25th Jul, 2007 0:00

Kempton Park Racecourse

 
  Lot 41
 

1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Super Sport FW Stiles Team Car


Lot details
Registration No: UV 819
Chassis No: 0312872
Mot Expiry: None

H&H Classic Auctions Ltd would like to thank motoring author James Fack for compiling the following catalogue description on behalf of the vendor:

"I have always been interested in cars with a history, so, having sold the two other Alfas, I bought one of the Alfa Romeo ex-team cars (UV 819)." Lord Strathcarron, in Motoring for Pleasure, Stanley Paul, London, 1963, p. 33.

"A history" is what this car most certainly has. In 1929 it raced in the Brooklands Double-Twelve, the Irish Grand Prix and the Ulster Tourist Trophy (TT) as an F.W. Stiles British Team Car. And in 1930 it ran in the same three races in the hands of Reginald Outlaw, as a private entry.

The 3rd series of Alfa Romeo 6c Super Sports was introduced in 1929, and the first ten or so cars built were all fitted with the 1500cc twin-cam supercharged engine. To quote from p. 67 of Angela Cherrett's book Alfa Romeo Tipo 6c 1500, 1750, 1900: "A number of 3rd series supercharged 1500s were produced in 1929 and these are the true super sports". Our car is the third of the 3rd series cars to be built, and one of four purchased for racing in the UK by F.W. Stiles, the British Alfa Romeo agent.

When the Alfa Romeo P2 won at Lyons in 1924, F.W. Stiles was on holiday in Paris with his wife and a couple of friends. Sitting outside a typical Paris café he read a newspaper account of the Alfa (Romeo) victory and promptly cancelled the remainder of their trip to Austria, choosing instead to go to Milan to meet Nicola Romeo, and was appointed British Agent for Alfa Romeo. He thus became Alfa's first franchised dealer - later to become chief executive of Alfa Romeo [British Sales] Ltd.

In April 1929, Mrs Florence Stiles [wife of F.W. Stiles] went to Milan to collect four 6c 1500 Super Sport Alfa Romeos. All four cars were registered in Milan in her name on 29 April 1929 and brought to England: they are shown in the upper photograph on p. 150 of Angela Cherrett's above-mentioned book, our subject car being the one on the far right, shown with the legendary Giulio Ramponi at its wheel. One of these four cars [chassis no. 0312873] was acquired by Edgar Fronteras and campaigned by him during 1929 as a "privateer", with support from Alfa Romeo [British Sales] Ltd.

It is thought, from all accounts, that Edgar Fronteras was a very good customer. Indeed, it has been hypothesised that he (a) orchestrated the engine swap which took place between his car and UV 819 and (b) was inspired to do so by the latter's success at the 1929 Irish Grand Prix. It seems decidedly unlikely that the transplant took place once the cars had left Stiles' control as the odds of two private owners embarking upon such a course of action in subsequent years are very remote. The other three cars were raced by F.W. Stiles as British team cars, were supported by Alfa Romeo works racing mechanics, and had several Italian works drivers - such as Attilio Marinoni, who drove UV 819 in the 1929 Ulster TT.

The racing history of the F.W. Stiles 6c 1500 Super Sport team cars is highly interesting. Their first race was the 1929 Brooklands Double-Twelve. This was a 24-hour race, but unlike Le Mans it had to be held over two days because of the noise affecting the houses near the circuit. Ironically, most of these were built after 1907 when the track was constructed.

The start was at 8am on May 19 and the first half of the race ended at 8pm when all competing cars were locked up for the night. The F.W. Stiles British works team entered three cars for this race, to be driven by Ramponi/Lurani, Ivanovsky/Dunkley and Don/Eyston, and this was to be their first big win. The car driven by Giulio Ramponi finished first on handicap [covering 1824 miles] ahead of the 4500cc Bentley driven by Gunter and Davis. The Alfa Romeo 6c 1500 Super Sport team was also first and second in the 1500cc class. Our subject car, driven by the famous British racing-drivers Kaye Don and George Eyston, retired with a stripped camshaft-gear in the course of the first day's racing, while in second place behind a Speed 6 Bentley [see J.V. Hewes, in The Motor, Aug. 16 1944]. The Motor's contemporary report of May 14 1929 says the same thing, on p. 730. (Ivanovsky's Alfa was third, at that particular point).

