On Saturday and Sunday 2 and 3 August 2025 the SAHB was back at Prescott, once again in a prime position thanks to our friends at the VSCC Library, who very kindly lend us space at the end of their tent.
Thank you to all those who came to chat about cars and bikes, old and new, and inexpensive and very expensive.
The weather was mostly kind to us all, and we were able to saunter between the Orchard car park, the racing paddock, the Bonhams field and the trade stands, and discover many racing and spectators’ cars.
Here are some of the cars (and other remarkable things) we saw – many of them with some stories from owners who generously gave their time to chat with us.
This is the Bugatti Owners’ Club, after all. From the left, a four-cylinder Type 37, two Brescias and a Type 35T.
A 1907 Mercedes 120 HP. This racing car was the first Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft car to have friction shock absorbers.
Impressive chain drive.
Not only racing, but for sale as well. This is a 1932 Morgan Aero powered by an 1100cc JAP V-twin engine. With three speeds and reverse (instead of the rather inconvenient two speeds and no reverse of earlier cars). In fine fettle.
This is the 1928 prototype Alta designed and built by Geoffrey Taylor. It was used as the development car for many years, and the body dates from around 1933. The engine is a four-cylinder, twin-overhead-camshaft monobloc of 60x95mm bore/stroke for a capacity of 1,074cc. The car has just finished a comprehensive mechanical restoration and was being seen for the first time in public for many years.
Closed cars that go up the hill are rare. Closed cars of this beauty are perhaps even rarer. This 1939 Delage 3-litre Olympic coupé carries Letourneur et Marchand coachwork. The mascot is a replica – but it does light up…
1937 Vincent-HRD Series A Rapide. Totally unlike the postwar Rapide, its engine has all the oil pipes externally on show, earning it the appropriate nickname of “The Plumber’s Nightmare”.
1906 Bianchi 28/40. Powered by a four-cylinder side-valve 7363cc engine, this Bianchi was acquired by Lord Montagu in the early 1960s to be part of his newly opened Museum at Beaulieu. He kept the car until 1968. Ehen the current owner acquired it in 2014 he realised that the tiny exhaust, small carburettor and odd-sized pistons were restricting performance. This was duly fixed. It is much faster now.
This is a 1953 3rd series Lancia Aurelia B20 GT. This example is one of only a few bodied by Carrozzeria Maggiora when Pininfarina were briefly at capacity. Only six Maggiora-built B20 GTs are thought to survive.
Not all old equipment at Prescott runs on road wheels. This delightful Graflex plate camera dates from 1923 and is fitted with a 1942 lens used by the allies in reconnaissance flights. The owner does his own black & white processing – but can still get colour processing done by professionals.
This 1934 Ford V8 40 was built in Canada for the right-hand-drive market and to avoid import duties by way of being built in The Empire. The interior is upholstered in beige Bedford cord, named after the textile town of New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Another Lancia – this time a 1933 Belna coupé with a narrow-angle V4 of 1196cc. This one was manufactured at Lancia’s French factory at Boneuil-sur-Marme. The Belna was the French version of the Augusta.
There was nobody with this Rolls-Royce Phantom III to tell us the two most important facts: chassis number and coachbuilder – so we emailed Tom Clarke (doyen of all things RR) and naturally got a rapid reply the next day from Australia. It is a 1938 car, chassis 3DL32, with an H. J. Mulliner sedanca de ville body, recently residing in the USA but now back home.
At lunchtime on Sunday the traditional jazz band played – at first here near the start and then while marching up the hill. Delightful.
This 1965 Gordon Keeble is no 93 of only 100 ever built – apart from one more made from spares some years after production ceased in 1967. It has a Chevrolet 5.5-litre V8 engine. The beautiful body, in fibreglass, was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro.
Alongside the Gordon Keeble was also this lovely example of a Bristil 411 Series 4. Emissions regulations forced Bristol to replace the 6,77cc engine with a lower-compression 6,556cc power unit, with much reduced compression. It was still blisteringly fast.
This is a turn up for the books. A 1907 Stanley Model H-5 Gentleman’s Speedy Roadster. Proof that there is always something remarkable and new at VSCC Prescott.
As we say farewell to VSCC Prescott for another year, the Stanley sets off up the hill, almost silently and in a gentle cloud of steam.
See you next year.
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