News
Stocklist Requests
12th July 2011
If you would like to receive a stocklist from us at the start of each month, please drop us a line and we will add you to our list of recipients. The list contains colour pictures of each car, a description and prices quoted in Stirling, Euros and US Dollars. They will be sent out by email, or if you specifically request, we can send them by post. You can remove your name from our list at anytime, and of course this service is free of charge, with our compliments.
June 2011 Events
12th June 2011
We held our third annual open day last weekend on Sunday June the 5th which was a great success. Our showroom housed a display of pre-war cars along with the brand new Bentley Mulsanne, offering a stark contrast. Outside we had a display of nine 1950’s H.J. Mulliner Fastbacks and five Park Ward S1 Continentals. In our secondary building we had almost forty cars on display of varying ages and styles. Our guests enjoyed chauffeur trips in a W.O Bentley, a Rolls-Royce 20/25, Silver Wraith and a new long wheel base Phantom limousine throughout the day which were as popular as ever. We would like to thank our staff who worked so hard in the build up to the day and also our guests who attended throughout the day. Looking further ahead in June, we will be attending the RREC Rally next weekend and then will be exhibiting at Salon Prive in West London on June the 22nd, 23rdand 24th. This will be the first time we have exhibited at Salon Prive so we are looking forward to being a part of this prestigious event. We round the month off on June the 25that the BDC Rally where we will be have a number of Bentleys on display. We look forward to seeing you at some of these forthcoming events if you plan on attending.
Overview of the Year So Far
21st June 2010
It’s been an eventful first few months for us here in London. However the year began a little more slowly than usual, due largely to the coldest winter the South East of England has endured for a generation. Heavy snowfall on more than one occasion was more than a little disruptive to life in general as the city struggled to keep moving during the arctic weather. It’s unlikely that Mayor Boris Johnson will be rushing out to buy several dozen snow ploughs in case we have another harsh winter in years to come, but perhaps he might like to stock up on London’s salt and grit supplies instead. However as the weather began to improve we looked ahead to the summer and the motoring season.
Our first major outing of the year was exhibiting at the Essen Techno Classica in Germany, displaying three pre-war Rolls-Royces and two post war Bentley Continentals. We have been exhibiting at Essen for over twenty years and it’s certainly an event we would thoroughly recommend to anybody who has an interest in classic cars. We followed up last year’s success in the annual Concours d’ Elegance by adding the coveted “Best in Show” award for the 1931 Rolls-Royce Phantom I Playboy Roadster by Brewster we had on display to the “Best Coupe” award we won last year for the 1948 Bentley Cresta by Facel/Farina. It’s the first time we have been fortunate enough to win this prize and were greatly honoured to be rewarded in this way. The prize winning car was quite something, restored to an exceptionally high standard to complement its stylish design. The new owner took delivery of this fine motor car, along with the trophy just a couple of weeks after the show in Germany.
Just a week later we began to prepare for our second annual Open Day at our West London showrooms and workshops. Our main showroom housed sixteen pre-war cars, five Cricklewood built Bentleys and five Derby built Bentleys, which were complemented by six pre-war Rolls-Royces, all contrasted by the very latest offering from Goodwood, the new Rolls-Royce Ghost. We had a display of fourteen post war coach built classics on our frontage, including a Graber bodied Mk VI Coupe, two R Type Continentals, several S1 Fastbacks and a unique T1 Coupe by Pininfarina. With over seventy Rolls-Royces and Bentleys on display from a 1911 Silver Ghost to a 2009 Bentley GTC throughout our buildings there was something for everybody. Well in excess of five hundred guests attended throughout the day making it a great success. We have begun planning next year’s event already, and will try and make it bigger and better once again, which may be difficult.
Our showrooms have been very busy so far this year with collectors, enthusiasts and friends visiting us from all over the world to browse the cars on display. A number of cars have found new owners both via the public market place and also by private treaty. The major auction houses have also enjoyed some excellent results so far this year with the most desirable and collectable motor cars achieving handsome prices in Scottsdale, Monaco and a number of other events. This trend has been consistently confirmed when browsing our sales records for the past few years, with the rare and interesting cars continuing to find favour with collectors and investors alike. The ever increasing cost of good quality restoration work has translated into increasing prices being achieved with the very best quality cars, with considerable numbers finding their way into prestigious collections the world over. Whilst the rare and exotic have continued to appreciate at a steady but sensible pace, a number of the middle market cars have held their own admirably even during recessionary times. Models such as the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III (1962-1966) and the Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn (1949-1955) are just two of many examples we could highlight in this bracket of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley market.
