"You could make a good trifle in that, couldn’t you?” smiles Jenny Bean.

The beautiful glass bowl is one of many accolades her husband Bob, a well-known rally champion, has collected over the years.

Bob has won the aforementioned trophy for the historic RAC Roger Albert Clark rally three times. Across the dining-room, silver salvers and trophies glisten in a glass-fronted display cabinet.

Tankards commemorating Bob’s third-place finish in the 1992 Monte Carlo rally classic, first place in the 1973 all-night Mintex 7 Dales Rally and first place in the 1970 Granite City rally hang from the dining-room beam in the beautiful 17th-century farmhouse in Gomersal that Bob and Jenny spent two years renovating. Bob hints that there are more trophies in the shed.

He was 22 when he started rallying after becoming smitten with the sport watching night rallies with his pals. When he got the chance to participate he seized it, borrowing his mum’s convertible Hillman Minx.

The Hillman was one of a number of company cars within the family’s decorating firm that Bob would borrow. He also took his father’s company Cortina GT out for a spin on the rally circuit.

“But he wasn’t right pleased when we bought one company car on the Tuesday and I wrote it off on the Saturday. I rolled it six times,” recalls Bob.

He has driven Fords and Maestros – his favourite for their strength – but unlike another well-known Mr Bean – the hapless character played by Rowan Atkinson – he hasn’t had a Mini.

Bob has rallied around the country and the world. The toughest route he took was the Gulf London Rally lasting four nights and five days. “It went on and on!” says Bob. “It was amazingly difficult to do.”

In 1974, Bob participated in the month-long World Cup Rally. The 17,000-mile route took him and his co-driver, Eric Jackson, through London, Portugal, Monacco and back up through Tunisia. The pair finished seventh.

Bob has also rallied on the Isle of Man, and in October he hopes to replicate his 1977 win on the Isle of Mull. Bob’s celebratory snap of the moment is featured in one of many rally books recording his achievements throughout the years.

“It is 35 years ago – I’m not sure I could win it, but I would give it a go,” says Bob.

Renowned on the rally circuit as ‘Yumping Bean’ – ‘yumping’ explains Bob ‘is when you go over the brow and all the wheels take off’ – Bob has participated in 38 RAC rallies and is believed to be the oldest driver holding a rally competition licence in the UK.

“My proud boast is I have done more RAC rallies than anybody has ever done,” he says.

Bob was on the cusp of being snapped up by Ford when he almost lost his leg in a road accident while holidaying in France.

The injury meant he had to take two years out of the sport, but he was straight back behind the wheel and settled for pursuing the sport as a hobby instead of a full-time profession.

He says there have been many changes in motorsport. Today it is fuelled by people with money to modify their motors, improving suspension, brakes and tyres and making the cars lighter.

When Bob started out, competitors used standard cars. The MG Maestro he raced through forests at top speeds on a weekend was Jenny’s runabout! “It was a rally-prepared MG Maestro and it wasn’t difficult to drive,” Jenny recalls.

Despite all the changes, for Bob some things remain constant. Navigating notes are useful, but for someone who has always got by through his innate ability to read the road, Bob sticks with the status quo.

He also relies on the expertise of his navigator, Malcolm Smithson.

Bob only has to see a route once to remember it and he’s pretty good in fog and snow, too.

“You could put me on a race circuit that I’ve never been there before, in the dark, put a stop watch on me and I would do it and I’d go round another ten times and it wouldn’t be any quicker,” says Bob.

“He’s good at reading the road,” adds Jenny.

While she’s proud of her husband’s achievements, Jenny hopes that one day he’ll hang up the keys to his rally cars – a MK1 Lotus Cortina and a MK1 Escort – and invest in another classic, a sporty MG.

The glint in Bob’s eye tells otherwise! Racing around closed roads and through forests up to 112mph brings on an adrenaline rush and, at 73, Bob is prepared to put a few more miles on the clock.

“He always said when he wasn’t competitive he would stop, but he keeps bringing all these trophies home,” smiles Jenny.

“When I go out I do really enjoy it. Once I’ve done a rally I get it out of my system. I don’t go charging about the countryside,” smiles Bob.