1937 Railton Straight Eight Cobham Sports Saloon
Coachwork by Coachcraft

Registration No: FPL 915
Chassis No: E743395
MOT: Exempt

• Pleasingly retaining its original and highly attractive Sports Saloon coachwork by Coachcraft
• Benefitting from brake re-lining, new clutch and re-surfaced flywheel, and back axle re-shimmed in recent years
• Self evidently the beneficiary of a previous restoration
• Desirable second series car with the more powerful 4,168cc straight-eight engine

Having sold Invicta to the Earl Fitzwilliam in 1933, Noel Macklin and his works manager Leon Cushman cast around for another automotive project. Impressed by the number of speed records that Hudson’s fledgling Essex-Terraplane subsidiary was setting, Macklin duly secured a supply of rolling chassis from the parent company. Enlisting the help of Reid Railton, whose name was well-known to the motoring public as the designer of various land speed record cars, Macklin also commissioned coachbuilders such as Ranalah, REAL, Carbodies and Coachcraft to body his Anglo-American hybrid. Featuring a 4,010cc Terraplane Eight engine and three-speed manual gearbox plus revised damping, the first-series Railtons boasted a better power-to-weight ratio than a Derby Bentley or Lagonda M45. With its imposing radiator designed by motoring artist F. Gordon Crosby and its bonnet adorned with external Invicta-style rivets, the new marque soon became synonymous with acceleration and top gear flexibility. Adopting the Hudson Eight rolling chassis in 1934, the second-series Railtons benefited from a two-inch longer wheelbase and a more potent 4,168cc engine.

Little is known about this Railton’s past, but it has done well to survive with its original Coachcraft body. Coachcraft of Hanwell, incidentally, was only formed in 1934 and Railton provided its very first contract for body production. Our car wears the Cobham saloon body, originally produced for Railton by Carbodies, but Coachcraft took over its production in 1937 and ultimately bodied more Railtons than any other coachbuilder. This example has benefitted greatly from the sympathetic attention of the vendor, who bought it in 2018 and has kept it in use with appropriate service intervals. He has completed work including relining the brakes in 2020, fitting a new clutch and resurfaced flywheel in 2021, and reshimming the back axle in 2022. Previously, the seats were refurbished in 2014. It has also been subtly upgraded with electronic ignition and a dynamator (an alternator which resembles a dynamo). The vendor’s use has included participation in the famous Kop Hill Climb, where the Railton has been widely admired. Interested parties should be aware that the front bumper, although not fitted in the photographs, will be supplied with the car.

An excellent example of an upmarket Post-Vintage Thoroughbred touring saloon, this Eight is complete with multiple invoices, the current V5C, an original instruction book and a set of spare keys.

For more information, please contact:
Paul Cheetham
paul.cheetham@handh.co.uk
07538 667452