Our workshop, trimming shop and restoration department has also enjoyed an exceptional surge in activity in the past three or four months as the weather has improved. Several major restorations are currently ongoing whilst we have recently completed a number of other long term projects. The flow of cars for servicing and general maintenance has also been far greater when compared to recent years. So our engineers, trimming staff and fitters have been kept very busy to meet the demand of our ever growing client base. In fact the many visitors to our premises often enjoy looking at the diverse array of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motorcars being worked on in our workshops just as much as viewing the finished articles on display in our showrooms.
The summer season is almost upon us with the two major national rallies taking place in the forthcoming fortnight. We will all be attending the RREC Rally and the following weekend we will be exhibiting for the second consecutive year at the BDC Rally, held for the first time at the BDC headquarters. We will have a selection of around half a dozen cars on display and will be interested spectators at the Concours d ‘Elegance prize giving, especially when the Frank Dale & Stepsons Trophy is awarded. We look forward to seeing you if you are planning on attending either of these excellent events.
That brings our summary of the year so far to a close. We look forward to an equally busy second half of 2010 and wish all of our customers and friends a very happy and safe summer motoring season.
Frank Dale & Stepsons Open Day Review
9th May 2010
Our second annual Open Day, held yesterday Sunday May the 9th was a tremendous success with well in excess of five hundred people attending throughout the day.
The range of over seventy cars on display provided a comprehensive guide to both company’s histories and their development through the decades. We had sixteen cars on display in our main showroom, fifteen of which were pre-war models.
Bentleys were represented in the form of a 3 Litre, a 3/4 ½ Litre, a 4 ½ Litre, a Speed Six and an Eight Litre along with five Derby Bentleys. Rolls-Royces present included a 1911 Silver Ghost, a Phantom I, a Phantom II Continental and a 25/30. A new Rolls-Royce Ghost kindly loaned to us for the day by our friends at P&A Wood sat alongside them to offer a stark contrast.
The theme for our exterior display was coachbuilt post war classics, which included two R Type Continentals, four S1 Continental Fastbacks, a unique T1 coupe by Pininfarina, a beautiful Mk VI coupe by Graber, an S1 Continental convertible and two genuine Silver Cloud convertibles to name but a few. Our secondary unit contained twenty five other Rolls-Royce and Bentleys ranging from a 1933 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental to an almost new Bentley GTC. Our static displays of cars were complemented with a firsthand Rolls-Royce experience as our guests enjoyed chauffeur driven trips throughout the day in three different Rolls-Royces, a Phantom III open tourer, a long wheel base Silver Wraith drophead coupe and one of the most recent offerings from Rolls-Royce, a Phantom coupe.
We were delighted with the number of people who attended and the very kind and positive feedback that we have already received. We would like to thank everybody who was involved and look forward to next year’s event which will be held in May 2011.
Review of 2009
4th January 2010
I find it hard to believe that it has been a year since I sat and wrote my review of 2008. How time has flown. We are just a couple of days into the New Year so I thought it was time to collate my thoughts on the year that was 2009. Frank Dale & Stepsons had a busy year attending many concours events and motoring shows around Europe, something we have been doing for approaching thirty years now. As always, our travels began in Belgium in March where we exhibited two Bentleys at the Antwerp Classic Salon. The three day show was well attended and we were fortunate enough to win a concours prize for the 1938 Bentley 4 ¼ Litre Drophead by Hooper we had on display, finishing second to a fabulous Alvis that had been extensively restored. In April we travelled to Germany to exhibit five Bentleys at the Techno Classica in Essen. This fantastic event is a must for all classic car enthusiasts and some of the cars on display throughout the twelve halls were quite superb. We were delighted to be given first place in the concours d’elegance coupe section for the 1948 Bentley Cresta by Facel/Farina we had on display. With approximately 4,000 cars to choose from, the judges must have had a great deal to ponder, but we were very pleased to be rewarded in this way. Domestically speaking we attended the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts Club Annual Rally in June before exhibiting at the Bentley Drivers Club Annual Rally for the first time, which was a very pleasant day in the lovely surroundings of Broughton Castle. The Frank Dale & Stepsons Trophy was presented for the first time in the BDC annual concours d’elegance, awarded to the best Bentley R or S Type Continental. It was nice to see so many fabulous Rolls-Royce and Bentleys on display and it was a day I greatly enjoyed. In July we provided two cars for the Cartier Style et Luxe concours at Goodwoods very popular Festival of Speed at the request of Lord March. A number of coachbuilt Rolls-Royces were invited to attend and we were delighted to see two of our Silver Wraiths by Hooper taking part on Goodwoods sun scorched lawns. In