Lot Ended
Description
From a deceased estate; restored in Australia in the late 1980s;
imported to the UK in 2007 and treated to a sympatheic £20k restoration; only
2,000 miles since; a fine example of this rare and top quality Vintage
tourer at a very attractive guide price
Vauxhall made
their first car as early as 1903 and a whole range of magnificent machines were
soon to follow, including cars like the mighty 30/98 and the 25/70 which cost as
much as a Rolls-Royce and were every bit as well-engineered. However, by the
mid-1920s the market for expensive luxury cars had largely collapsed and
Vauxhall found itself in financial difficulties.
In December 1925,
General Motors stepped into the breach and bought Vauxhall for $2.5 million,
their plan being to turn the firm into a high-volume producer of smaller,
lower-priced cars – a strategy that was to save the company during the Great
Depression which soon followed, but also caused a lot of adverse publicity in
the UK as the press bemoaned the cheap ‘Americanisation’ of a once-great
marque.
However, before the first of these
smaller, cheaper cars came online, one last giant was to be produced, the
Vauxhall 20/60, introduced in 1927. Although GM-influenced, it was still very
much a Vauxhall and the advertising campaign made much of the fact that it was
comprised of 97% British materials and was built by British
craftsmen.
Furthermore, the six-cylinder 60hp overhead valve engine was
designed by Laurence Pomeroy's successor at Vauxhall, the engineer and
philosopher Clarence King. For the initial R-Type it had a capacity of 2,762cc,
rising to 2.9-litres for the 1930 T-Type. A range of body styles were available,
from short wheelbase tourers to a long wheelbase limousine. The 20/60 remained
in production until 1930, the vast majority of the c.5,400 made being sold
abroad.
A Dating Certificate on file from The Society of Automotive
Historians confirms that this magnificent Vauxhall 20/60 R-Type was built in
1928, the Melton Roadster bodywork being made by Holden of Adelaide. A 1999
Australian magazine article on the car relates that it was believed to be one of
only six made with this Melton body style, of which four were known to survive,
two of them derelict.
The article suggests that it
may at one point have been owned by the Australian Army (a staff car perhaps?)
as it had Army markings prior to being restored. A previous owner was George
Batten, owner of a bus company in New South Wales, who reputedly made a new
wooden frame for the bodywork and fully rebuilt the engine in 1982/83.
In 1984 it was acquired as an unfinished project by Bill Cardno,
owner of The Restoration Shop in Brisbane, who sold it to Trevor Poulsen in 1986
and restored it for him – ‘a total rebuild from the ground up’.
Little is known of the car’s subsequent history
in Australia, but it was brought back to the UK in 2007 when it was acquired by
a Mr C Russell of Frome and registered here as BF 4431. In 2009 it was acquired
by a Mr P Moore of Manchester who
reputedly spent £20,000 on the car over a six-year period, including
stripping the bodywork and repainting it in two-tone grey, overhauling
the engine and fitting a new clutch and starter motor – as related in an H&H
auction catalogue when it was offered for sale in 2016 with an estimate of £50k
- £60k.
The current owner acquired the car from
vintage car dealer Ivor Bleaney in February 2021, the invoice showing that he
paid £46,500 which included a full service, the car being declared to be in
“stunning… irreproachable condition… brand new hood with full side screens…
drives beautifully”.
On offer here from a
deceased estate, we can confirm that Mr Bleaney’s words still ring true today
and the car remains in really wonderful condition. Judging by the MOT history
online, it has only covered some 2,000 miles since it came to the UK, the
odometer currently showing 2,344 miles. Apart from an invoice for a new wiper
motor in July 2021 there are no other bills but there is a Valuation Certificate
from June 2021 stating that it should be insured for
£60,000.
Very little used for the last couple of
years, we are told that the late-owner’s son had it running earlier this year
but since it arrived on site we have been unable to start it. It appears to have
a Facet fuel pump fitted and we can hear it working but the engine won't fire up
so this will need investigation.
A top
quality Vintage motorcar, this exceedingly rare and handsome Vauxhall is on
offer here at a very enticing guide price and will draw crowds of admirers
wherever it goes.
Consigned by James Dennison
– 07970 309907 – [email protected]