Lot Ended
Description
From a private collection; highly original; good running order;
well-known to the Club; bags of character; just how we like them!
Bicycle
manufacturer William Morris introduced his first car, the immortal 'Bullnose'
Oxford, in 1913, starting a tradition of Morris Oxfords that was to continue
right up until 1971.
A cheaper Cowley version was
made available in 1915 and the Oxford quickly gained such an enviable reputation
for reliability and build quality that, by the end of the 1920's, Morris had
become Britain's largest car manufacturer holding a 51% share of the
market.
The first Oxford models had 8.9hp White
& Poppe engines but by 1919 these had been superceded by Coventry-made
11.9hp Hotchkiss engines which gave easy 50mph performance. A more conventional
flat-fronted radiator replaced the distinctive ‘Bullnose’ type in late 1926, by
which time the car had also gained four-wheel brakes. Easy to drive and
maintain, the spacious and sturdy Oxford and Cowley models became Britain’s most
popular cars until sales were finally overtaken by the diminutive Austin
Seven.
Dating from the last year of production,
this delightful Oxford Bullnose has the Hotchkiss engine and four-wheel brakes.
Well-known to The Bullnose Morris Club, it has been owned by a succession of
club members over the last five decades and, judging by correspondence on file,
is regarded as one of the most original cars surviving, being used by Oxford
restorers as a reference.
Built in April 1926,
it was supplied new by Sam Robbins Ltd of Rugby in May 1926, their brass plaque
still on the dash almost 100 years on. There is also a lovely blue enamel
Stewart & Ardern Ltd plaque, sole London distributor for Morris cars. Gordon
Stewart was a friend of William Morris and had an arrangement that cars would be
delivered from the Cowley factory to his premises in Acton for distribution to
smaller independent dealers elsewhere in the country.
Finished
in Oxford Claret, it would originally have had a matching leather interior but
this was apparently in very poor condition so it was retrimmed in the early
1990s. It would also have originally had Gabriel shock absorbers but these are
no longer available so it has been fitted with period Andre Hartford shocks at
some point. Other than that it is pretty much as it left the factory all those
years ago.
Although there is no early history,
the car is well-documented from 1975 onwards. From 1975 – 1987 it was owned by a
Mr G Cann of Scunthorpe; from 1987 - 1992 by Mr D Arber of Southwell; from 1992
– 2006 by Mr AD Heaver of Chichester (who had the car retrimmed; from 2006 –
2015 by Mr C Stuart of Windsor (who fitted a new exhaust); from 2015 – 2023 by
Mr G Bradley who owned Classico Cars of Rye.
Our
vendor acquired the car in May 2023 to join his carefully curated collection of
outstandingly original Vintage cars. He has kept it in good running order and we
are told that it goes very well indeed, as the owner demonstrates in the video,
flinging it around our yard in some style.
It
comes with a large file of correspondence, a copy of the factory build record, a
few invoices for upkeep (it has covered so few miles over the decades that it
has never needed much) and lots of useful technical literature, club magazines
etc. There is also an original workshop manual (rocking horse
poo apparently, so don’t lose it!) and a spare gearbox.
Cars like
this are extremely thin on the ground these days and you could look long and
hard to find a better-preserved example. On offer here at a paltry guide price
for what it is, this 99-year-old Bullnose now needs another connoisseur owner to
continue to preserve it well into the next century and beyond.
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 –
[email protected]