September we held our first Open Day at our West London headquarters which was a great success. We had around twenty cars on display in our main showroom, made up of some cars from our own personal collection, some cars from our current inventory and a selection of cars that were kindly loaned to us for the day by their proud owners. There was something for everybody, with a beautiful Silver Ghost sitting alongside our own Phantom I, Phantom II, Phantom II Continental and Phantom III. Pre-war Bentley fans also had a 3 Litre, 4 ½ Litre, Speed Six replica and both 3 ½ and 4 ¼ Litre models to view. We had an extensive selection of 1950’s Bentley Continentals on the premises, including three R Type Continentals, two S1 Continental convertibles and seven S1 Continental fastbacks, together with a selection of other coachbuilt classics from this fabulous chapter in the company’s history. With some fifty cars on display throughout our buildings, there was something for everyone. Our guests were also free to view our fully functioning workshop and trimming shop and were invited to enjoy chauffeur driven trips with my drivers in both a Rolls-Royce Phantom III and a Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith, which proved to be very popular. With somewhere in the region of 400 people attending throughout the day, it was a great success, and an event we will be repeating this coming year on Sunday May the 9th. If you would like to attend please contact our London office for an invitation. Our final event of the year was once again at Goodwood, for the Revival meeting in late September. We provided a number of cars for Lord March and his guests as well as exhibiting a dozen cars in the main field across from the circuit, next to the pre 1966 car park. The event was once again graced by good weather and was attended by vast crowds. So as you can see, it was a busy year for us attending a great number of marvellous events. 2008 was obviously a difficult year for many industries, and 2009 was also a testing time for many companies. However for Frank Dale & Stepsons it was once again a very productive twelve months, surpassing our achievements of the previous year. The trends set in late 2007 and throughout 2008 continued into 2009 in my opinion. Those being that the most stylish cars, built in relatively few numbers, in good to excellent condition continued to find new homes, with values continuing to appreciate at a sensible but steady pace. I personally see this trend continuing onwards into the future, with certain classic models holding their value and others that buyers find more desirable continuing to appreciate. The end of the global recession and the return to financial growth that is predicted in 2010 will no doubt help the classic car market further, even though it has more than held its own during recessionary times. A good quality vintage or classic Rolls-Royce or Bentley motor car has continued to attract the attention of investors and enthusiasts alike, with more and more people appreciating the enjoyment that can be attained when owning such a motor car. We have sold a record number of Bentley Continentals over the past twelve months, both in the public market place and also by private treaty. The weakness of Sterling has clearly assisted us, with our cars looking more attractively priced to buyers abroad. A great number of our cars have found new homes all over Europe, in Switzerland, Northern America and Australasia, keeping our shippers very busy. So it has been a busy period of trading and I put this down to the excellent selection of rare and desirable cars in top condition that we have consistently been able to offer for sale. We have specialised in finding the very best cars for our showroom and we continue to do so, so if you are considering selling or consigning your current Rolls-Royce or Bentley motor car either I, my co-director James Crickmay or his son Giles would be pleased to hear from you. Aside from the sales department, the workshop and trimming shop have also had a very busy year, restoring a number of cars of great importance including several 1950’s Bentley Continentals and a number of pre-war Rolls-Royces. My workshop manager Vincent Roma has once again done a great job in overseeing these projects, along with taking care of the usual day to day servicing and maintenance of our customer’s cars. We are also now capable of servicing the most modern Bentleys, the Continental GT’s and modern Flying Spurs in our workshop. So there has been a great deal to reflect upon when considering the past twelve months and I am looking forward to the New Year and the new decade very much. Hopefully the spring will bring some better weather to London so I can begin to use my own Bentley once again on a more consistent basis. I would like to wish you a happy and healthy 2010 and look forward to perhaps seeing you at either our West London headquarters or at one of the various motoring events I will be attending. Happy driving and best wishes. Ivor Gordon (Chairman of Frank Dale & Stepsons)
The Essen Techno Classica Review
7th April 2009
Last week's Essen Techno Classica was once again bigger and better than the previous year’s event and a resounding success. Essen has become the biggest and arguably the best classic car show in the world with twelve large halls packed full of magnificent motor cars of all ages. It is difficult to see everything in just one day with so many pieces of automotive art on display so if you are considering attending next year’s event you may want to book a two day pass.
