Lionel "Nick" Nichols? (...Nickname 
)
You may laugh but you are almost spot on.
Rather than going back and forth trying to get the letters in the right order, I'll give you the point and declare this one solved.
The puzzle car is a Vauxhall Special based on a 1936 chassis with a body built in 1952.
It was built by Lionel "Nick" Nicolls of Enfield, Middlesex, UK.
