A lovely, correct, sound and appealing example of the most sought-after large engine model, finished in a very attractive shade of Suede green, with interior in the same colour, as per original specification. The car is very smart and correct cosmetically, with excellent paintwork and chrome, and the upholstery, woodwork, headlining and carpets all being in very good condition too, as well as having a sliding sunroof. We have just completed some recommissioning work, which included attention to steering, suspension, wheel bearings, water pump, etc, and a new set of five tyres and and heavy duty tubes, and we should mention that the car has been upgaded by the installation of a five speed gearbox, easier to use, and giving more flexibility than the original unit. The history file with the car includes correspondence, many invoices for work carried out over the last 25 years or so (including an engine overhaul), lots of MoTs, a buff logbook from 1963 and a correct handbook. There is a very impressive toolkit fitted into the boot lid, smartly and correctly presented. The car is offered serviced, prepared and newly MoT tested.

Price. £29,500.

Snippets: Proud Custodians

After spending 9 years with its 1st owner S. E. Skinner the Jaguar MK IV was bought by Edna & John Browne in 1957 for the princely sum of £275!  After many years of faithful motoring the car reached 180,000miles and he decided in 1987 to restore the car – after he built a workshop to carry out the work in!!  In 1987 he displayed the Jaguar at Stow Hall in Stow Bardolph, home to Lord & Lady Hare – the estate was bought by the Hare family in 1553, the original Hall was built in 1589 later demolished, the 2nd Hall was built in 1796 and the 3rd one in 1874 & was demolished in 1994 – the extensive gardens including a walled garden are still in existence & are open to the public.

From 1988 to 1997 the Jaguar was with Peter J. Biggs who had previously owned & restored a 1935 Lagonda Rapide Tourer which in 1971 was awarded 1st place at a concours event.  Shortly after selling the Jaguar in 1997 the Biggs family bought Histon Manor which they kept until 2018, by then there were 3 generations of the family living there!  The history of the house can be traced back to the 1800s with the Sumpter family when it was known as Histon St. Etheldred – an old oil painting of the Hall shows a pair of yew trees flanking the building – they are still in existence today.  Later owners included William Peed (Solicitor), Ambrose Harding who had a private zoo in the grounds of the Hall & was a specialist on leeches!!  From 1927/50 the Hall was occupied by Dr. W. Rouse who in the 1930s translated the Odyssey & the Illiad in plain English – these are still used in schools today.  The 1950s say the house with the St Josephs with JK St. Joseph being an analyst of aerial photography – in 1965 Selwyn College purchased a Cessna which allowed JK to continue his research into the images which number some 500,000!

A late ‘SC’ specification, 2.7 litre version, which incorporates various improvements over earlier models, the main one being a larger, 2762cc engine, replacing the 2511cc used previously, as well as many changes to steering and suspension, and the adoption of 19″ wheels. This example is in need of significant restoration work and is being sold as a project, but having said that, a great deal has been done already, including absolutely excellent ash frame and panel work, documented with photos, preparation for engine overhaul, with work such as re-metalled big ends and great deal more excellent-looking work.  There are new pistons, a new clutch, new camshaft, engine gasket set, etc, and many other new parts with the car. Invoices from the 2000s, for work done and parts supplied amount to about £27,000. As mentioned above, in the file are photos of work progressing, along with tax discs and insurance documents from 1953, instruction manuals and parts books, and a buff log book from 1950. We have applied to have the original registration number, BYF 325 re-instated, and hope for this to be in place soon.  Lots to do, but a rare and potentially very rewarding opportunity, which has been started in a very positive way.

Price. £19,500.

