We go behind the scenes at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, P & A Wood – the official Rolls-Royce and Bentley Heritage Dealers, sponsors of the UK and European Property Awards
Founded in 1967, the world-renowned P & A Wood are fully authorised Rolls-Royce Motor Cars dealers, and Bentley Approved Service dealers, as well as founder members of the Rolls-Royce and Bentley Specialists Association. With a remarkably broad yet deep expertise, they specialise in the sales, service, restoration and spare parts for the entire range of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars from 1904 to the present day. From kings to captains of industry, customers and cars come here from all over the world to be taken care of.
Today the facilities are impressive in their scale and ambience, but it was not always like this; identical twin brothers Paul & Andrew Wood started their business over fifty years ago, working exclusively with Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars, from a dirt floor workshop in Essex, UK. With Andrew in charge of engineering and Paul looking after sales and coachwork, the business quickly flourished, and saw a move to larger premises in 1970.
By 1988, an even larger premises was necessary, and they moved to the current site in the beautiful village of Great Easton. Alongside the offices, parts department and coachwork facility, a new building was erected as an engineering workshop, specifically designed to cater for the repair and maintenance of Rolls-Royce and Bentley motor cars.
It was during this time that P & A Wood were commissioned to complete the mechanical restoration of AX201,
the original Silver Ghost, the most famous and valuable heritage Rolls-Royce of them all. A dream come true for brothers Paul and Andrew.
Once settled into the new site, in 1995 a new but traditionally styled showroom was designed and purpose built on two levels to display heritage models for sale. Successes continued and during 2001 P & A Wood were appointed as “The Official Rolls-Royce and Bentley Heritage Dealers” in recognition of the knowledge and expertise the company has acquired.
In 2014, another magnificent traditionally styled showroom was opened to accommodate the new Rolls-Royce models, and a state-of-the-art coachwork facility. This left room for expansion on the original site, and in 2017 they opened a new fully equipped modern servicing facility, including a beautifully stocked shop, and an accessory department.
In 2019, P & A Wood achieved the ultimate concours success when the winner of Best in Show at the Pebble Beach concours was a Bentley 8 Litre Gurney Nutting, totally restored by the company. This was an accolade never achieved by any British restoration company before.
Both Paul and Andrew continue to maintain their passion for the business but having just turned 75 they now leave the day-to-day running to their Managing Director, Paul’s daughter Georgina Wood. There are lots of exciting projects and future plans in development and they are looking forward to the next chapter.
P & A Wood
General Enquires t: +44 1371 870848
RR Sales t: +44 1371 852000
e: [email protected]
www.pa-wood.co.uk