The prizes awarded to the winning car included the £1000 cash prize presented by the Daily Telegraph, the Gold Challenge Trophy [and replica] awarded by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, another cup worth £200, plus £300 from The Autocar for the leading car at six, twelve, and eighteen hours.

It would appear that the team cars were registered for the road on 7 July 1929 so that they could be driven from London to catch the boat for the Irish Grand Prix. Again, this was a two-day affair, held on July 12 and 13, with the Saorstat Cup race for cars of 1500cc or less on the first day, and the Eireann Cup race for cars of unlimited capacity on the second day. The combined results of the two races gave the overall placings in the Irish Grand Prix. Each race offered a prize of £1000 and a cup, as well as special awards for teams, etc.

The British Alfa Romeo team won both races. Boris Ivanovsky won the first day's race driving our subject car [UV 819], by 66 seconds from "Sammy" Davis in a supercharged Lea-Francis. Ivanovsky also won the second day's race, driving a privately owned 6c 1750 Super Sports [UU 79] lent to the team for the event. In the final results of the Irish Grand Prix, on aggregate of both days' events, UV 819 finished in 3rd place ahead of such machinery as Sir Henry Birkin's 4.5-litre Blower Bentley and Dudley Benjafield's privateer Alfa Romeo 6c 1750 Super Sport.

F.W. Stiles had a most successful weekend, as Boris Ivanovsky was not only the outright winner of the Irish Grand Prix (driving UU 79), but was also placed 3rd overall (in UV 819) - winning the Saorstat Cup plus £1000, the Eireann Cup plus £1000, the 1500cc class-prize and the unlimited class-prize. Ivanovsky's share of these spoils was £560.

The third major race for the 1929 season was the Ulster TT held on the Ards circuit in Northern Ireland. No fewer than five Alfa Romeo 6c 1500 Super Sports were entered, winning the 1500cc class and the Team Prize, and taking 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th places overall. Our subject car, driven by Alfa Romeo works driver Attilio Marinoni, came 7th overall and 4th in the 1500cc class. If one refers to The Vintage Alvis by Peter Hull/Norman Johnson (published by the Alvis Register, 1995), it is mentioned that Attilio Marinoni also achieved fastest lap of all the Alfa Romeos, including the 1750s. There is also a splendid photograph (on p. 80 of A Racing Motorist by Sammy Davis), of Attilio Marinoni in our subject car (race number 33 and registration plate number UV 819) passing the wreck of Glen Kidston's "Big Six" Bentley (race number 73) after the latter's crash at Bradshaw's Brae. The same photograph had appeared in The Autocar of August 23 1929, as a double-page spread. As a matter of interest, although the 6c 1750 Super Sports were first and second in the 2000cc class, they only came 14th and 18th overall, proving just how fast the 6c 1500 Super Sport cars were in 1929. It should also be noted that, for the 1929 season, the F.W.Stiles British Team cars were all 6c 1500 Super Sports, whereas the 6c 1750 Super Sports were all "privateers" - possibly with some Stiles' backing.

[Before we leave the 1929 Ulster TT race, there is one more item that should be mentioned. Admittedly it was 20 years after the event, but in September 1949 F.W. Stiles published Part III of a series for Motor Sport (p. 356), where he showed a picture of the four 6c 1500 Super Sports all carrying the registration plates and race numbers that they wore for the 1929 Ulster TT. In this article he stated that they were the practice cars assembled prior to the 1930 Ulster TT (whereas in fact they were the racing-team for the 1929 Ulster TT). This just goes to prove that many mistakes have been made regarding motor racing history - even by the owner of a racing team].

