The Endurance Rally Association’s recent Trans America Challenge saw more than thirty cars and their crews taking part, including Bill and Julie Holroyd in their William Medcalfprepared 1927 Bentley 4½ Litre. The route to the chequered flag was a typically tough one, taking them from the southern city of Charleston on the hot and humid South Carolina coast all the way up to Seattle in the cold Pacific Northwest.
Covering an impressive 8000 kilometres over 22 days, the rally brought an array of challenges – including temperatures in the south that approached 40°C, a tropical storm in Alberta, plus the 4302-metre altitude (and thin air) of the legendary Pikes Peak. Bill admitted afterwards that the rally was very demanding: “One day was 750 kilometres long and I felt like I’d undergone a full-body workout. Thankfully, the car was faultless for the entire trip, which is a credit to William and the team.
Credit must also go to my absolute rookie navigator, who started the rally telling me to slow down for every corner but by the end of the trip was exhorting me to drive like a madman!”
Bill’s Bentley is already a veteran of such challenging events as the Classic Safari, Peking to Paris and the Sahara Challenge, and as usual it performed brilliantly. For William Medcalf and his team of technicians, meanwhile, it means another satisfied client and another successful campaign for a vintage Bentley prepared by the company.
