1932 Lanchester 30hp Tourer

Description

One of only 126 made and 11 surviving; 4.4-litre straight-eight with dual ignition; expertly restored over a 30-year period; engineering to die for; all-aluminium coachwork; in regular use and driven to the sale; a magnificent machine on every level


“The gentle giant under the bonnet is so strong, so well-knit, so supple, and of such instant obedience that the heaviest task seems mere child’s play. At 70mph the pedal was not nearly down to the floor. It is a car with a stride, and a big stride, coupled with brakes that make you feel like the Bank of England, the best I have met on any car. Pressing the pedal is like pressing a cushion, and the brakes pull the car up with the gentle but firm insistence of an expert angler playing a trout.”  Sunday Times, August 1929.

“No other motorcar maker has ever received quite so much of the sincerest form of flattery as have Lanchester for their suspension system. The car seems glued to the road, free of pitch or jolt at all speeds. To eulogise the springing would be merely to gild the lily – to criticise would be childish... The engine simply cannot be felt, and it can be barely heard at any speed... It will accelerate from 3mph to 83mph in top gear.”  Country Life, December 1928.

Genius is a much over-used word but the Lanchester brothers displayed it in spades. Prolifically inventive, George and Frederick filed hundreds of patents between them as they designed and constructed from scratch all the components needed to build Britain’s first ever petrol-powered four-seat passenger car, a feat they achieved in 1895.

Over the next 30 years they pioneered innumerable features that we now take for granted including turbochargers; fuel injection; disc brakes; epicyclic gearing; detachable wire wheels; stamped steel pistons; piston rings; hollow con rods; the torsional vibration damper and the harmonic balancer. Indeed, Autocar once wrote that of the 36 primary features in modern motorcars, Frederick alone was responsible for 18 of them.

A particular triumph was the straight-eight engine that entered production in 1929 in the Lanchester 30hp, replacing the six-cylinder unit from the majestic 6.2-litre Sporting Forty. A crossflow 4.4-litre overhead-camshaft design, it boasted a massive ten bearing crankshaft and twin-plug ignition, the latter supplied with sparks by a BTH magneto and battery/coil.

Astonishingly smooth and refined, the engine went into a 142" wheelbase chassis which cost a mighty £1,325 – more than a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. With 82bhp on tap at a lowly 2,800 revs, these 30hp cars, when fitted with lightweight bodywork, were capable of almost 90mph – again humbling the Silver Ghost. Other notable features included temperature-controlled radiator shutters and a Clayton Dewandre brake servo under the driver’s seat to assist stopping power (hence the 'pressing a cushion' analogy by the Sunday Times quoted above).

A massive and magnificent motorcar, designed for cruising indefinitely at 70mph and favoured by Royalty and the Maharajas, only 126 were built before the Great Depression killed demand and drove Lanchester into liquidation, the firm being taken over in 1931 by their next-door neighbours in Birmingham, the mighty BSA/Daimler conglomerate, after which things were never quite the same...

One of only 11 known to survive, this stunning 1932 Lanchester 30 comes with a vast history file extending back many years. It was first owned by a Mrs Van de Meyer of Bournemouth who sold it to a Newbury-based funeral business during the Second World War. In 1965 it was acquired by a Lanchester aficionado, Mr Newton-Smith of East Sussex, who was to keep it for the next 30 years.  

He commenced a major restoration which continued throughout his long ownership and included having the car re-bodied in aluminium as a replica of that built for Nancy Lanchester (George’s daughter), using copies of original factory drawings (see last few photos). He also had the engine rebuilt in 1990 but never quite got to the stage where it could be driven on the road before he finally sold it in 1994.

The next owner was a Lanchester Club member, Mr Whitehouse of Bedfordshire, who managed to get the car roadworthy within a year, taking it to the 1995 Lanchester Centenary celebrations where it was the star of the show. Frank Lanchester’s 100-year-old daughter, Betty Mobbs, was also in attendance and the owner had the honour of treating her to a ride in the car at her request as it was her favourite among the cars on display.

Over the next few years he constantly improved the car, as detailed by many invoices and much correspondence on file. This included having a new windscreen and frame specially made by James Pearce of West Sussex. A hood and frame were also specially made by Wessex Workshops of Westbury and a fabulous vintage Auster screen was fitted to shield the rear seat passengers from the elements. A tonneau cover is also stowed away neatly behind the rear seats.  

The ethos of maintaining the car has been to use original parts wherever possible, using more modern materials when prudent. To  mention just a few of the jobs carried out: the car was rewired and fitted with discreet flashing indicators for safety in modern traffic; the headlamps were re-silvered and uprated with twin-filament bulbs and double-dipping; the original BTH magneto and coil were rebuilt; a complete new set of spark plug caps were specially made in modern PEEK thermoplastic (the ceramic originals were prone to cracking); the original Autovac was overhauled; the carb was rebuilt; the dashboard was refurbished and fitted with extra instruments including a rebuilt Tapley brake meter and a water temperature gauge; the brakes were relined with new shoes all round; the original exhaust system was carefully restored by Franklins of Northampton, preserving the original baffles and replacing the outer casing. You get the picture – this car has been expertly maintained by a Lanchester connoisseur.

It has also been used extensively, always the sign of a good car! The history file bulges with mementoes of all the club events and rallies that it has completed over the last 30 years, and we are told that it has won the coveted Owners Club Shield on multiple occasions. Some 18 old MOTs show that it has covered some 17,500 miles since 1995, the odometer currently showing 56,235 miles which is believed to be correct.

The history file also contains a wealth of technical literature relating to the marque, including a copy of an original maintenance manual for the 30hp and 21hp models. The Lanchester Archive at Coventry University has an extensive collection of material about the company and its cars, including copies of the original factory drawings and engineering blueprints, many of which are reproduced in the file for this car, others stored on a computer disc that is also included.

Our vendor acquired the Lanchester in 2022 as a stablemate for his Vintage Lagonda. He has thoroughly enjoyed the experience of owning such an exalted machine but his declining health means that he has decided the time has now come to pass it on to a new custodian with the energy and enthusiasm to continue using the car as its makers intended.

Driven some 40 miles to the sale, it has been starting promptly and running superbly as we have moved it around on site, with what looks to be healthy oil pressure on the distinctive ‘Engine Oiling’ gauge.

One of the finest motorcars that we have ever had the privilege of offering in almost 20 years of hosting these sales, this rare and magnificent ‘Gentle Giant’ is on offer here at a very attractive guide price and will bring enormous pleasure to its fortunate new owner.

Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – [email protected]