THE REAL CAR CO. LTD

What’s new in Bethesda?

Well, we’ve come through two difficult years, and after a slow start to 2022 things got better and better, and we ended the year of something of a high. We have recently sold several significant cars in terms of desirability and in a higher price range, and this may indicate something of a change in the pattern of customer requirements.

How did you get started?

The Real Car Company was established in 1987, when Ian Johnstone and I found our hobby was getting out of hand. We found that more and more cars were passing through our hands and in the end we decided to make it a full time occupation, alongside a business making exhaust systems. But by the spring of 1988 the car sales had taken off, and we focussed solely on that, expanding into part of the premises we still operate from now. These days, there are ten of us here and usually around 40 to 50 vehicles in stock.

How would you describe the core of the business nowadays?

The car sales of models from the early 1920s to the mid 1960s still form the vast majority of the business, parts supply less so. It’s important to know where to source parts for the cars we sell, and we have a busy workshop that exists to look after the cars we’re preparing for sale. We don’t do any restoration jobs for customers but looking after our stock is enough to keep us occupied.

You often have a strong stock of Derby Bentleys – what is it that appeals about this generation, and how do they compare to the Rolls-Royce 20/25 and 25/30?

They’re more of a driver’s car, with a performance edge over the RollsRoyce equivalents, and higher gearing that makes them more useable – for instance on long-distance rallies. They’re still good value, I’d say. A decent sports saloon with a sunroof at about £60,000 is a terrific car for the British climate and a fraction of the cost of a vintage Bentley.

A vast number of classics have passed through your hands since 1986. What do you like to see in your stock list? We’ve had several cars that have come back to us four or five times, sometimes from customers who like to change cars often, or for a variety of other reasons. It’s nice to be able to offer these cars knowing so much about their history. The other thing we rather enjoy, which goes back to our early days in the business, is unearthing barn finds. Overall, we like to keep a varied selection of cars in terms of models, coachwork and condition, all within the range that we specialise in.

The market for many pre-war cars looks a little slow – is it the same for Rolls-Royce and Bentley?

It’s very hard to generalise – some cars go in and out very rapidly and are sold in a few days, some hang around and then we have two or three people interested in them at once. It’s impossible to predict, except to say that they all sell in the end! I do think the market for post-war cars is picking up. A good Bentley Mk VI, R-type or S-type, or a Silver Cloud, is a very useable car in modern traffic. I always tell people never to buy a car purely as an investment, but investment can come a close second to your wish to own a nice car. Values have done well when the economy struggles, as we found after 2008, when people look for other places to put their money. A car in the garage in more fun to use and look at than a bank statement!