1926 Rolls-Royce 20hp Barker Tourer.
An original-bodied, Barker tourer, not to be mistaken for one of many ‘replicas’ that are out there. You may think that the car looks like a Horsfield reproduction, partly due to the colour scheme, but in fact it’s the very car that was used by that company as the basis for the design of their bodies. The car was delivered to us 100 years to the day from its first registration date in 1926! Correct, complete, smart, in lovely condition all-round, and includes a full set of six 21” wheels, divided windscreen, Barker dipping headlights, ‘diver’s helmet’ rear lights, and various other appealing features. Sensibly, the car has been updated with flashing indicators – important in modern traffic conditions. The history file includes some lovely family photos from the 1950s and 1960s, as well as a ‘story of the car’s life’. Complete with side screens and a tonneau cover, stainless steel exhaust system, the car is running and driving nicely, greatly enhanced by the fitting of overdrive, relaxing cruising speeds nicely. Offered serviced, prepared and newly MoT tested.
Chassis No. GZK10.
Reg No. WU 6110.
Price. £55,000.
Snippets: The Millers & the Majors
Miss Irene Sarah Sutcliffe (born 1896) was a scion of the Sutcliffe family of Todmorden – the family wealth was earnt in the corn milling industry. Irene had two sisters – her eldest Kathleen died of peritonitis in 1910 aged just 16, in 1923 her youngest sister Winifred married Derrick Warden Milligan in what was described as “the most fashionable wedding”. Derrick’s father was Sir William Milligan (1864/1929) a pioneer of Laryngologist & Aurist research – today known as Ear Nose & Throat, he developed the treatment of hearing issues into the branch of otology. Their father Arthur died in 1912 aged just 50 after a long illness & his widow and children moved from The Royd into Scaitcliffe Hall near Todmorden. The hall was sold in 1954 to the local council for use as an old age home. It is not known if Irene ever drove the 20hp or if she preferred to be chauffeured – there is a report that in 1922 when Irene was living at Lower Laith in Todmorden that a member of the public was knocked down – the car being driven by her chauffeur!
In 1946, after WWII, the car was with Major J A Jackson of Gosforth – in 1939 his family had sent a cheque for the sum of £5 to the war fund to be used for the purchase of 4,000 cigarettes for the soldiers!
A few years later saw the 20hp with another Major – this time Major P. Andrews who in 1940 aged just 24 was the recipient of the George medal. That year when he was a 2nd Lieutenant an unexploded bomb fell near the village of Wing in Buckinghamshire, he was not trained in bomb disposal but he simply de-fused the bomb using a screwdriver from his bicycle tool kit which allowed the local residents to go home!
From 1983 to 2011 GZK10 was with Eric Jackson who during the 1960s was a Ford Works Rally Driver who had, driven from London to Cape Town in 13 days – not we hasten to add in the Rolls-Royce!! His rallying exploits are described in his book “Petrol in my blood”, a copy of which will accompany the car.