1910 Sheffield Simplex LA2 Four Seater Tourer

Lot details
Registration No: W 1110
Chassis No: 548
Mot Expiry: Sept 2002

The story of the Sheffield Simplex really centres around two young British aristocrats who both wanted to create the 'best car in the world'. One was the third son of Lord Llangattock, who met a Manchester electrician turned automotive engineer and formed a partnership called Rolls-Royce and the second was a seventh Earl with a fondness for steam locomotives who joined with a highly respected employee of the British Daimler Company and had a works built at Sheffield. They were both described by the press of the day as supplying 'the best car in the world' but Simplex slid into obscurity when the 1920 Motor Show failed to find enough buyers to keep them afloat.
The name Simplex is synonymous with the simplicity of driving and the idea of the 'gearless car' and was manufactured between 1906 and 1922. It was a very high quality car, which was sold to Prince's, Czar's and other nobility around the world and was Sheffield's longest produced and most prestigious car developed by Peter Brotherhood, a steam engine manufacturer, and Percy Richardson. The 1908 catalogue was released with the new double 'S' trademark and the completely new car, the 45hp, was announced at £750 in chassis form. It was entered for the Scottish reliability trials and later in that year an additional much publicised 'gearless' model was added, codenamed LA2. This model completed a run from Lands End to John O'Groats in 1911 in top gear only and it was this run that Lord Riverdale so wanted to repeat which was accomplished very successfully in 1985. He started his search around the world in the 1970's and culminated in him finding and restoring the car we have on offer for you today.
Chassis number 548 was exported to Adelaide in Australia on the order of a Mr Henry Dutton and registered in September 1910. Henry lived at Medende Station, North of Adelaide, and the car is reputed to have been run from Adelaide to Sydney and back again on more than one occasion. The car had at least four owners in Australia and at one time may have been used as a taxi in Sydney. From 1939 to 1945 the car was used as a lorry in Adelaide delivering bricks to building sites and also we know that at one point the engine was detached from the chassis and used to drive a pump whilst the chassis was used as a trailer. It is estimated that it had completed somewhere in the region of 250,000 miles when Lord Riverdale bought it from a Mr. Wally Reeve in bits in 1978 but when it arrived back in England the cast sidevalve engine which is built in three groups of two and equivalent to 7000cc still ran the original cast iron pistons which is an amazing testament to the quality of the original build.
It was shipped back to England in a container and Lord Riverdale entrusted the restoration work to John Cockayne from the highly respected firm of Coldwell Engineering. According to John it was in remarkable original and complete condition apart from the fact it was missing its rear axle, which unfortunately housed the gearbox. Many hours of research were undertaken to enable John to rebuild the car with absolute accuracy but in a twist of fate, which no one could have predicted, the Simplex ended up with a set of 'Ghost' brakes. It needed new cylinder blocks and the carburettor is not original but everyone involved with the project is convinced that it is now not only in superb condition throughout but correct in practically every detail as well. The coachwork was completed by Phil Kneller to a design which could have been fitted when new, but it was indeed a replica of the 'works' Simplex trials car.
It has a couple of interesting mechanical features including a combined clutch and brake, a tipping-up steering wheel for 'fat' drivers and the interesting accelerator - the right foot is placed in a block and the toe is pushed to the right to go faster and to the left to go slower but of course that means if you leave you foot where it is the car simply carries on at the same speed - you had to keep awake in those days.
We are very pleased to now offer this wonderful pre World War 1 car, which is very speedy, not a sluggish car at all, and has been rallied and shown by Lord Riverdale frequently in the company of his friends and others including his two sons who were also instrumental in the whole project. Interestingly, prior to completing the John O'Groats run it was driven from Sheffield to Bristol to compete in the Bristol to Weymouth rally and then on to Lands End for the main run and then home. Quite an achievement without a problem or a service!
It is an amazing car, which is offered direct from the estate of the late Lord Riverdale and it should be viewed as it always was - the only competition to the 'best car in the world'.