Lot Ended
Description
Rare and
fascinating French Light Car; fully restored about 35 years ago and carefully
used since; recent engine rebuild; VSCC papers; lots of history; find another
one!
In many ways the 1920s were the most exciting decade in the
history of the automobile. Unlike today’s market which is dominated by a tiny
handful of corporate behemoths, all churning out basically the same identikit
appliance, in the Roaring Twenties there were a plethora of ingenious small
firms turning out a glittering array of wildly inventive mechanical
contraptions that bridged the gap from the rudimentary ‘horseless carriage’ to
rolling palaces like the Bugatti Royale.
Largely hand-made by skilled
craftsmen, there was an outstanding variety of diverse machinery to choose from:
V16 engine, supercharger, whalebone dash instruments, Persian carpet upholstery,
fabric body, wood-fired boiler – you name it, and you could bet that someone
made it.
Founded in 1914, Donnet cut their teeth making flying boats for
the French Navy but, like many other precision engineering
firms of the time, they diversified into the burgeoning automobile
market following the acquisition of Swiss car maker Zedel in 1919.
By
1927 Donnet-Zedel ranked fourth in the sales charts of France, well ahead of the
likes of Salmson and Mathis, trailing only Citroen, Peugeot and
Renault.
Alongside a range of 2.5 and 2.1-litre six-cylinder cars, they
also produced a smaller and more affordable Type-G designed by none other than
Ernest Henry – best known for his superb Peugeot and Ballot designs – which
became the backbone of the company’s success.
This had a simple 1,098cc
four-cylinder side-valve engine mated to a four- rather than three-speed
gearbox, unusual for a small car at the time. Rugged and reliable, it proved its
worth on a 10,000km non-stop promotional adventure from Paris to Constantinople
and back without carrying any spare parts.
In common with many of the
smaller marques, Donnet-Zedel struggled with the economic fallout of the Great
Depression and their success proved short-lived. Despite attempts at
modernisation, including a prototype front-wheel drive car in 1931, they were
ultimately swallowed up by the SIMCA conglomerate in 1934 to manufacture the
baby FIAT under licence.
This pretty 1925 Type-G two-door saloon is
well-known to Brightwells as the previous owner was one of our clients back in
2016. Prior to that it had belonged for many years to a French gent, J-P Bigot
(the son of the architect in residence for the Palais de Versailles) who had
fully restored the car in the late-1980s/early-1990s. There is a June 1987
invoice for an engine rebuild by Beauzon & Cie of Neuilly-sur-Seine with new
pistons, bearings etc. which cost just under 8,000 Francs.
Our former
client bought the car from M Bigot in 2014 and got it UK registered as BF 7073.
Once back in England, the owner took stock of his new purchase and found that
although in nicely restored condition, it hadn't been run for around
10 years, so considerable time was spent on the usual recommissioning needed
after such a period off the road.
The winter of 2014 was spent attending
to numerous small jobs including tidying the interior, fitting an SU
carburettor in place of the original troublesome Solex and fitting a new
Lucas dynamo (the original units are included in the sale). The magneto was
repaired and the car was comprehensively rewired.
While all of this was
taking place, Cameron Engineering of Malvern made a repair to the cylinder
block, replaced numerous studs and overhauled the valves. Colwall-based Vintage
Metal rebuilt the steering box. Finally, four new Michelin Bibendum tyres were
fitted at eye-watering expense.
The car was then used regularly on VSCC
events, proving to be extremely reliable and great fun to drive, flying through
its MOT in 2015 and 2016 with no advisories recorded.
The current owner
acquired the car in June 2017 and has continued to look after it well, as
documented in various invoices on file. Work of note includes: radiator rebuilt
by Cheltenham Radiators; magneto rebuilt by Ribblesdale Auto Electrics; track
rod ends replaced; brake shoes relined; new clutch; carb rebuilt; new drive
rubbers and fibre couplings; extra sound-deadening material installed
etc.
He also fitted a
pair of original Scintilla rear lights that came from a Bugatti and are
worth a small fortune. He also had a bespoke distributor conversion kit
specially made for the car which has yet to be fitted but is included among the
spares that accompany the vehicle.
The engine was also rebored and
rebuilt by an ex-Lotus engineer with a new set of pistons etc, since when
the car has only covered around 200 miles so it will need a further period of
gentle running-in before the performance is exploited to the full. Although
there is no invoice for this, there are photos showing the rebuild in process
(see last photo).
The large and interesting history file includes a
French registration carnet from 1950 when the car was owned by Albert Senange of
Auxerre; more recent French registration document from Monsieur Bigot’s
ownership; plenty of invoices; VSCC papers; period road tests plus much
technical literature and marketing material relating to the marque. There
are also some useful tips on starting and driving.
As you can see in the photos,
this rare and beautifully-appointed saloon is brimming with Gallic charm and
will be warmly welcomed at VSCC Light Car events where it is sure to arouse a
great deal of interest. We are told that it drives as well as it looks and
it has certainly been starting promptly and running sweetly as we have moved it
around on site, with healthy oil pressure.
Of the c.100,000 cars made by
Donnet-Zedel, only a tiny handful still survive today so you are most unlikely
to see another for sale any time soon, let alone as good as this one. On offer
here at a modest guide price, it looks exceptional value compared to a
humdrum Austin 7 or Morris Minor…
Consigned
by James Dennison – 07970 309907 –
james.dennison@brightwells.com