Welcome to Part Two of our report on VSCC Prescott on 6th and 7th August.
In Part One we looked at the racers. Now we’ll look at the pre-war cars that we found in the car parks. Part Three will cover the post-war cars.
As in Part One, we’ll give you a mix of pictures of the cars, stuff we know about them and stories we heard on the day. We hope you enjoy Part Two: The Pre-War Cars…
1925 Frazer Nash Fast Tourer
This lovely machine was on its own in the paddock on the Friday set-up day. The same body was also used on the more highly tuned Super Sports. the other correct name is 11.9 HP. the engine is a 4-cylinder Anzani. The car belongs to Simon Coates, whose grandfather had an almost identical car. This car still exists, and Simon was able to copy the body to achieve a faithful replica, on a genuine Fast Tourer chassis. A particular feature is the use of beaded-edge tyres, which give the car its light and lively look.
This is one of the first 50 cars – evidenced by the cast aluminium radiator shell with the headlamps attached to it. Just visible is the stitching of the radiator to repair it where these always used to split in the rough and tumble of prewar and postwar competition.
1937 Talbot 110 Sports Tourer
This may seem to be for road use only. Not a bit of it. As shown on a small plaque between the dumb-irons, it was prepared by the Talbot Racing Departmet, commissioned and raced by Geoffrey Wooding. It came fisrt in the 25 Septamber 1937 Brooklands High Speed Trial, first at the BARC Brooklands event on 16 October 1937 (lapping at 105.97 mph) and first in the 7 May 1938 Lewes Speed Trials.
1929 Bentley 4½-litre saloon
For sale by Fiskens, this car is one of just three surviving four-door Weymann saloons by Mulliner on this chassis, one of 56 produced in total. A very original car.
1928 Bugatti Type 40 Fiacre
The coachwork on this car was one of Jean Bugatti’s first creations, built for his two elder sisters, L’Ébé and Lidia. It was based on a stock Type 40 chassis. The style was influenced by the curved bodies of 19th century ‘Fiacre’ carriages. because the weight of the body was greater than that on a standard Type 40, this car has a supercharger from a Type 37A and larger Type 46 brakes. Lidia treasured this car and retained it until 1972.
Three Model A Fords
All three of these cars were brought by a group of friends from Yorkshire. From left to right they are from 1928, 1930 and again 1930 – but the one on the right has a coupé body with an aftermarket pickup extension in varnished wood, with the charming name of a ‘Picoupe’.
1937 Railton Cobham saloon
This is an original unrestored example of a late 1930s Railton with a Hudson 4.2-litre straight eight engine. The body is by Coachcraft of Hanwell in West London and the car was supplied to its first owner through the Thomson & Taylor garage at Brooklands, where Reid Railton was chief engineer.
1932 MG J2
This J2 has been fitted with a Shorrocks supercharger to bring it to J4 specification. The typical MG dashboard with hexagon-framed instruments includes a tachometer in front of the driver and a delightfully complex speedometer over on the left that shows RPM in top and third, to aid rapid double declutching – if the driver can see it!
The dashboard of the MG
The speedometer with RPM information for third and top.
1907 Stanley Model EX
Bonhams displayed a fine selection of vehicles that will be auctioned later in 2022. This Stanley steamer had a plethora of spindly valve handwheels with plenty of holes in them – to dissipate the heat from boiler, pipes and cylinders.
1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300
This Alfa has coachwork by Touring. The actual capacity is 2600cc – an increase that was apparently carried out to most of the cars in period.
Keep an eye out on this website for Part Three: The Post-War Cars.
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