Lot details Registration No: BS 9248 Chassis No: 17607 Mot Expiry: Sept 2007
Born in 1870, Montague Napier took control of the family engineering firm at the age of twenty-five. A pioneer motorist, he required little persuasion from S.F. Edge before diverting the attentions of D.Napier & Son away from heavy machinery (printing presses, coin-sorting machines etc) and into motorcars. Successfully completing the 1900 1,000 Miles Trial, the prototype Napier spawned an enlarged four-cylinder 16hp (4.9litre) production version that same year. A notably advanced design featuring a single-piece aluminium cylinder block, pressed-in iron liners and three inlet valves per cylinder, one was driven on the Paris-Toulouse race by Edge and the Hon. Charles Rolls. Pursuing an active racing policy from its inception, Napier not only won the 1902 Gordon Bennett Trophy but also introduced the world to British Racing Green. The first manufacturer to put a six-cylinder car into series production (an 18hp model debuting in 1903) Napier also held the Brooklands 24-hour Average Speed Record (65.9mph, set by Edge aboard a 60hp machine during 1907) for eighteen years. Prized by the rich and famous, Napier became synonymous with quality and performance. Although, it had marketed four different six-cylinder cars in the lead-up to WW1, the London-based firm settled on a one-model policy when peace returned. Introduced in 1919, the 40/50hp drew heavily on Napier's recently accumulated aero-engine building experience. The work of A.J. Rowledge, its 6.2litre engine boasted aluminium cylinders, steel liners and an overhead camshaft (Rowledge was also responsible for the 'Lion' aero-engine as used by various Schneider Trophy winning seaplanes and land speed record cars). Developing some 80bhp @ 2,000rpm, this sophisticated powerplant was allied to four-speed manual transmission (complete with centre gearchange) and mounted in a sturdy ladder-frame chassis featuring all-round leaf-sprung suspension (semi-elliptic front / cantilever back) and rear-wheel brakes. Considered by many the equal of the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost or Hispano-Suiza H6B, just 187 Napier 40/50hp cars are thought to have been made before production ceased in 1924.
Finished in green with black leather upholstery, this particular example is variously described by the vendor as being in "good" (electrical equipment, bodywork, paintwork), "very good" (gearbox, interior trim, chassis, wheels / tyres) or "A1" (engine) condition. Said to have spent "most of its life in South Africa" where it was reputedly "used as a balloon car", 'BS 9248' entered the current ownership five years ago. Promising exciting performance thanks to its skimpy bodywork, this unusual Vintage sportscar is offered for sale with MOT certificate valid until September 25th 2007 and historic class (free) road tax until October 2007.
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