Motorsports
Rubin became close friends with Woolf Barnato, the director of Bentley Motors, and even lived together for some time. Rubin made his driving debut at Brooklands in 1928 where he finished in sixth place before he made his first appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Driving alongside Barnato, the two won the event in a Bentley 4½ Litre, even though the car had been damaged before the end of the race. He remained at Bentley for Le Mans in 1929, but his car failed after only seven laps. Despite Australia's rich motor racing history, it would take until 1983 until another Australian (Vern Schuppan) won the French classic.
In July 1929 he came eighth in the Irish Grand Prix. In August 1929 Rubin was injured when his Bentley overturned during the Tourist Trophy on the first lap. With his injuries, Rubin turned to team ownership, and helped fund fellow "Bentley Boy" Henry Birkin's racing efforts. In 1933 they shared the wheel of an MG K3 in the famed Mille Miglia race and won their class before Birkin raced Rubin's Alfa Romeo with George Eyston and Whitney Straight. Birkin later drove Rubin's Maserati 3000 in the Tripoli Grand Prix in May 1933 during which, while reaching over for a cigarette during a pit stop, he burnt his forearm on the exhaust and died five weeks later.
In April 1934 Rubin flew to Australia in a Leopard Moth with K.F.H. Waller to make arrangements for the Centenary Air Race from London to Melbourne in October. Their return flight of 8 days, 12 hours was not officially timed but was ten hours faster than Jim Mollison's World Record. He entered his de Havilland Comet in the race but was unable to compete due to illness. Waller and O. Cathcart-Jones finished fourth in the Comet and, returning to England, set a round-trip record.
Bernard Rubin died of pulmonary tuberculosis in 1936.
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