1935 Railton Straight Eight Special

Registration No: BWE 78
Chassis No: 546651
MOT: Exempt

• Supplied with a history file that includes the buff logbook dating back to 1952
• The subject of an extensive, chassis-up rebuild with new special body completed in 2018
• 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.

'BWE 78' is, like many Railtons, an attractive sporty number with lightweight two-seater bodywork and a keen and playful stance. Also, like many Railtons, however, it originally carried more sober coachwork which has been lost to time. First registered in Sheffield on 11th November, 1935, the buff logbook from 1952 reveals that it was then a black saloon. From 9th January, 1952, it belonged to George Albert Radford of the Duffield Garage in Duffield, near Derby, where it was likely used for private-hire as its taxation class was recorded as ‘hackney.’

The class changed to ‘private’ presumably when the Railton passed to Eric Victor Cooper, also of Duffield and other addresses round Derby, on 31st October, 1955. On 29th May, 1960, it was taken over by Ronald Taylor of Stroud, Gloucestershire. Then, on 9th July, 1964, it went back to Sheffield with Barrie McKenzie, for whose entry the handwriting seems to correspond with the car’s colour change to red.

Thereafter, the history becomes murky, except that the car had a couple of owners in Leicestershire prior to being acquired by the current keeper in 2008 as an unfinished project on a rolling chassis. A previous owner had started turning it into a special, with new rear bodywork built round a tubular frame. By 2018, the vendor had turned it into a finished car, with work including an engine rebuild by the Coventry Boring & Metalling Co. (£6,000), a new radiator core from Hereford Radiators (£888), and a new wiring harness and other electrical accessories from Winston Teague (£2,500).

The Railton has been lightly used since completion, but it looks ripe for action and ideal for VSCC activities (Railtons being accepted as Post-Vintage Thoroughbreds). It is offered with the 1952 buff logbook, a small collection of invoices, a lubrication chart and photocopies of assorted historical and technical writings from the Railton Owners Club magazine and the Hudson Eight owner’s manual.

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