Brough Superior motorcycles, sidecars, and motor cars were made by George Brough in his Brough Superior works on Haydn Road in Nottingham, England, from 1919 to 1940. George Brough was a racer, designer, and gifted publicist, most famous for his motorcycles – one of which was covered in Snapshot 371. But here we are talking about his cars, which are much rarer.
Brough made approximately 85 cars named Brough Superior. Built between 1935 and 1939, they were powered by Hudson engines and had a Hudson chassis. Three models were made, but only two reached production. The motorcycles were publicised as “The Rolls-Royce of motorcycles” – justified by their high quality – and the cars were also built to a very high standard.
The first car was the 4-litre made from May 1935 to 1936 using a 114 bhp 4,168 cc side valve, straight-eight engine. Performance was remarkable for the time with a top speed of 90 mph and a 0-60 mph time of under 10 seconds. The only body option was a four-seater drophead with coachwork by W.C Atcherley of Birmingham. 19 were made and nine are known to have survived.
Hudson Canada stopped supplying the eight-cylinder engine and chassis kits in 1936, and subsequent cars had a 107 bhp 3,455 cc straight-six, still with side valves and called the 3.5-litre – the subject of our Snapshot. A Centric supercharged version was also listed with a claimed output of 140 bhp. The chassis was 4 inches shorter than the 4-litre. Saloon bodies were available but most were open cars. Approximately 80 were made between 1936 and 1939.
The first owner of the car in our Snapshot is believed to have been a Mrs Minnie Sheriff, a lady friend of Brough’s.
The final car, the XII made in 1938, used a Lincoln-Zephyr V12 engine of 4,387 cc and Brough’s own design of chassis with Girling brakes and Ford axles. Only one was made with a saloon body built by Charlesworth. It still survives.
Image displayed with the kind permission of the Haynes Motor Museum
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