1927 Morris Cowley 'Flatnose' Tourer

Lot details
Registration No: HH 3807
Chassis No: 19746
Mot Expiry: None

This Flatnose Cowley was built and tested on April 28th 1927. By 1934 it was the property of a well-known writer and broadcaster from Carlisle, Daisy Washington. She was something of a motoring pioneer and one of the first women to drive ambulances for the British army in the Great War. Come WWII, she was back in France as captain of a F.A.N.Y unit assigned to the Polish forces.

In 1950 she helmed `Happy Henry' (as she had christened the Cowley whose registration number is `HH 3807'), on a family trip from Carlisle to Oberammagau, Austria. In addition to the Cowley, she had a large 1920s Austin Saloon and though she would only tax one of them each year, she nevertheless drove whichever one she fancied; swapping the disc from car to car. According to the Cowley's vendor, a disc for the Austin remains in the Morris's windscreen to this day!

Following Mrs Washington's death, the Flatnose was auctioned at Harrison & Hetherington's Borderway Mart of June 1978, where the present keeper acquired it for £1,850 - considerably more than had been expected. However, one imagines the new owner must have been somewhat surprised to learn that Mrs Washington had in fact requested the car be burnt upon her death! Happily it lived on and, thanks to some remedial work carried out during 1979, was used for family outings in the Saffron Walden area until 1983; since when the four-seater has been stored in a dry barn.

The vendor tells us that `HH 3807' is basically sound and original and features the rare, early-style sharp-edged radiator. This wonderful vintage Morris is being sold complete with green log book, photo of Mrs Washington polishing the car, articles from the Cumbrian Evening News, 1979 service/repair invoice, Flatnose Cowley manual and V5. A fabulous and affordable restoration project.