Today we would like to share with you a selection of steering wheels which is where most of us would like to spend our time if we owned any of the cars being offered by RMSotheby's at their auction at Monterey, California on 18/19 August.
The opening picture shows a 1939 Frazer Nash BMW 328 Sports which was imported pre-war and promptly impounded by British customs and not released until 1946. Spitfire pilot 'Dickie' Stoop bought it and commisioned a bespoke body from Leacroft of Egham.Based at Westhampnett Airfield during the war, Stoop and friends would race around the airfield in their MGs and persuaded landowner Freddie March ( Duke of Richmond and Gordon) to build a race track and Goodwood Motor Racing circuit was born.
An even more notorious owner bought the 1928 Mercedes-Benz 26/120/180 Type S Sports.In the 1920s, the S and K type Mercedes were amongst the most expensive cars being sold in the United States and Al Jolson could afford it.
We like this picture of Jolson and his wife, actress Ruby Keeler, posing in 1928 with their new supercharged Merc.
Another Left Hand Drive supercharged dream car is the 1936 Auburn Eight Speedster.The auction description states ... "Any Auburn speedster is a joy to behold and a surprisingly modern-feeling pleasure to drive."
This writer can testify to the accuracy of those words having driven a similar car across France.
Let's get back to Right Hand Drive and imagine settling into the driver's seat of this 1938 Avions Voisin C28 Cabriolet.The exceptional coachwork with modern one-off styling is an example of occasional 'Specials' produced by Saliot, one of the foremost Voisin service depots.
We are told Saliot gave the cabriolet to Father Jean Gehard, a Benedictine monk and longtime confidante of Gabriel Voisin.
We do not usually welcome our passenger to get in the way of our driving, but something about the type of passenger likely to grace the above two cars suggests we would make an exception... even for a Monk!A 1930 Bentley 6½-Litre Speed Six Sportsman’s Saloon surely demands total concentration, but owner Mr. Young recalled that his wife “Ursula and I brought the Speed Six to Canada in the summer of 1959, in the hold of the Pinemore cargo ship in which we also traveled . . . . We then drove it – unrestored! – from Montreal to Winnipeg via the U.S. That was a real adventure!”. Use your imagination....
The cockpit of a 1925 Bugatti Type 35C Grand Prix
is often cramped, always fun, and especially if your passenger clings on to your arm for dear life as you take her through the lanes as fast as you dare.
She won't worry about the oil on her stockings, she won't worry that her expensive hair style ends up looking like a burst-mattress - you have taken her on a magic carpet ride and the look in her eyes tells you all you need to know.
Text Robin Batchelor, pictures courtesy RMSotheby's.