Snippets:  Swedish Heiress & Secondhand Dealer

The first owner of the Alvis was the Danish Countess Hella Frijs (1886/1974), her family connections include Karen Blixen (cousin) of Out of Africa fame.  Hella was the daughter of Count Mogens Frijs whose family owned one of the largest estates in Denmark as well as land in Kenya. 1908 Hella married her cousin Frederick Krag-Juel-vind-Frijs who died in 1926 aged just 43 leaving Hella with their 3 children Allette, Niels & Erhard.  During WWII Erhard became a volunteer pilot & lost his life in 1940, age just 27) when his aircraft was shot down in aerial combat over the Karelian Isthmus.  The countess herself was a keen sportsman – she owned & flew her own plane – it was rumoured that she was to take part in the 1934 Australian Centenary race – a distance of some 11,300 miles – she didn’t!  She also trained & rode her own racehorses – primarily in the steeplechase.  We have managed to find a photo of the Countess in the Alvis which was taken in 1938, the car was just 3 years old and she was 52.  It would appear that the Countess kept the car until after WWII – she served as an ambulance driver during this period and in 1946 the car was sold.

The 2^nd owner was Albert Sidney Painter who live in a railway carriage house in Bognor Regis!!  He was the owner of a successfully furniture polish & silicone car polish factory who in 1951 sailed to America on the Queen Elizabeth to take part in a “Dollar Export Market Mission”.  His fleet included a 1908 Humberette & he later bought the motor yacht “Jennifer Anne” which he registered at his American address of Casey Key, Florida.

 From 1950/1995 the Alvis was with the Pudding King – Mr. Ernest Onians – he made his name by taking waste food from restaurants and processing it at his mill in Suffolk to turn it into pig swill – a very successful enterprise.  Whilst travelling around Suffolk selling his produce he found many of his customers had paintings & furniture which they needed to sell to pay their bills.  Ernest ended up with a substantially collection which he literally stuffed in to his house & sheds at the mill.  After one of the sheds burnt down, he decided that maybe a valuation was in order but that was as far as he got.  When he died in 1994 the artworks had not been researched & as a result of a quick sale the estate only attained £2million.  Within this collection was a small painting The Sack of Carthage which was “attributed to Pietro Testa” & was bought by a London gallery – it was cleaned, restored and its true identity revealed as the Destruction & Sack of the Temple of Jerusalem by Nicholas Poussin – it was sold to the Rothschild foundation for £4.5m.  The original auctioneers where sued by Ernest’s family in 1999 and settled out of court in 2002……  The moral of the story is “catalogue your artwork”.

A rare and desirable, late MK2 version, which started life as an automatic with fuel injection, but converted in the mid 1980s to Triple Weber carburettors and manual gearbox. Both of these changes are confirmed on the Aston Martin heritage certificate, which leads us to believe that the work was done by the factory or an official agent. The certificate records the engine number having been changed to ‘VC’ suffix, and the car carries ‘Vantage’ badging, so it seems fair to say that the car is to Vantage specification.  Clean and tidy, smart overall, but in need of attention to the underside before being used on the road.  Lots of potential, suitably priced. 

Price £195,000.

A lovely example of a very rare, 3.5 litre V8. As we understand it, only 68 were built in right-hand drive, and consequently very hard to find! The car is very nicely finished in soft white with original black leather interior and black hood, and is in lovely condition. The car has been with one family (father and daughter) since 1978, and quite possibly since new. We are investigating this further. Well maintained, with a good deal of history in the file, including many invoices, a run of MoT certificates, original handbook and service book, etc, etc. In the late 1980s, the car was stripped to bare metal and completely repainted to a high standard in the original shade of white, and still lovely to this day. Offered serviced and MoT tested.

Price £195,000.

Snippets: Mills the Man of Music

The Mercedes-Benz was owned by Gordon Mills – songwriter, manager and zoo-owner!  His clients included Arnold G Dorsey, Thomas J. Woodward and Raymond O’Sullivan – all 3 entertainers were persuaded by Gordon to change their names & we know them as Englebert Humperdinck, Tom Jones & Gilbert O’Sullivan.  From various sources we’ve learnt that neighbours of Gordon Mills when they lived in Surrey included Cliff Richard and members of The Beatles.  The family home was famous for not just having an Olympic sized swimming pool but, at the time, the largest private zoo where he kept – panthers, leopards, cheetahs, tigers, orangutans and gorillas and hummingbirds!!  Gilbert O’Sullivan often babysat the children of Jo & Gordon Mills and one of the daughters was the inspiration for his 1972 hit single “Clair”!

