1924 Rover 8 Two-Seater with Dickie

Description

Ex-Sharpe Collection; extremely rare air-cooled Rover; large and interesting history file; in regular light use until very recently; affectionately known as 'Alice'; one for the Rover connoisseur!

Founded in 1878, Rover has its roots way back in the very early days of the British motor industry. John Starley and William Sutton progressed from making sewing machines and pioneering safety bicycles before producing the Rover Imperial motorcycle in 1902.

In 1904 they moved into car production with the release of the lightweight Rover Eight, designed by Edmund Lewis, which had a 1,327cc single-cylinder engine and three-speed gearbox and positively bristled with innovative design features.

During the Great War they produced staff cars based on a Sunbeam design and by the 1920s Rover occupied a comfortable niche in the market supplying luxurious and beautifully built machines to the upper-middle-class motorist who demanded something a cut above the average. Not particularly fast or ostentatious, they had a peculiarly British combination of understated elegance and engineering excellence.

Very few people could afford such cars and Rover struggled to make money until the company came under the stewardship of the Wilks brothers, Spencer and Maurice, in 1930. They transformed the manufacturing process and turned Rover into a mass producer of quality cars that were a cut above those made by the likes of Austin, Morris and Ford.

The pre-Wilks-era Rover 8 came out in 1919 and was designed by Jack Sangster (who later became chairman of BSA). An open light car with two or four seats, it was powered by a 998cc two-cylinder side-valve engine with detachable cylinder heads which was cooled by air sucked in through scoops on either side of the bonnet. With a 3-speed gearbox and rear wheel brakes only, it produced 13hp which gave it a top speed of 45mph with 45mpg economy.   

A much-loved little buzzbox which proved its worth on gruelling events like the Scottish Six Days Trial and the Land’s End to John O’Groats trial, with cylinder heads that famously glowed red when driven hard at night, it remained in production until 1925 by which time around 17,700 had been sold, although it is doubtful if more than 40 or 50 still survive today.

First registered in Leicestershire in March 1924, this Rover 8 two-seater with dickie has the more powerful long-stroke engine that was new for that year and gave the car “an appreciable increase in power”, according to the sales brochure. It is one of the last of the narrow track cars (3’ 10”) and has the long-wheelbase chassis (7’ 10”).

It comes with a large and fascinating history file extending back many decades which will keep the next owner happily engrossed for hours and we can only give the very briefest summary here. There is also much useful technical literature, a fraction of which is shown in the last few photos.

A buff logbook details two owners in the Loughborough area during the early-1950s by which time it had already been painted blue – the standard colour was Rover Biscuit Brown although other colours were available at extra cost.

In 1955 it was acquired by a Paddy Green of High Wycombe, a 2011 letter from his girlfriend (later wife) recounting how Paddy took her courting in ‘Alice’, as the Rover was affectionately known, and they enjoyed many happy trips in the car, including attending the 1957 London-to-Brighton Run. There are also various historic photos of Alice from this period and several bills for maintenance plus correspondence with the Rover Co Ltd etc.  

Alice then spent over 40 years in the famous Sharpe Family Collection of Vintage and Veteran cars before the collection was dispersed at a Christies auction in June 2005, the catalogue describing her as being: “Generally complete, and although seemingly in fair order, owing to its storage must be considered in need of thorough attention”.

From 2005 to 2009 she was owned by Brian Carr, a member of the Rover Sports Register, who restored Alice and incorporated some ingenious improvements including a Citroen 2CV starter motor (a similar device was optional on the Rover in 1924 but wasn’t fitted to this car) and adapting the magneto as a distributor for coil ignition.

From 2009 – 2018 Alice was owned by a Frank Brinkley of Ipswich, three old MOTs showing that she was in light use, covering around 250 miles between 2010 and 2013 and she has covered just under 400 miles since, the odometer currently showing 56,254 miles.  The next owner was a Trevor Williams of Wisbech from whom our vendor acquired Alice in October 2022 to join his collection of rare and highly original Vintage cars.  

He has kept Alice in good running order and taken her to various shows where she is always much-admired, also driving her around Herefordshire with a Union Jack flying to celebrate the King's coronation in May 2023. She comes with a remade starter motor casing and there are also other items (including an extremely rare original Viking radiator mascot) which will be made available to the winning bidder by separate negotiation if desired.

As you can see in the photos, Alice is in really super condition for a lady her age (101). Last driven about two years ago, she is in running order but would benefit from some fine-tuning and fettling before returning to the roads once more. There is a thriving Rover 8 section within the Rover Sports Register who will be happy to assist with any technical queries and will give a warm welcome to Alice and her next owner at their many social events.

On offer here at a very modest guide price, this exceedingly rare air-cooled Rover comes with a large and interesting history file and now needs an enthusiastic new custodian who can continue to preserve her for future generations to enjoy.

Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 –  [email protected]