Topic: AL85 Vauxhall 30/98 with Bentley parts known as the Vauxley

[Allan L]

Here's one that will perhaps confuse you, remembering that here on Autopuzzles things are often not what they seem to be.
Please give me as many details as you can but to score a point I'll need the maker and the engine.

[Allan L]

Not many Rookies who understand this period so up it goes after only a week!

[D-type]

A hybrid - Vauxhall with a Meadows engine ?

[AlexFrance]

Are some parts from Bugatti?

[Allan L]

A hybrid - Vauxhall with a Meadows engine ?

You have the right idea but it isn't a Meadows engine

Are some parts from Bugatti?

No Bugatti content that I know of

[D-type]

A V8 engine, Ford?

[Allan L]

A V8 engine, Ford?

Neither

[Allan L]

Not many Rookies who understand this period so up it goes after only a week!

Not many Experts either so up it goes again!

[nicanary]

Clearly a Vauxhall 30/98. Only four cylinders, so probably not an aero engine. Please don't tell me it's diesel!

[Wendax]

I think I found it:

The ex-Guy Warburton, The Hon. Ruth Cokayne & Major Henry Heath
1924 Vauxhall 30-98 OE-Type Velox Tourer
Chassis No. OE 185
Engine No. OE 308 (fitted 1935)
Registration No. FJ 3349

Nic Portway’s superb book, Vauxhall 30-98, The Finest of Sporting Cars features a foreword by none other than The Late William “Bill” Boddy, one of, if not the most well known and highly respected of all motoring journalists of the period. In this he writes “For me no car of the vintage period has the same appeal as a 30-98….” One couldn’t agree more. The Vauxhall 30-98 in all its various forms is quite simply one of the most iconic and exciting cars of the 1920s and remains top of many collectors’ shopping lists to this day.

Chassis number OE 185, as offered for sale here, was completed in December 1924, fitted with engine number OE 181 and supplied with standard Velox coachwork.

Despite Vauxhall Motors modernizing the look of the 30-98 throughout its production many were given “face-lifts” during the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s. The reason for this was simply that the performance still matched and often bettered the best offerings on the market at the time whilst the looks had become rather dated.

OE 185 is one such car and in 1929 the original body (the original number OE 185 is stamped on the floorboards and painted on the inside of the bonnet) was shortened in an attempt to give a more sporty and contemporary look to the car. The shortening of the body was quite simply achieved by removing the rear passenger doors and bringing the whole rear of the body forward to meet the gap whilst the chassis frame remained unaltered. A 30 gallon slab tank was fitted behind the rear of the body in between the chassis rails.

By 1935 the car had passed into the ownership of Guy Warburton, a well-known hill-climber, trialist and all-round vintage car exponent. It is reasonable to suggest that during the first few years of OE 185’s existence it was, like most Vauxhalls, driven quite hard and thus during Warburton’s ownership the original engine (number OE 181) was removed and a very late OE-Type engine (OE 308) was fitted  – and this engine remains in the car today. The purist will undoubtedly hark that this is therefore “not a matching engine/chassis number car” and they would be absolutely correct but consider this…At the time of writing engine number OE 308 has been in chassis OE 185 for 78 years whereas engine number OE 181 was only fitted in the chassis for a smidge over 10 years. At around the same time as the engine was replaced Warburton re-registered OE 185 with the registration number FJ 3349 – which it carries to this day.

On the 26th July 1936 Warburton advertised the car for sale in The Autocar and it is then seen again in the December 1936 edition of the same magazine only this time with Ruth Cokayne. One could probably write an entire book on the exploits of Cokayne who was quite a character but Nic Portway’s book is probably as good a reference point as any. The Hon. Ruth Cokayne was a dealer and one of the foremost protagonists of Vauxhall 30-98 “modernizing”, her own Wensum being a very well known example. Latterly she became a Spitfire, Wellington and even Lancaster delivery pilot – they don’t make them like they used to!

Cockcayne advertised the car for sale again in the January 1937 edition of The Autocar and it resurfaces again in the January 1943 edition (a copy of which is offered with the car in the accompanying history file). Rather than a mere advert for sale OE 185 is the subject of a regular feature in the magazine called “Talking of Sports Cars” (No. 166).

