Turkish-born Armenian Nubar Gulbenkian was born into wealth and spent the major part of his life enjoying that privilege, with a passion for ladies, race horses and the 'bon viveur' lifestyle.

The son of Calouste Gulbenkian, a rich oil baron, he became a true Anglophile, having been educated at Harrow School and Cambridge University.

Described, probably fairly, as eccentric he was rarely out of the social columns of the popular press and he cultivated this air of eccentricity, so ably playing the part of the model English gentleman and invariably appearing with his trademark monocle and a fresh orchid in his lapel.

He had a passion for fast and expensive cars and Jack Barclay's London Rolls-Royce showrooms in Berkeley Square were just a stone's throw from his London home –The Ritz Hotel of course.

In post war years he ordered several Rolls-Royce motor cars, notably upsetting Rolls-Royce with the avant garde coachwork he commissioned from Hoopers on a Silver Wraith chassis – The Pan...