1928 Sunbeam Twenty Weymann Saloon

Registration No: YW 4090
Chassis No: 2365H
MOT: Exempt

• Known history back to the 1950s, with photographs dating from 1956
• In father and daughter enthusiast ownership since 1989
• Supplied with a thick history file (two box files) detailing expenditure throughout the current ownership
• Charmingly preserved with a sympathetic bodywork restoration in 2004

SALE ROOM NOTICE: Please note that we have not had sight of the V5C, so prospective purchasers may need to apply for a new one.

The 1920s witnessed Sunbeam win the French and Spanish Grands Prix, finish second at Le Mans, set numerous Land Speed Records and cause Henry Royce consternation regarding the quality and refinement of its products. Introduced in 1926, the Twenty (20.9hp) was powered by a 2,916cc OHV straight-six engine allied to a four-speed manual transmission. Reputedly capable of over 70mph (coachwork permitting), the newcomer shared numerous drivetrain components with its glamorousThree Litre Super Sports sibling. Available in Tourer, Fixed Head Coupé, Folding Head Coupé, Coachbuilt Saloon, Weymann Saloon and Rally Weymann Saloon guises, some 2,560 20.9hp cars are thought to have been made before the model was revised for 1931, though today survivors are comparatively few and far between. Contemporary Sunbeam brochures reveal that the Weymann Saloon was priced at a hefty £875 and could be ordered in Claret, Black or Grey over Black and with "cloth or best quality English leather of suitable colour to match the paintwork."

Less impervious to the elements than their metal counterparts, it was unusual for fabric-covered Weymann Saloon bodies to last more than a few decades regardless of which manufacturer’s chassis they adorned, hence our excitement at encountering one which is substantially original despite its ninety-eight years.

As rare as it is beautiful, this Sunbeam has had just five owners from new and still sports its original Weymann Saloon coachwork. The first owner kept it until his death in the 1950s, and in the mid-’50s it was owned for three years by S. D. Wilson, a member of the Sunbeam Talbot Darracq Register, in Horley, Surrey. He recorded: “I am sixty-six years old and poddle round the lanes with my wife and dog in a picnic basket… My motoring experience extends from 1910. If I decided to sell the car it would be because of my age, and the modern stuff made from tin does not appeal to me in the least.” Circa 1957, he sold the Sunbeam to Raymond Chandler of Bredon, Gloucestershire. A car dealer, Chandler displayed the car in his showroom for thirty years. The fourth only had it only a year before it entered the present family in 1989.

It immediately received a new radiator, followed by an engine overhaul with rebore, new pistons and a new head in 1990. Thereafter, the car was extensively maintained and updated, having indicators, brake lights and an electric fan wired in. It was fully rewired in 1993, some wheels were respoked in 1999, and in 2004, the bodywork was restored with a new vinyl covering. A new exhaust was made in 2010. Still appearing highly original, it is sold with much history including photographs from 1956, a 1957 letter from Wilson, a detailed record of maintenance between 1989 and 2005, many invoices, an original Sunbeam 20hp handbook, a modern Sunbeam Repair and Maintenance book, and STD Register literature.

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