At the following year's Ulster TT [1930], the front-line of the F.W. Stiles works team were (now) 6c 1750 Grand Sports, all driven by Alfa Romeo works drivers - Tazio Nuvolari, Achille Varzi and Giuseppe Campari, who finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd, for a "clean sweep". The 6c 1500 Super Sports were now all "privateers", our subject car being driven by Reginald Outlaw [with the same race number '33' as in the previous year].

Apart from UV 819 competing in these three major races in both 1929 and 1930, it is possible that the car also competed in other Brooklands' races, and at Shelsley Walsh hill climb, after 1930.

Our subject car is the only one of the four 6c 1500 Super Sports imported by Stiles which now carries a body of 1929 manufacture, and the likelihood that this was originally fitted to one of the 6c 1750 Super Sports which was raced in the very same events reinforces the fact that the frame and running gear were identical on all 3rd series 6c Super Sports - whether 1500s or 1750s. We don't know exactly when the body-change took place, but we do know that the Carlton Competition 4-seater body was on the car by 1937. In the Alfa Romeo section of the V.S.C.C. Newsletter in 1987, the editor (Angela Cherrett) published an advertisement for UV 819 from Motor Sport 50 years previously [1937]. This advertisement was by the well-known London enthusiast and dealer Jack Bartlett, and in it he states that the car was fitted with the 4-seater body. It is possible that the Carlton Competition 4-seater body was fitted quite early in the car's history, as all of the F.W. Stiles 6c 1500 works team cars were rebodied before being offered for sale to the public, more often with James Young open or closed bodywork, ours being the exception with its ex-racing body. There are known to be three Carlton Competition 4-seater bodied Alfas in the UK: UV 819 remains in the best overall condition, and is the only one of the three which retains its original coachbuilders' plates [fitted to the sill below each of the two doors].

We know nothing of the ownership or history of UV 819 between Reginald Outlaw's ownership in 1930 and Jack Bartlett's Motor Sport advertisement in 1937. Reginald Outlaw had offered it for sale in Motor Sport in October 1930, p. 59. The advertisement reads as follows:

1½ litre Specially Tuned Supercharged Twin Camshaft Alfa Romeo, 1929, winner 1929 Double Twelve, low mileage, in perfect running order; any trial; £650. R.S. Outlaw, Admirals House Garage, The Grove, Hampstead. Hampstead 6964.

We have a letter from the late Lord Strathcarron stating that he bought the car in 1949 for £300, and swapped it in 1952 for a 1939 Morris 10 Saloon. Another letter from his Lordship to the present owner [who had sent him a large photograph of the car], offered to reverse the original trade!! There are several references to UV 819 in Lord Strathcarron's book Motoring for Pleasure (published by Stanley Paul, London, 1963).

In 1967 UV 819 left the UK with its British owner of 15 years, bound for New York [and later Florida]. The present owner is only the second in the last 55 years, having purchased the car from Florida in 1987. It was out of the UK for 38 years and was re-imported in 2005. The original 1929 UV 819 registration has been reinstated.

Original features, seldom seen on other Alfa Romeo 6c 1500 cars, include the radiator-blind with original 1929 Alfa Romeo logo, the original Brooklands' expansion-chamber, sundry original tools (encompassing valve adjustment ones housed under the passenger seat), the radiator temperature gauge, plus the vast majority of the fabric body and reportedly all the interior door trim including a very useful map-pocket on the nearside. Incidentally, UV 819 has been fully repainted only once: in 1949. This 58-year-old paint job now has a wonderful patina.

During the 20 years of current ownership UV 819 has been mechanically 'sorted', while its originality has been sympathetically maintained.

The compiler of this catalogue-entry has been privileged to ride in this Vittorio Jano masterpiece, both at touring-speeds around North Wales, and at semi-racing speeds around Oulton Park race circuit, and is happy to report that it is "everything it should be".

Eligible for a host of prestigious events, this very rare Alfa Romeo 6c 1500 Super Sport is offered for sale with an extensive history file containing numerous period original and copy photographs.

Angela Cherrett's summary of the 6c on p. 17 of her book Alfa Romeo Modello 8c 2300, Veloce Publishing, 1992 is as follows: ". . . every item on the engine, inside and out, was beautifully designed and executed. Excellent road holding, powerful brakes and wonderfully accurate and light steering make the 6c Alfa a delight to drive today, more than 60 years after the design first came to the market."
 

