1931 Sunbeam Twenty 23.8hp Weymann Sports Saloon

Registration No: GT 7914
Chassis No: 7007P
MOT: Exempt

• Understood to have been the Olympia Motor Exhibition car for Weymann's Motor Bodies
• Owned by Capt. H. B. Davie-Thornhill, one-time Sheriff of Derbyshire, from 1934 to 1964
• Delightful history file with receipts and correspondence with the Sunbeam Talbot Darracq Register dating back to the 1960s

That the 1920s was the golden age of Sunbeam is a claim with which few would disagree. A part of the S.T.D. combine with Talbot and Darracq since 1920, director and chief engineer Louis Coatalen spent lavishly on Sunbeam’s racing programme, with good results – the period from 1922 to 1924 was one of tremendous success in Grands Prix, while hill-climb records were set later in the decade, but the big news was Sunbeam’s Land Speed Record feats, most famously Malcolm Campbell’s 150.87mph in 1925 and Henry Segrave’s 203.79mph in 1927.

On the road car front, all models had been overhead-valve since 1922 and four-wheel braking was introduced in 1923 and universal by 1926. Its best-known products were its big six-cylinder touring cars which were worthy challengers for the Three-Litre Bentley, such as the 20hp model introduced for 1927. Powered by a four-bearing straight-six of 2,916cc (75 x 110mm.) with a treasury rating of 20.9hp, a Claudel carburettor and magneto ignition, it survived until Sunbeam’s eventual demise and acquisition by the Rootes Group in 1935, undergoing one major update in 1931 when the bores were increased to 80mm. for a 3,317cc displacement, making it a de facto 23.8hp, though still the 20hp in name. These models also gained a Zenith carburettor, coil ignition and hydraulic brakes with a Dewandre servo. A quintessential fast touring car of the late vintage period, the 20hp remains much sought-after due to its refined and torquey engine, rapid performance – well-maintained examples will cruise at 50-60mph – and handsome looks.

Leaving Sunbeam’s factory as a bare chassis, Chassis 7007/P acquired coachwork from Weymann’s Motor Bodies of Addlestone; the Sunbeam Register believes it was built for display on Weymann’s stand at the October, 1931, Olympia Motor Exhibition, retailing for £865, alongside a Daimler 20/30hp Limousine and a Rover 20hp “Maharajah” Sports Saloon. Its appearance conforms with the description given in the Olympia catalogue: “20-H.P. 6-Cylinder Sunbeam L.W.B. Close-coupled Saloon. Weymann specially designed semi-panelled 4-door 4-light close-coupled Saloon by Exhibitors, with luxurious seating for five.” Further specifics given included the paint scheme of Black with a Black fabric roof and Plum wheels, Plum-coloured Vaumol leather upholstery and carpets and Fawn headlining, with solid walnut woodwork. Other fittings included a sun visor, a boot with two built-in suitcases, a Pytchley sunshine roof and a special lengthened bonnet.

Registered ‘GT 7914’ on November 30th, the Sunbeam was sold through the prestigious London dealership of Pass & Joyce, apparently to one V. Gunn. However, it was returned to Pass & Joyce in 1933 and sold to Capt. Humphrey Bache Davie of Stanton Hall, the great Georgian mansion of Stanton-in-Peak, Derbyshire. Davie-Thornhill (as he became in 1959) was born in 1905 and in 1930 married into the Barlow baronetcy. In 1955, he became the fourth member of the Thornhill family to serve as Sheriff of Derbyshire. A great car enthusiast, he recalled learning to drive in a Maudslay in 1918 and bought the 20hp having previously enjoyed the Sunbeam 20/60hp he bought second-hand in 1927. He retained it until 1964, after covering 150,000 miles. It was always garaged, but he wrote at the time “The body and paintwork and glass windows are all in poor condition. It has not been used in 2 years as I bought a Bentley and no longer wanted it.”

The new owner was John Kelsey of Greenhill, Lancashire, who was contacted by Capt. Davie-Thornhill after writing a letter to Motor Sport. He embarked upon a restoration of 7007/P which progressed through the 1960s, as evidenced by several letters to specialists such as Herbert Terry & Sons concerning valve springs, Connolly Bros. concerning the upholstery, and H. C. Jones & Co. concerning the body timbers. Connolly supplied a maroon lacquer for the leather, and the correspondence continues through the 1970s and ’80s with the S.T.D. Register, marque historian Bruce Dowell and other owners. An undated photograph suggests Kelsey painted the Sunbeam a medium Green with Black wings, and a few black and white photographs survive, by far the loveliest of which shows 7007/P on a visit to Capt. Davie-Thornhill while en route to the S.T.D. Register’s 1977 Sheffield Rally; it stands proudly in front of Stanton Hall’s grand façade, alongside the captain’s 1952 Bentley and 1960 Land Rover. Kelsey and Davie-Thornhill maintained occasional correspondence, and the captain’s letters make for very entertaining reading.

Kelsey very much enjoyed showing the Sunbeam at rallies, but he parted with it in 1996. It changed hands several times subsequently, and was acquired by the present owner in 2019. Another owner renovated the car cosmetically around 2008, with invoices on file for much chrome-plating and specially-mixed maroon paint. The most recent mechanical overhaul occurred from 2012 to 2014, when marque specialist Jim Catnach renovated the engine, gearbox, back axle and brakes, with work extending to white-metalling and replacing gearbox and axle bearings, totalling around £15,000. Still a wonderful car for touring at home and abroad, 7007/P is sold with a vast history file containing the current and past V5s, heritage documentation from the Sunbeam Register, copious invoices, some historic photographs, copies of chassis records and many, many letters dating back to 1964.

For more information, please contact:
Lucas Gomersall
lucas.gomersall@handh.co.uk
07484 082430