Believed to be one of just 20 built in RHD, with less than half of those remaining. The car is in gorgeous condition, having been subjected to a major body restoration a few years ago to a very high standard, as well as more restoration work, totalling some £175,000 in all! This is all documented with invoices.  Also in the file of accompanying paperwork are an owner’s manual and instruction manual in Mercedes pouch, original buff logbook, a continuation green logbook, photos of the restoration, and various other documents. The paintwork is like glass, and just fabulous! Chrome work is superb, and the whole car is beautiful, correct, and retaining original, mellowed red leather interior. The underside is as impressive as the rest of the car. Runs nicely and drives delightfully. Offered prepared, serviced and newly MoT tested. In addition to the video below, you can see a walk round here:
https://youtu.be/2BmEfNWPWZc?si=_0Bj6e3MTbomQTAU

Price £110,000.

Snippets:Woollen Mills to Tetrapaks

Dr Ian M. Munro took delivery of the Mercedes at his home in Roehampton. Ian Munro was the 2^nd son of Provost Donald Munro and the brother of Donald Hunter Munro who was an important figure in the BBC at Alexandra Palace.  Ian’s wife Annie “Nancy” Watson was the daughter of the industrialist Sir Logie Pirie Watson & she was actually born in Cawnpore where her parents lived.  Sir Logie started his working life in the Jute Mills in Aberdeen before re-locating to India where he became a director of the Cawnpore Woollen Mills making fabric for uniforms.  Sir Logie received his knighthood for services to the WWI war effort & sadly died in 1933 some five years prior to his daughter’s marriage to Ian Munro whose father also died in 1933.  When Sir Logie’s widow Lady Annie died in 1952 she left a large estate both in the UK & India where her daughter Nancy being the sole heiress to a considerable fortune.  In 1958 the Munro’s home in Roehampton was broken into with some £3,000 worth of gems & jewellery being stolen – there is no record of them being recovered. 

Later owners of the Mercedes 220S included Gordon Young of Aberdeen (retired farmer), Michael Grubb of Aberdour (hotelier), Jorn Anders Rausing (grandson of Tetrapak founder), Pierre Georges Mirabaud of Geneva (private Banker) and Hans Durr-Auster of Bulle (entrepreneur & collector of Citroen Traction cars).

Price reduction. A totally correct and exceptionally original example of a rare UK market, RHD drophead, supplied new in 1955 by The Woodcote Motor Co, Epsom. Sound condition, cosmetically mature and appealing, retaining original, mellowed tan leather interior, and of nicely understated specification with disc wheels and spats. The paint shows its age in a quite charming way, the chrome work is very good to excellent, and the overall appearance is seductively appealing. One owner from 1974 to 2015, and one since. Just 6,000 odd miles covered during that fifty years! Recent work has included a new stainless exhaust, new clutch, complete re-wire and a good deal more besides. Comes with a Jaguar heritage certificate confirming original specification and colour scheme, and a file of invoices from recent years showing parts expenditure, etc. Driving very nicely, sounding great, and fun to whizz around in! Very few survive in such undisturbed condition!  Part exchanges happily considered.

Price £85,000 – now £75,000.

Snippets:

The Name is Bond – G. Bond  

It is very difficult to work out who the first owner of YPC 555 was as we have two gentlemen who fit the bill – father & son.  perhaps someone out there can help us to work out which one it is.

Lt. Gerald Aubrey Bond (1898/1967) served as sharpshooter during WWI with the London Regiment and in 1917 he was awarded the Military Cross (group of 3) for his heroic deeds at Passchendaele.  The citation states the MC was for “conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty on several occasions when bringing up rations and material to the front line on pack animals, over very difficult country and under almost continuous shell fire.”  It continued that “in spite of casualties to animals and a stampede caused by shells, he never failed to deliver the whole of the stores.”  

