LONDON, ENGLAND (July 17, 2009) – Bonhams is delighted to announce that The Ward Brothers’ Collection – one of Europe’s foremost groups of early automobiles – will be on sale at 2pm on Saturday 18th July at Henley-on-Thames. The brothers, Toby and Daniel, have a motoring heritage and have, between them, amassed a unique collection of early vehicles which they actively campaign both nationally and abroad. The sale includes a series of outstanding lots, highlights of which include a 1901 Panhard-Levassor 2.4-litre Forward Control Cab Phaeton, the only one of its kind still in existence. The Cab is in exceptional condition […]
LONDON, ENGLAND (July 17, 2009) – Bonhams is delighted to announce that The Ward Brothers’ Collection – one of Europe’s foremost groups of early automobiles – will be on sale at 2pm on Saturday 18th July at Henley-on-Thames.
The brothers, Toby and Daniel, have a motoring heritage and have, between them, amassed a unique collection of early vehicles which they actively campaign both nationally and abroad. The sale includes a series of outstanding lots, highlights of which include a 1901 Panhard-Levassor 2.4-litre Forward Control Cab Phaeton, the only one of its kind still in existence. The Cab is in exceptional condition and, eight years ago, was the second finisher in the annual London-Brighton Veteran Car Run, demonstrating that it still has good power. The 1896 Benz 5hp Victoria – from literally the dawn of motoring – is another important veteran.
Amongst those items on display will be the outstanding ex-Alf Briggs and Eric Houseley 1928 McEvoy-JAP motorcycle with a 980cc vee-twin engine, and the colorful 1899 Panhard-Levassor Wagonette is also worth highlighting.
Some of the cars in the sale have colorful histories, such as the 1911 RMC Seabrook 20hp Roadster. A top endurance racer – it won the Essex Motor Hill Climb in 1911 – the car was later donated to the War Department. Post-war, the car became a fixture at a boy’s prep school in Kent where it was adapted to roll the cricket pitches. It was from its position on the outfield that the car was spotted, in the 1960s, by a diplomat from the Foreign Office who acquired the vehicle for the princely sum of a pitch-roller and a jar of sweets for the pupils. He lovingly restored the car to its former glories.
Visit www.bonhams.com for more.
