Lot Ended
Description
From a deceased estate; in the current ownership for 67 years;
four-speed gearbox; restored in the mid-1990s; only 5,000 miles on rebuilt
engine; one of only around 80 surviving; ready for new adventures
Launched in
1924, the Sunbeam 14/40 was a high-quality touring car from one of
Britain’s most respected car makers. It was powered by the 41hp 2,121cc
four-cylinder overhead valve engine carried over from the Sunbeam 14 with
magneto ignition and Claudel Hobson carburation. The gearbox was a three-speed
unit with a right-hand change and brakes were fitted to all four wheels.
Semi-elliptic springs were used at the front, with cantilevers at the back.
Costing £595 in rolling chassis form, the 14/40
was available in a variety of saloon, coupe and open tourer body styles.
Production totalled around 2,850 before it was discontinued in 1926 and it is
thought that only around 80 still survive today.
First registered in Yorkshire in August 1925, this 14/40 has
Sunbeam’s open tourer coachwork with plenty of room for the whole family. It was
acquired by the current keeper way back in 1958 at which point it was still in
running/driving order but was in need of restoration.
A qualified engineer with much experience of restoring vintage cars,
he embarked on an extensive rebuild in 1983 which was to continue for the next
dozen years, the whole process documented in notebooks, drawings, invoices and
correspondence on file.
The restoration dragged
on for so long that it became a bit of a family joke, but in mid-1995 the
owner’s son announced that he was getting married in September of that year and
wanted his bride to be driven to the wedding in the Sunbeam. This rather set the
fireworks off and over the next few months the owner worked night and day to get
the job finished, as recounted in amusing correspondence on
file.
Finally finished and MOT tested just days
before the wedding, the owner then casually drops in the fact that his son’s
fiancé isn’t English: “Oh, this is the other tricky bit, she’s Spanish, and
though we’ve only driven it about 10 miles after an every nut and bolt
restoration, we are booked on the Plymouth to Santander ferry in the morning.
Gently we creep the 150 miles to Plymouth, engine freeing up slowly. I can’t
believe it, we are on the ferry. Crash out, begin to unwind. I am alive after
all.”
The owner continues: “We are cheered all
the way from Santander to Durango [c.100 miles]. We pass through the middle of
Bilbao, causing a near riot. They do like a party so they have one.
Marvellous.”
Arriving safely in Durango they have
a night’s rest and the next morning they head off into the mountains to the
wedding venue, the bride-to-be, her father and all the bridesmaids on board.
“The police are amazing and clear the traffic from outside the town hall so I
can manoeuvre and park, before piloting us through the labyrinth of tiny streets
that is the old town. I’d like to see that happen back in
Blighty!”.
Wedding duties accomplished, the
Sunbeam then makes it all the way back to Somerset, the owner concluding: “This
lovely old 14/40 completed the whole trip with no test driving beforehand at
all, and all that we broke was a rear light bulb (modern). Not bad,
eh?”.
Not bad indeed and the owner continued to
enjoy PY 3936 for the rest of his life until he passed away fairly recently. He
occasionally used it to tow his veteran Triumph motorcyle to The Pioneer Run
using a trailer hitched to the back, an eye-catching combination,
as illustrated in a Sunbeam Talbot Owners' Club magazine on file.
The engine had been fully rebuilt during the
restoration with new pistons, bearings etc, and there are lots of invoices for
subsequent upkeep including a second engine rebuild in 2004 by Roger Harle of
South Gloucs, with new bearings, reground crank etc, followed by another
overhaul in 2013 with a new set of pistons, timing chains and gears etc. The
radiator was recored at around the same time. Since then the car has covered
just under 5,000 miles, judging from the old MOTs on file.
The interior was retrimmed by David Nightingale of Corsham in red
Connolly hide and mighty fine it still looks today, some 30 years on. He also
made the canvas hood and sidescreens which also remain in very good condition. A
detachable Auster screen is also present to protect the rear seat passengers
from the elements when motoring along with the hood down.
The owner was good friends with automotive historian Don Shapland of
Bristol, who literally wrote the book on Vintage Sunbeams, and in August this
year Mr Shapland thoroughly recommissioned PY 3936 to prepare the car for this
auction (see last photo for a summary of the work carried out).
He points out that this car has been fitted with
a four-speed gearbox from a Sunbeam 20.9 – “a desirable alteration carried out
on only around six of the 80 or so remaining 14/40 Sunbeams”. He also advises
that the crown wheel assembly in the rear axle has been replaced with a ratio of
4.72:1 for more relaxed cruising at speed. The compressions were tested and were
all between 120 - 125 psi.
There is a large and
interesting history file with the car, including period road tests, handbooks
and parts catalogues and much useful technical literature relating to the model.
It also retains its original (transferable) Yorkshire-issue number plate and two
buff logbooks with details of seven previous owners. The wheel-changing kit
is also present, including the special spanner required to remove the centre
wheel nuts and the bottle jack which clips neatly under the dash.
As you can see in the photos and the video, this
much-loved Sunbeam is in great shape for a 100-year-old and has been starting
promptly and running well as we have moved it around on site, with healthy oil
pressure.
On offer here from a deceased estate,
it looks great value at the modest guide price suggested, especially when you
consider that the last 14/40 Tourer we sold made over £25k in 2020 and this very
car had an agreed insurance valuation of £35k in 2013.
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com