Main illustration: “By 1930 a new car was parked outside Kidston’s home on Grosvenor Square, a Bentley Speed Six… Kidston took delivery of this resplendently pristine automobile and immediately drove north to John O’Groats in Scotland to participate in the Monte Carlo Rallye. The reporter for The Daily Telegraph had joined Kidston for 100 miles on the trip up. “Very exciting it was” he wrote. A member of staff of Autocar was to accompany Kidston on the rally and discover fresh definition for the word “exhilarating.” First away at 2am was Kidston’s Bentley, which [the reporter] noted, was “far too long in the bonnet to be true.”
 
Between Alness and Dingwald a rally official waved down the Sunbeam carrying a reporter for The Motor and cautioned the driver. Not far ahead the ice-bound road took a sharp right under the railway bridge. They drove slowly and saw a large ominous hole in the brick wall. “Who went through?” the reporter enquired. “Commander Kidston” came the reply.
 
Kidston limped to Inverness [and] was delayed for two hours for the fitting of a new front axle. He arrived in Glasgow at 11am minus front brakes. He didn’t even wait for the control to open… The journalist who had conceded to riding to John O’Groats with him “in some fear” said Glen’s plan was to forgo the rally and establish a new record between Scotland and Monte Carlo. That he was doing his version of Barnato’s race with the Blue Train seems likely. Aware of the steamer problem at Dover, Glen had reacted in a typically Kidston way. He chartered his own ship for the crossing.
 
Given that Kidston had hit 95 mph with the reporter beside him, the likelihood is that he succeeded in his goal, although the historical record does not provide documentation…”
 
Beverly Rae Kimes, ‘Glen Kidston: A Boy and His Bentley’, Automobile Quarterly Vol. 44, no. 1.