Campling - Nairobi 1930s - Dr. Rabagliati's Eskotene Nursing Home [see also Mrs Wright]

Gazette - 11 May 1927

Web: Auction of the Rabagliati Red Label Bentley 2009: The Rabagliati 3 Litre is recognised as one of the milestones in the sporting history of the motor car. Chassis 356 was the first 'Red Label' Bentley produced and it was this model that was to lay the foundations of Bentley's financial success. The 'Red Label' became the envy of sporting motorists and race followers the world over. The final specification of the first 'Red Label', short chassis, speed model (generally known in the works as 'speed one') was signed off by W.O. himself in July 1923, and the running chassis No 356, engine No 357, was completed in late August of that year and was put on show in Bentley's showrooms in Hanover Street, W1. Apparently the future ownership of this rather special car was hotly contested. A number of famous sporting motorists of the period, such as J.D. Benjafield, were anxious to acquire it. However, it was Dr A.H. Rabagliati, an eminent surgeon and close friend of both W.O. and Wolf Banato that was privileged to buy it. Rabagliati was a talented driver and extremely wealthy, with a number of financial interests in motor sport, including Brooklands. The choice of coachwork and fittings were apparently agreed between W.O. and Rabagliati over dinner at Wheelers. Permission was granted to put the completed car on show, before Rabagliati shipped it off to South Africa to campaign it for the forthcoming season.