1922 Hands 10/20 Tourer

Lot details
Registration No: HT 6431
Chassis No: 424
Mot Expiry: June 2010

Operating from the Lion Works, Barn Street, Birmingham and founded by George W. Hands whose previous ventures had included the Calthorpe Motorcar / Motorcycle Companies, the Hands Motor Company was current between 1922 and 1924. The firm's staple product was an accomplished light car design that progressed through 9.8hp, 10/20 and 11/22 iterations. Based on a 7ft 6in wheelbase ladder-frame chassis equipped with all round quarter-elliptic leaf-sprung suspension and rear-wheel brakes, the 10/20 was powered by a Dorman 1100cc four-cylinder sidevalve engine allied to Wrigley three-speed manual transmission. Praised by the Autocar magazine for its "surprisingly smooth engine" and "decidedly comfortable springing", the model was arguably too expensive to succeed. Despite both Hands entries for the 1923 London-to-Edinburgh Trial receiving Gold Medals and experimentation with a six-cylinder powerplant, the marque foundered after just 150 or so cars had been made.

H&H are indebted to the vendor for the following description: "The Hands has been owned by me since 1960. I believe her to be unique as a 1922 model. Shortly after I bought the car a 1923 10/20 was advertised in Veteran & Vintage magazine as the only one left. I saw this car in Dewsbury and was for a while in touch with the person who bought her. I am told that this car may now be in a Dutch motor museum but I have not been able to trace her whereabouts. I am in contact with someone in Australia who has an incomplete 1923 10/20. The engine was overhauled in 2003 by the South Cerney Engineering Company and is now run-in having completed less than 1,000 miles since the work was completed. She has, as long as I have owned her, slipped out of top gear. I have never found this a problem. The gear lever lies comfortably under the left leg when driving maintaining the box in top gear. In 1995 I had some work done on the body to replace rusted metal where panels meet the wooden frame. Two dickey seat panels were replaced (see various bills from TT Workshops, Wilts). Also the car was resprayed back to her original colour blue. The front and rear aluminium plates to the water jacket on the engine block are replacements. Back in the 1960s I met the nephew of the first owner who told me that his uncle had the side lights fitted on top of the wings where the headlights would have been ex-Works. The car was supplied by the College Green Motor Company of Bristol and retains its original number plate.