Meet the Yorkshire couple who rally the globe by vintage Bentley
Photo Gerard Brown
Marina and Graham Goodwin have driven more than 100,000 miles all over the world in their trio of vintage Bentleys and their wanderlust is still unsated.
“Some people go travelling when they're young, and they get it out their system, but I think what actually happens is you get it in your system and it never goes away,” says Graham Goodwin.
“We were quite adventurous types and we travelled every couple of years, until we hit about 30 and then decided we weren't lifers and we started to get sensible. So we ended up raising a family and renovating houses and setting the business up and doing all that stuff, but it never went away. When we sold our headhunting business I had this idea that we’d go around the world on a motorbike.”
“I made the mistake of buying Graham the DVD of The Long Way Round, and I know how his mind works,” interjects Marina.
Fortunately, a friend suggested that rallying might be a (marginally) more comfortable way for the Yorkshire couple to travel the globe and Graham began the hunt for a suitable vehicle. After being advised to opt for the reliability of a Dodge they, instead, fell for a pre-war WO Bentley and headed for South America.
“It was just an amazing, incredible, experience. We went up to 5,000 meters on that rally, there isn't anywhere that high in Europe. Seeing flamingos and salt flats in the Bentley, which actually coped with altitude really well, was just unbelievable. It's still one of our favourite rallies, because each country was completely different – the food, the people. Because you're in an open car, you absorb everything. You can taste and smell a country.”
The Goodwin’s original plan was to use the Bentley for one or two more similar adventures, but they were totally hooked on the experience, bought two additional Bentleys and have covered around 100,000 miles in them. “And I still catch the odd gear,” admits Graham.
Marina and Graham won the pre-war class of the Peking to Paris rally in 2019, they’ve driven their Bentley across the Serengeti and the Himalayas and all over Europe, attracting crowds wherever they travel.
“It’s almost like a bit of panto. You go through these places in a Bentley and people just can't believe it. You get such a friendly reaction. Sometimes you get mobbed as they've just never seen anything like it,” says Graham.
“And if you stop and open the bonnet, immediately there’s a crowd of men looking at it,” adds Marina.
Of course it’s not always gone smoothly. Old cars, unmade roads and bad weather are an unpredictable combination.
“It’s a bit like being on a motorbike in that if it's cold, you’re cold. If it's hot, you're hot,” explains Graham. “You layer up and layer down depending on the weather. If it rains, you get wet. It's actually slightly more cozy than a motorbike because you're inside the car, and as long as you're moving the rain blows over you. The hardest challenge is actually heat. In the Atacama Desert in and Ngorongoro it was almost unbearable. You’re pouring bottles and bottles of water on yourself and you've got dust in your face all the time.”
Appropriately, the Goodwin’s Instagram handle is @dustinmyface where they document their adventures. Graham is also Chairman of vintage and classic car club Rally the Globe where he helps shape future adventures for fellow club members. When he’s not behind the wheel himself, that is.
“We use the cars all the time,” says Graham, “We’ll take the long way round just to get a loaf of bread.”