Description

1955 Swallow Doretti

No Reserve

In need of complete restoration; extremely rare; owned by our late vendor since 1965; registered with the DVLA

First seen in 1954, the Swallow Doretti was received enthusiastically both in America and the UK.

Little over a year after they started production, the company ceased trading having delivered only 276 cars, of which an impressive 200 or so are believed to survive, approx..70 of them in the UK and the majority in the USA.

This Swallow appears to have only had three recorded owners before our vendors family. In 1960 it resided in Bishop Auckland before coming into the hands of an officer at RAF Finningly, famed for the Avro Vulcan, so wo knows, was the owner a Vulcan pilot?

Changing hands once more in 1963, it subsequently came into the hands of our late Worcestershire vendor in 1965. According to the buff logbook, the car was originally green and resprayed the current white some considerable time ago.

The vendor's family remembers the car being driven up until at least the late 80s/early 90s, before the decision was made to dismantle it, piece by piece, hiding it in various outbuildings and parts of the house, due to a fear of having his rare sports car stolen. The logic was that if someone broke in, they would be only able to find ‘part’ of the car!

The parts have remained in their hidden locations ever since, until his family deciphered the handwritten coded whereabouts of most major components. There are still some parts missing, most significantly the rear axle and the wheels. (Since this was written, the rear axle has been found and will be delivered to us ASAP)

The multiple images shown here indicate the mountain that needs climbing to resurrect this rare car, although the aluminium panels are better than one would think and importantly RUP 516 is still recognised by the DVLA.

The chassis has suffered from the elements and prospective bidders are advised to come and inspect for themselves or if you need more photographs, please ask. Opinions seem to differ whether the chassis itself is saveable but that will depend what you want to end up with. Interestingly, the engine appears to have been worked on relatively recently, having had new pistons and liners fitted.

An opportunity to acquire what is now a very rare British sports car, so buy a trailer, clear a space in the garage and get cracking…

Contact - toby.service@brightwells.com