From this quite lengthy article one can deduce that the owner at the time was Major Henry Heath who describes the modifications to his car in quite significant detail. This includes an in-depth description of the mechanical “improvements to the braking system”. From the three pictures included in the article one can see that the body has been shortened and fitted with a fold flat screen, P100 headlights and a louvered chassis valance. It also appears to be sporting Invicta type front and rear wings. According to the article the car was re-painted in the original dark blue cellulose and “The upholstery is in spotlessly new blue hide and blue pile carpets make the interior look gay.” Little indication is given as to the performance of the car on the road due to “the present restrictions” – one assumes Heath is referring to petrol rationing.

During the war years the car was passed through the hands of various Royal Naval Officers. When a car changed hands it received a new petrol ration book. However this was limited to one ration book every six months so this was about how often the officers played musical chairs with their cars. At some point, also during the war, a Mr. C.W.F. Parker became the custodian of OE185 and he campaigned it just post war at various speed events. This included the first speed event to be held on British soil when the runway at Elstree aerodrome in Hertfordshire was used for a straight-line sprint.

The history file with the car then shows that on the 19th May 1961 OE 185 was sold by Columbi to a Mr. A. Brown for £110. At some stage a Mr David Newport co-owned the car with Brown (an undated hand written document in the accompanying file shows the share of costs) and it remained in Newport’s care until being purchased from his estate by the current owner in 2008.

The current owner is a highly accomplished motor engineer who owns a company that specializes in the restoration of vintage cars and, more often than not, those of the Vauxhall variety.

To this end OE 185 has recently been treated to a total mechanical restoration, including but not limited to:

    Engine OE 308 (production ended at OE 310) completely rebuilt less than 10,000 miles ago.
    Counterbalanced crankshaft
    New billet aluminum conrods
    New white metal bearings
    New high compression pistons
    All valves and springs renewed
    Lightened flywheel with Borg & Beck type clutch
    Cylinder head gas-flowed
    Twin SU carburetors fed by twin SU pumps
    1930s 4-branch exhaust manifold
    The radiator has been re-cored with correct honeycomb type core
    The rear axle (OE 298) has been fully re-built
    The chassis has been restored and strengthened
    The suspension system has been overhauled with all new bushes and shackle pins along with two new front wheels.
    All wiring has been completely renewed.

 

N.B. At the time of photography OE 185 is fitted with a Bentley front axle (as per its pre-war form) and a Bentley gearbox. These two items are currently being replaced with a Delage front axle (as per its 1951 form) with hydraulic brakes and a Vauxhall four-speed gearbox (number G 3897) both of which should further improve the performance of the car.

During the current ownership OE 185 has been used at a number of events, always being driven to and from each event. These have included the inaugural Flying Scotsman rally in 2009 where it won the pioneer class (6th overall) and VSCC hillclimbs at Wiscombe Park, Shelsley Walsh and Prescott (54 seconds). This year OE 185 has covered around 3,000 miles and was quite rightly present at Waddington Fell to celebrate 100 years of the first appearance of the Vauxhall 30-98 along with the Shelsley centenary celebrations.

Whilst this is not by any means a factory original car it might perhaps fairly be described as being in an original condition incorporating changes that have been carried out during a long and tough career on the road and track. A true warrior and survivor of the vintage period with continuous history from new, offered for sale here is an opportunity to acquire and enjoy one of the mainstay cars of the Vintage Sports Car Club – a true icon of the 1920s motoring movement that has benefitted from a mechanical restoration by a marque specialist.

[Allan L]

Wendax has found it, despite my misleadingly asking for the maker and engine (implying that the engine was not original) so deserves another point!
I did not know it was for sale and thought it would be rather harder to track down.
As you have found there are/were quite a lot of non-Vauxhall parts about it, so can you think what it is/was called by the owner?
The name recently came up for another car in Autopuzzles!

[Wendax]

Vauxley again? 

[Allan L]

Vauxley again? 

Yes exactly that!
That's what made me think of posting this one