All successful bids must be paid in full by midday the day after the auction at the latest.

You can collect your new pride and joy from our venue until 1pm the day following the sale or our partners are on hand to help arrange safe transportation:

               

Auction: Kempton Park Racecourse, 25th Jul, 2007

View all lots in this sale

Do you have an item to sell?

If so, contact one of our friendly specialists for your free valuation by completing the form below and someone will get back to you as quickly as possible.

If you prefer to speak to humans, don't hesitate to call our office on +44 (0)1925 210035

Contact Us Today!

 

Images

Drag and drop .jpg images here to upload, or click here to select images.


Turning the Page: A New Chapter for H&H Classics
Goon, Goon, Gone: Unique Peter Sellers 1960 Bentley heads to auction
Eclectic 150-plus classic car auction helps round out H&H’s milestone 30th year celebrations
One of the UK’s best driving Aston Martin DB5s heads to auction
Mid-century sports car icons race to Buxton auction
Former front cover ‘star’ heads to auction
Classic British motorcycles shine as 230 lots head to the National Motorcycle Museum auction
Racing legend Patsy Burt's Jaguar XK120 speeds to Buxton auction
22-strong single owner classic motorcycle collection heads to auction
Norton's racing heritage set to ignite the auction stage
Rare Frazer-Nash BMW with rich racing history to be auctioned
“The Rolls-Royce” of the motorcycle world, heads to      auction
Martini inspired Porsche 911 ‘RSR’ Tribute to head under the hammer
Rare ‘Car on Two Wheels’ heads to auction for the first time in 30 years
More than 100 classics sold in H&H’s 30th anniversary sale
Stunning classics worth more than £9 million offered in 30th anniversary auction
Rare Aston Martin DB1 heads to anniversary auction from long-term ownership
Rare Bentleys to star in 30th celebration auction
H&H Classics 30th Anniversary Auction
H&H unveils details of its 30th anniversary celebrations
Classic car owners handed ULEZ lifeline
H&H Classics auction Hurricane X-75 Prototype to National Motorcycle Museum
Vintage and modern classics lead the way at latest H&H sale
H&H offers exceptional range of vehicles spanning 11 individual decades
Pavilion Gardens. Wednesday 26th July 2023
A whimsical blast from the past: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang recreation heads to auction
From Italy with love: auction showcasing the essence of Italian design and sprezzatura
250 Motorcycles & Vintage Scooters Set To Go Under The Hammer!
March of the Mods: Lambretta owned by Paul Weller heads to auction
Lawbreakers to law enforcers: historic scooters with infamous connections up for sale
Jaguar SS100 among £2¼  million worth of classics sold at the Imperial War Museum
British classics to shine at H&H Classics’ sale
Historic Guinness Collection heads to auction
Browse The Catalogue Now! 135 Classic & Performance Cars To Go Under The Hammer.
Robbie Savage’s Ferrari F430 to be sold at H&H Classics
RAC Rally winning ‘Jaguar’ to be sold at auction
Former MP’s Bentley and Facel Vega ‘garage find’ among £1.3m worth of classics hammered away by H&H
Pavilion Gardens, Buxton Auction Preview Video
Genuine ‘matching numbers’ 1967 Shelby GT500 Fastback among 89 strong classic car auction
Rare Facel Vega ‘garage find’ heads to auction
Indian 4 and Lambretta DL200
Golden opportunity to acquire famous limited edition Italjet scooter
H&H Classics commences landmark year with sale of 121 cars
‘Brand new’ Porsche 911 heading to auction after 21 years
Brooklands race winning Bentley to go under the hammer
Actor, Sir Michael Caine’s first car, heads to auction. £100,000 - £150,000
A Very Rare Survivor. A 1936 Indian Four. £50,000 - £60,000
A Car that will Unite Romantics and Cynics Alike. A 1937 Rolls-Royce 25/30 Limousine