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LOT 373

c.1905/1906 Daimler 30/40hp Tourer Registration no. AC 752 Chassis no. 3127

Sold for £57,500 inc. premium
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Lot 373

c.1905/1906 Daimler 30/40hp Tourer

The December Sale Collector's Motor Cars, Motorcycles and Automobilia|7 December 2016, 16:00 GMT|London, Olympia

c.1905/1906 Daimler 30/40hp Tourer
Registration no. AC 752
Chassis no. 3127

*First owned by Corneila, Countess of Craven wife of the 4th Earl of Craven
*A high performance Edwardian car of the utmost quality
*Formerly part of the A W F Smith and Sullivan private collections
*Known ownership history from new.

Footnotes

One of the founding firms of the British motor industry, Daimler became part of Harry J Lawson's motor manufacturing empire in 1896, and a swift change was made from importing Daimler cars from Germany to making them in Coventry. The four-cylinder, 7,249cc, 30/40hp model was first offered in 1905, and these powerful cars were popular in competitions such as the Brighton Speed Trials and the Bexhill-on-Sea and Shelsley Walsh hill climbs, etc.

Originally bodied as a landaulette, chassis number '3127' was first owned by the 4th Earl of Craven and registered to Cornelia, Countess of Craven in early 1906. The family seat was Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire, hence the Daimler's Warwickshire registration, 'AC 752'. Holidays were spent at the Balmacaan Estate near Inverness, and at Monte Carlo. There would appear to have been at least four Daimlers in Craven family ownership during the period 1902 to 1909. The Earl at this period was William George Robert Craven (1868-1921), who in 1893 had married Cornelia Martin, daughter of a wealthy American couple, Mr and Mrs Bradley Martin. Later, the Hampsted Marshall estate (south west of Newbury, Berkshire) was the family home and it is possible the 'AC 752' ended its days in Craven ownership there.

The car was built to the order of Cornelia, Countess of Craven in late 1905 and dispatched to Rothschild et Fils, Paris for landaulette coachwork, being registered at Warwick to the Countess on 21st February 1906. A letter from Daimler confirms that cars numbered '3130' and '3135' were booked for delivery in March 1906, hence chassis construction would have commenced in the autumn of 1905.

In 1911, the landaulette coachwork was removed and a 10-seat rear-entrance station wagon body built by Thomas Pass of Coventry. Steel disc wheels were fitted in 1923, and the car remained in use until December 1932. It was stored until sold in 1939 to C R Sutton of Benham Park, Newbury, who used it until the outbreak of war in September of that year.

Left in the open until August 1944, by which time the bodywork had deteriorated considerably, the Daimler was then sold to J Blackford of Pembroke Road, Newbury. It subsequently passed to F W Hutton-Stott of Speen Place, Newbury, and then to collector Alan W F Smith of Orpington, Kent in October 1945. The original wooden wheels were found together with a set of lamps, spare coil, spare magneto, and original tools. By 1948, the station wagon body had been broken up and a two-seat body from a Martini of contemporary age had been fitted in its place.

In the 1940s, Daimler was subject to the Veteran Car Club's 'Acquisition Scheme', and found its way to the A W Smith Collection, later at Cross In Hand, East Sussex. Entered as lot number '37' in the dispersal sale of 1968, it was withdrawn and handed back to the VCC (a condition of the Acquisition Scheme). Shortly thereafter, in the early 1970s, the Daimler was acquired from the VCC by Nicholas Ridley, having been re-bodied in its present form by John Mitchell. Nicholas Ridley owned the car for a couple of years, describing it as 'an excellent goer' (see email printout on file).

Following his ownership, the car was sold to Dennis Lucey in Ireland, and together with others, later found its way to the Sullivan Collection in Honolulu, Hawaii. Before that collection's dispersal sale in 1991, 'AC 752' was sold privately to a collector in Japan, more recently passing to another Japanese collector before returning to the UK in January 2015. The vendor reports that the car is mechanically unmodified, and describes it as in good condition mechanically, with sound bodywork and 'average' paint and interior. A rare and powerful Edwardian with an interesting history.

Saleroom notices

Please note that the registration number 'AC 752' was surrendered when the car was exported and is not currently with it, the car is however duties paid.

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  • 6 December 2016, 16:00 - 19:30 GMT

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