Lt Bond’s son – Graham Forbes Bond (died 1983) was an active member of the British Motor Racing Marshals Club.  His wife Georgina Crossman was the daughter of Peter Crossman of the Watney Mann Brewing chain who in 1962 bought the Tetworth Hall estate.  According to local legend the Hall was requisitioned during WWII and it housed Italian & German PoWs.  Was there a direct link with the secret operation going on at Tempsford Airfield?  Local gossip had it that there must have been spies living there as sometimes lights were seen in the upstairs windows!!!

The Bond link with spies lives on…………….

A rare, left-hand drive example, in very smart and sound condition, unusually and very attractively finished in cream, with contrasting deep red leather and wire wheels – a colour scheme that works surprisingly well, suiting the car nicely in many ways. The paintwork is to a high standard and has a ‘warm’ feel to it, and the interior is lovely, with excellent red leather, fresh and, very well executed, very nice headlining, carpets, etc. The car started life in California, and perhaps because of this, is in appealingly sound condition. Running well, sounding glorious, and a good all-round specimen of a sought-after, characterful sporting saloon.

Price £167,500

Snippets: Radial Americans 

The DB2/4 was first owned by H. Gregory Remko of California who within a year sold the car to Edward D. Turner of 1505 Viewsite Terrace in LA.  Edward was an artist of seaside scenes & portraits as well as being chairman of his local “Liberty Amendment Committee”.  In the 1960s he was asked to design a striking cover for the Lloyd G Herbstreith / Gordon King publication “Action of Americans”.  This was full of plans to close several hundred government agencies, sell off facilities, and to abolish income, estate, and gift taxes.  Radical.

Price now reduced. A striking car, beautifully constructed in 2017 to a very high standard using a 3.6 litre XJS as a basis, built on a custom made chassis frame with a hand built fibreglass coupe body. All mechanical items overhauled and the quality of the finish to paintwork, upholstery, etc, is second to none and has to be seen. The car is wonderfully tight and rattle-free to drive and being light, performs very well with a superb automatic transmission, lovely exhaust note, precise, power assisted steering, etc, etc. From an appearance point of view, the car is reminiscent of various exotic machinery from the late pre-war and early post-war periods and really is an eye catcher. Essentially this is a new car, registered as 2017 but with the advantage of being 1989 from the point of view of emissions regulations. Just over 1,000 miles have been covered since completion. Offered newly MoT tested.

Price £75,000, reduced to £65,000.

Snippets:

A lovely, sharp, smart and correct ‘matching numbers’ example of the desirable Vantage model, one of just three built with automatic transmission, beautifully finished in deep Oxford blue with excellent black leather interior, as per the original factory specification sheet, with carpets, headlining, instruments, etc, all in very nice condition. Also as delivered, the car is equipped with power steering, chrome wire wheels (in virtually unused condition), heated rear screen, electric aerial, three ear hub caps and three point seat belts. The chrome plating is also in excellent condition, and the whole car has a ‘fresh’ feel to it, including the under bonnet area, which is particularly well & correctly presented. Not ‘over the top’, but just as it should be! A lovely example, running and driving very nicely, (as you can see in the video) and offered newly MoT tested.

Price £225,000.

Snippets: Jaeger Cabinets to Clothing

The chassis cards show that when new the DB6 was registered to The Jaeger Co Ltd at Fitzroy House, Nr 11 Chenies Street, London.  The property dates from 1913 & was built for the cabinet makers Domenico Bianco & Sons – it was the London’s first concrete & steel building of 5 storeys and during both World Wars the company produced aeroplane parts including wings, propellors & munition boxes.  In the 1960s & 70s Nr 11 Chenies Street was home to Jaeger where they made patterns for their high-end clothing designs.

From the late 1970s until 2009 the Aston Martin was owned by James H. Delaney of Norton Canes and John Davies of Rushall – they lived less than 5 miles apart.