Pioneering Selection at Brightwells Classic & Vintage March Sale

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Ten vehicles spanning twenty-six pre-war years between them are set for auction at the up-coming Brightwells Classic & Vintage sale on Wednesday 7^th March 2018. Representing several major manufacturers of the time, the motorcars within the Leominster-based auction are both varied and historically significant.

Holder of the earliest production date, as well as the highest estimate for the auction, is a 1911 De Dion Bouton DE1 two-seater tourer. Possessing a 720 cc single-cylinder engine from a French manufacturer who became one of the most prolific engine suppliers in the early days of motoring, the DE1 was the smallest model offered by De Dion Bouton. The documentation with this particular DE1 suggests that over its lifetime this car has been resident in Belgium, France, and the Netherlands before arriving in the UK in 2008. Soon afterward the De Dion Bouton found itself in the ownership of a retired coach painter who rebuilt the engine, fitted discreet flashing indicators and a brake light as well as finishing the two-seater tourer in its current coat of bright red. This fully functioning DE1 still possesses many of its original Edwardian features including the correct Solex Type M carburetor, brass-hinged windscreen, Lucifer headlamps, scuttle-mounted side lamps and fantastically curvaceous Le Stentor brass horn. Expected to fetch up to £30,000 at auction, this DE1 is a smart and charming representation of a pioneering manufacturer of automobiles.

In far less complete condition but impressive and scarce is an Alvis SA 11.9 Firefly Tourer from 1933. Alvis constructed 400 SA rolling chassis before commissioning the bodywork to a variety of coachbuilders. This particular example was assigned to Coventry-based Cross & Ellis. The Alvis factory referred to the Firefly as the SA 11.9, although in brochures it was more commonly referred to as the Firefly Twelve. An open-top four-seater such as this would have sold new for around £475. This particular SA 11.9 comes with a huge file of invoices and correspondence, the majority of which detail work undertaken by Alvis themselves while the car was restored during the 1960s. This includes a full re-build and balancing of the engine as well as reconditioning of the J-type steering box. The currently exposed wooden frame also benefitted from renewal work back in 1961, and the car has not been used since. Original parts removed from this SA 11.9 during the restorative work some sixty years ago have all been carefully kept, which should allow for a rewarding reconstruction of an SA 11.9, of which there are very few survivors.

Meanwhile, the specific model that could be said to be the starting point for the Chrysler Corporation is available via a 1926 Chrysler Model F-58 Roadster in eye-catching red and cream. Based on a Maxwell, an automotive company that was experiencing severe financial issues in the mid-1920s, the F-58 was the first motorcar to bear the Chrysler name.  Further re-development on the last Maxwell model also led to the creation of the first Plymouth. This F-58 is powered by a 3-liter engine and is capable of developing 38hp at 25 miles to the gallon. In good running order, this Chrysler has spent many of its years in Australia before being transported to the UK in 1989. This F-58 has brought its Australian number plates with it as well as a good condition hood, side screens, sundry spares, a V5C and various import documents.

Further listings in the Brightwells sale include a 1930 Ford Model A Cabriolet and no fewer than five pre-war Austins.  Of these, a 7-seater Austin 20/6 Mayfair Limousine from 1937 carries itself as proudly as an ex-Royal Family 1936 Daimler Thirty-Two V 4.5 Hooper Limousine. Lot viewing opens on Tuesday 6^th March prior to the auction the following day.

Words by Gillian Carmoodie. Photographs courtesy of Brightwells.

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