This year’s event was very well attended with people coming from all over the world to admire and purchase the cars on display. We had four post war Bentleys on display as well as a pre-war Derby Bentley and were very pleased with the reception our cars received.
One of the highlights of the five day show for Frank Dale & Stepsons was being awarded the prize for the best two door coupe on display at the event in the annual Concours d’Elegance. With around 2,500 top quality cars on display it is quite an honour to receive one of the four awards on offer each year and we were very proud that the 1948 Bentley Cresta by Facel/Farina on our show stand was recognised in this way. Our congratulations also go to Lukas Huni for taking the best convertible concours prize for his magnificent Talbot Darracq and also to Eberhard Thiesen for being awarded the prize for the best car in the entire show for his superbly restored Horch.
Our prize winning Bentley Cresta has now found its way into one of Europe’s finest collections of rare and desirable motor cars and our left hand drive Bentley S1 Continental drophead coupe has also now been purchased by a long time admirer of this beautiful design by Park Ward. We have already begun planning for our summer exhibitions and you will see us later in the year at the Bentley Drivers Club Annual Rally for the first time with around half a dozen cars on display. We will also have some of our cars entered into the Cartier Concours d’Elegance at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed in June.
Towards the end of the summer you will see us once again at Goodwood for the terrific Revival Festival and then in Switzerland at the Geneva Classics show. We look forward to seeing you at some of these events in the coming months.
The Antwerp Classic Salon
9th March 2009
Last weekend’s 32nd Classic Salon at the Antwerp Expo in Belgium was a great success. We have been exhibiting our cars on an annual basis in Antwerp since 1982 and very much enjoyed our 27th consecutive visit to one of Europe’s most charming events. The British theme at this year’s renewal suited the two Bentleys we had on display perfectly. The Bentley S1 Continental we had on display was widely admired and the Derby Bentley on our show stand was rewarded in the Concours d’Elegance. In a couple of weeks time we will exhibiting once again, but on a larger scale, at the Essen Techno Classica in Germany, which is an event we thoroughly recommend. The largest classic car show in the world is expected to be exceptionally well attended event so book your tickets now and we will see you at our usual location in Hall One, where we will be exhibiting a selection of five top class Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars.
Frank Dale & Stepsons Forthcoming European Shows
4th March 2009
We are very much looking forward to exhibiting some of our Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars in Europe once again in the coming weeks. This weekend, the 6th, 7th and 8th of March, you will find us in Antwerp Belgium for the Classic Salon where we will be showing two Bentleys from our current inventory. And then in a few weeks time, from the 1st to the 5th of April, we will be in Essen Germany for the Techno Classica. You will find us in our usual location in Hall One with around half a dozen top quality Rolls-Royce and Bentleys on display. We look forward to seeing you at either of these two events if you plan on attending.
Review of 2008
11th December 2008
We may still be a few weeks away from the end of the year, but now seems an opportune moment for me to draw breath and look back over the year that was 2008. To state the obvious, 2008 has been a difficult year for many industries globally and the motor trade has not been without its problems and casualties. However for Frank Dale & Stepsons, 2008 has been a very productive and successful 12 months. We have focused strongly on offering for sale only the very best Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars, concentrating particularly on the rare and much sought after stylish pre-war cars, the Continental series Bentleys and coachbuilt Rolls-Royces built between 1952 and 1966, and the modern classics in the making, such as the Continental R, S and T, the Azure and Rolls-Royce Corniche convertibles along with its Bentley counterpart, the Continental convertible.
Traditional forms of investment such as stocks and shares and the property market have been adversely affected during 2008, so we have found many new investors have been looking elsewhere, and they have found that certain types of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars have been a more than satisfactory alternative. Not only have they performed well in holding or increasing their value, but they have provided a great deal of pleasure to their new owners, something no stock or share could ever do. Our long list of new customers in 2008 coupled with our existing and valued client base has resulted in Frank Dale & Stepsons enjoying a very successful 12 months.
