer of Bentley Motors Ltd., ordered his Le Mans specification 4 1/2 litre Bentley. Such cars were built exclusively for the Works Racing Team and a very short list of favoured customers. Only eight Le Mans specification cars were built between 1927 and 1929, four for the Works Le Mans Team and four for private campaigners. Scott took delivery of his car, a full Works Racing Shop specification model, finished in Parsons Napier Green, in May 1929 and entered UU 5580 for the 1929 Double Twelve Race at Brooklands on 10th/11th May, with wife Jill as co-driver. Davis and Gunter were first Bentley home in the 4 1/2 litre car, No.6, in 2nd position, while the Scotts, presumably familiarising themselves with their new car, came in in 11th place at an average speed of 70.59mph. In the Six Hours Race at Brooklands on 29th June Scott and Patterson were the 3rd Bentley home, finishing in 8th position at an average speed of 69.91mph. Just two weeks later Scott drove the 4 1/2 litre car to Dublin for the Irish Grand Prix in Phoenix Park and, on a blisteringly hot day which created a slippery tarmacadam surface, the race was won by Ivanowski in a supercharged Alfa Romeo with Bentley’s taking six of the first eight places, Scott finishing 7th at an average speed of 73.9mph. For the 1929 British Racing Drivers’ Club 500 Miles Race at Brooklands on 12th October Scott loaned UU 5580 to Tim Rose-Richards and C.W. ‘Turkey’ Fiennes. Barclay and Clement drove a 4 1/2 litre to 1st place in that race, Davis and Dunfee finished 2nd in a 6 1/2 litre car while Rose-Richards and Fiennes drove to a creditable 5th place at an average speed of 98.8mph. In the Gold Star Race that year UU 5580 averaged an outstanding 107.57mph. The Scott car achieved the most creditable record, completing every race in which it was entered, being driven to and from every circuit and being used as the Scott family road car between races. Rubin wanted to enter UU 5580 in the 1931 Le Mans Race but as Scott was using it as a hack car for the Delage in the French Grand Prix that opportunity was passed by. The car’s subsequent history during the 1930’s is not entirely clear although it appears that the car was briefly owned by a J.H.P. Glover, then in 1932 by M.R. Pease of Leyland Motors, Lancashire, and perhaps spent some time in Northern Ireland. In 1937 it was bought by Laurie Dalton, on the recommendation of Johnnie Green, from Ollington Bros showrooms in Great Portland Street. A Daytona model Wolseley Hornet was part-exchanged and at that time UU 5580 was largely to original specification although the original body frame had been re-skinned in aluminium. Dalton was to campaign the car in pre-war years in VSCC. events at Doningt