P&A WOOD; BEST CAR (DEALER) IN THE WORLD? 7th Feb 2026

Mr Google says of P&A Wood: "Authorised Rolls Royce Motor Car Dealer and approved Bentley Service Provider, based in Dunmow, Essex. They are a founding member of the RR and Bentley Specialist Association, and specialise in the sale, service, restoration, and supply of spare parts for the entire range of these cars from 1904 to the present. Of primary importance to P&A Wood is maintaining the company’s brand heritage which emphasises the experience, knowledge, expertise and obsessive attention to detail they apply to every aspect of the business.”

It looked promising enough to tempt 20 Talbot enthusiasts to take up the offer of a guided tour of P&A Wood’s Dunmow facility, kindly facilitated by Charlie Elliott.  It turned out to be a typically dank February Saturday, so all but one of us arrived in inappropriate cars; thank you, Mike, for bravely bringing your attractively rebodied Talbot BD105.

We were welcomed in the “five-star hotel”- standard reception area with coffee and biscuits, and introduced to Max, an experienced heritage vehicle mechanic and our guide for the day. He explained the history of the business, starting when twins Paul and Andrew learned to drive in their Austin Ruby, and then their fateful purchase of a Derby RR that led them to a lifelong infatuation with all things RR; Andrew being the engineering brains and Paul focusing on sales and coachwork. The Business remains in the family, though Paul died in 2022, and Andrew has officially retired, but somehow comes in most days, apparently. Today, the business employs around 65 people and is led by Paul's daughter Georgina.

We began our tour in the main workshop, tidily packed with RR and Bentley cars of all ages and states of disassembly. Oh, and one Austin Ruby, still in the family. There were too many highlights to mention, but I recall a RR Ghost undergoing a partial engine rebuild following a successful Peking to Paris Rally. It had a slight engine knock at the start, but survived back home undamaged. I was a little surprised, though, to be told that a small excess clearance in the main bearings was being taken up by filing the bearing caps. Normal workshop tools were tidily stowed, benches clear, and a relatively small machine tool area contained spotlessly clean standard lathes and mills, but no CNC; another surprise. There was one very strange machine, rescued from Crewe when the site was sold to VW. This was, and still is, used to set up suspension components to ensure each corner behaves as it should in relation to its neighbour.

We were led into Andrew’s workshop, where RR Merlin aero engines are rebuilt. One on a stand in the corner has never flown and shows “zero hours”, though it would need a strip inspection prior to being run. Alongside, there is a very early RR airship engine on a display stand. P&A Wood also look after the publicly owned Napier Railton, kept at Brooklands.

Then, out and across the road into the body, paint and trim shop. Extremely high standard workmanship was evident everywhere, largely using traditional tools and methods. Jobs ranged from simple accident repair on moderns, to complete panelwork construction or restoration and paint on classics and vintage, plus a small trim work area.  P&A Wood is the only UK facility factory approved for bodywork repair on RR cars. 

Back to the main site, we were in a two-storey car sales area. In the heritage section you could choose Derby RR and Bentley cars from £75,000 to an S1 Bentley Continental drophead for a million; plus, of course, in another area, much more recent used products from Crewe and Goodwood. This building, though recently built, is more like a gentleman’s club than a used car lot, complete with vintage pendulum clock in its own tower. Back to where we started, we had an opportunity to visit “the shop”, where we could have bought a bottle of Autoglym polish, a Ghost radiator for £10k, or a vintage picnic set for £27k, among other things. Paul’s book on the company, published just after his death, is also on sale for £50.

My over-riding impression is the attention to detail, unmatched in my experience of other businesses operating in the sector. It is also conducted on a scale and breadth rarely, if ever, seen elsewhere. There must have been at least 150 RR and Bentley cars on site, from 1904 to 2026. Such standards are expected by RR and their customers, of course, but one gets the impression things would be the same without these pressures. Employees clearly share the founders’ standards, and include a number of craft apprentices, who ultimately will be responsible for keeping alive traditional skills which are disappearing from the wider auto industry.

Most of us then retired to a local village pub, where we were made very welcome by the staff, warmed by a (gas) log fire, and fed with delicious pub lunches. Well done, Charlie, another successful TOC event. Then, back to the “modern” and the delights of the wet M11, A14 and A1(M). I hope the BD105 got home safely.

David Kempton