Having studied the results from the many auctions this year, there seems to be a consistent theme. That being that the rare, stylish and exotic cars in good to excellent condition have sold for very handsome prices, and I put our successful year somewhat down to this factor, and to having such an excellent selection of cars of this nature. I am always very proud when I walk through our showroom to see such a consistently high quality selection of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars on display. Our workshops, restoration facility and trimming shop have also enjoyed an excellent year, carrying out many major restorations on a number of cars of great importance and beauty, whilst our servicing department continues to serve our customers in the London area and beyond.
Such has been the demand in our workshops that we have expanded our team. Our workshop manager Vincent Roma has done an excellent job in not only overseeing the works his team carry out, but also passing on his knowledge to our younger members of staff, ensuring that the future of Frank Dale & Stepsons is in safe hands. Our showrooms have also been very busy, with my colleague and co-director James Crickmay and his son Giles assisting me admirably in welcoming our customers and friends from all over the world, as well as dealing with the day to day running of the business. Our restructured and improved website continues to receive a great deal of traffic each day and coupled with our extensive advertising strategy, the cars we have for sale are given a very high profile and the best possible coverage in the market place.
It has been a busy year for our company, not only on the domestic front but also abroad. Both the number of cars we have exported and our foreign exhibiting commitments have increased during 2008. During the year we attended the Retromobile Festival in Paris in February, exhibited at the Antwerp Classic Salon in March and the Essen Techno Classica in April. We also made our first trip to the Geneva Classics show in October, exhibiting two Bentleys. On the home front, we attended both the RREC and BDC rallies, as well as exhibiting at the 75th Anniversary Festival of the Derby Bentley in Gloucestershire, exhibiting at The Goodwood Revival Festival and also The MPH Show here in West London. James, Giles, Vincent and I have also visited a number of customers all over the world during 2008, making it one of our busiest years on the travelling front, and making British Airways very happy no doubt.
From a personal point of view 2008 not only saw me reach my 70th birthday, but also marked my 50th year at Frank Dale & Stepsons. How time has flown! To celebrate the latter, I resurrected an old tradition I began with my brother John and my stepfather Frank Dale in the 1970’s, that being to write and produce a Rolls-Royce and Bentley catalogue, giving our existing and future customers an insight into the company, advice on buying a Rolls-Royce or Bentley motor car, the cars we sell and the standards we keep. It was a great deal of work, but a rewarding exercise. Many thousand copies were distributed amongst our friends at the various Rolls-Royce and Bentley clubs around the world and the response was very warming. I received several hundred letters and emails from all corners of the world which were greatly received, so thank you to all who took the time to get in touch. I am sure an updated version will reach fruition at some point in the near future.
Well that brings my brief review of the year to an end. I would like to wish all of our current and future customers a very happy holiday season and we look forward to seeing and hearing from you in 2009.
Best wishes Ivor Gordon (Chairman of Frank Dale & Stepsons)
October Events At Frank Dale & Stepsons
29th September 2008
The recent Goodwood Revival Festival was a huge success and was immensely enjoyed by the staff and guests of Frank Dale & Stepsons. Mother Nature was very kind, providing a most welcome if not belated glimpse of English summertime, with clear blue skies. It was an exceptionally well attended event, with the pre 1966 car park bursting at the seams with superb motor cars. The Revival Festival has a reputation of becoming bigger and better each year, and the 2008 renewal did not disappoint with many new features including the unveiling of The Earls Court Motor Show display, which was beautifully constructed and very well thought out. We received a great deal of positive feedback from our attendance both about the cars we had on display and the company in general. Our thanks go to all of our customers and friends who came to share their motoring enthusiasm during the three days of racing action at Goodwood. We would also like to congratulate Lord March and his team for putting on such a spectacular event. If you haven’t done so already, we would suggest you book your tickets for the 2009 event sooner rather than later as it is fast becoming one of the best motoring social gatherings of the season and is sure to be another sell out.
October is going to be an especially busy month for Frank Dale & Stepsons. We will be exhibiting some of our current inventory at the Geneva Classics Show at the Geneva Palexpo Exhibition Centre which is situated very close to Geneva Airport on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of October. We are very much looking forward to adding The Geneva Classics show to our list of events we attend annually and greeting some of our Swiss customers to the show.
We will also be exhibiting a further three cars from our inventory at The Hempel Hotel in West London the following evening, Monday the 6th of October where the commemorative album which has recently been produced to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts Club will be unveiled.
The month concludes at Earls Court with the MPH Show where we will be exhibiting a further six or seven Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars in the Classics section. We look forward to seeing you at any of these events if you are planning on attending.