Graeme Forbes Identity and the Facts of the Matter

In 1990 , the specialty car company Middlebridge Scimitar Ltd contracted with the vintage car collector Edward Hubbard to buy the Bentley racing car known as Old Number One from him. Middlebridge agreed to pay Hubbard ten million pounds in cash and company assets. The price was so high because Old Number One was the most famous racing car in British history, dating from a period when motor racing was dominated by British cars and drivers. It was in Old Number One that Captain Wolf ('Babe') Barnato, diamond heir and leading light of the 'Bentley boys', had won his second and third Le Mans 24-hour races in 1929 and 1930. The 1929 race was a procession , with Bentley taking the first four places, but in 1930 there were more powerful German cars competing, and Barnato should not have been on the podium. But by a combination of skill and guile, he won again, ahead of Mercedes Benz. After(!) signing the agreement with Hubbard, Middlebridge did some more historical research, as a result of which it refused to perform the contract. Hubbard sued, and the case went to the High Court in London, Queen's Bench Division, where it was heard before The Honourable Mr. Jus