1935 BROUGH SUPERIOR 4.2 LITRE DUAL PURPOSE COUPE Registrat...

Estimate

£55,000 - £65,000

1935 BROUGH SUPERIOR 4.2 LITRE DUAL PURPOSE COUPE

Registration Number: BYN 486
Chassis Number: 542398
Recorded Mileage: c. 10,000 miles

- Believed to be the first chassis, and third eight-cylinder car
- Previous family ownership for over 60 years (five owners from new)
- Supplied new to Major Michael Wills of W.D and H.O Wills Tobacco

Having built a Meadows-engined prototype in 1933, George Brough decided bodying another manufacturer’s rolling chassis was the best way into small-scale motorcar production. Settling on Hudson’s high-performance ‘Eight’ as the ideal donor, he secured a supply from the American manufacturer only to meet with fierce resistance from Noel Macklin’s Railton concern which had had the same idea several years earlier and did not wish to share running gear with a UK rival. Threatened with legal action, Hudson only sold twenty-five eight-cylinder chassis to Brough before providing fifty examples of their less contentious six-cylinder chassis. As he had with the prototype, Brough commissioned W.C. Atcherley of Birmingham to body his four-wheeled creations. Undeniably well-proportioned and attractive, the coachbuilder’s patented ‘Dual Purpose’ design featured a three-position convertible roof that folded almost level with the door tops.

‘BYN 486’ is believed to the first Brough Superior eight-cylinder chassis, and the third registered for the road. The first owner was Major Michael Wills of the tobacco importer and cigarette manufacturer, W.D and H.O. Wills. Major Wills later passed title to fellow forces man, Wing Commander Sykes of Buckinghamshire, who kept the Brough until well into the 2nd World War. It is thought he changed the original eight-cylinder engine for a slightly thriftier six-cylinder unit whilst on RAF leave, placing the original engine into storage at the time. Post-war the Brough was stored until the father of the previous owner acquired it in 1960, prior to embarking on an extensive restoration of the car. The Superior was stripped, the original engine overhauled and reinstalled, the coachwork revived and refinished, and a new convertible roof fitted. The Brough stayed in the same family for a further 60 or so years, before ownership passed recently to a collector in the South West of England. 

The car was used lightly in 2021 but has since been kept in dry storage as part of a small collection. Our vendor deciding on balance that it should be in the care of an enthusiast who can make more use of the car than he is currently able to, hence the Brough being offered for sale. ‘BYN 486’ is offered complete with a file containing the current V5C, sales brochure and a selection of other documents and correspondence.

As an alternative to more obvious choices from other similar marques of the period, the Brough is a compelling proposition; stylish, rare, very well engineered and built to a standard rather than a price - there is a lot to like about this discreet 1930s tourer.