1934 Rolls-Royce 20/25 James Young Saloon
A smart, clean and handsome example, very nicely finished in silver, with wings and waistline moulding in a lovely shade of blue. The interior – excellent leather to the front, cloth to the rear and headlining all in deep blue, with light blue carpets and particularly attractive wood veneers – all work together to create a very unusual and pretty combination, all in fresh, smart condition, and to a high quality. Appealing features include ‘trouser crease’ wings, an original Philco ‘Transitone’ radio control on the dashboard, flashing indicators incorporated into the existing sidelights and taillights, as well as trafficators worked from a different switch. Mechanically very good, running and driving nicely, clutch just overhauled and various preparation carried out. Offered newly MoT tested.
Chassis No. GUB77.
Reg No. TBA
Price £29,500.
Snippets: Grocers & Milk
The first owner of GUB77 was Susan Herald Cochrane the widow of Andrew Cochrane who with his brother Alexander, started their Grocery & Tea trade in the 1870s with 3 shops. When Andrew died in 1924 (of appendicitis) Cochrane’s had expanded to over 100 stores in the Glasgow area and Andrew’s estate was valued at some £238,000 which today would be in excess of £10m.
In 1921 Andrew Cochrane & James Fyfe-Jamies purchased Viewfield Villa in Alyth which they gifted to the local nursing association – it remained used by the medical profession until 2014 when it was sold to a private family. It is not known how long Susan Cochrane kept GUB77 but from 1965 to 1990 the 20/25 was with Edward Stanley Domnarski of Ledyard in Connecticut. Edward had 3 sons Edward Jr, William & David who all appear to be involved in the legal industry & have remained in Connecticut.
The last long-term owner was Cornelius de Rijke (1922/2015) who owned GUB77 from 1990 until his death but the car remained with the family until 2017. In 1945 Cornelius started his milk transport company which rapidly expanded into general haulage – today the company has some 27 branches in 7 countries with 1,300 employees in Europe. The wealth the company produced enabled Cornelius to indulge in his hobby of classic cars and he started his private collection which ended up with some 200 cars in a purpose-built museum in Oostvoorne.