H&H Classics- Two Rare Survivors Up for Auction
Rare survivors & rarity adds value:
Only AC 2-Litre Drophead Coupe left & one of just 50 Hillman Aero Minx’s.
Two cars coming to auction with H&H Classics on March 18 at Duxford, Imperial War Museum, prove the old adage: “rarity adds value, obscurity does not” says Damian Jones, Head of Sales at H&H Classics.
The first of this pair of survivors is a truly charming car in running order from a deceased estate, a family it has been with since 1978.
The early ‘March type’ bodied Aero Minx features full weather equipment in Double Duck material comprising a hood, side screens and hood cover and is fitted with a folding windscreen. It also has the original registration number and a comprehensive history file and 12v electrical system.
It has been with its present owner since 1978 and during that time it has undergone a major restoration programme which is evidenced by a photographic record and receipts. It is painted in green and has biscuit leather upholstery. It comes with the correct 1185cc four-cylinder petrol engine allied to four-speed manual transmission.
A comprehensive history file is present containing paperwork dating back to 1978 along with various V5 documents and a green logbook.
Tim Green from the Aero Minx Register has confirmed that this car “carries an early March body and appears be running 8 inch standard hubs rather than the later 10 inch versions and the engine capacity is 1185cc.”
1948 AC 2-Litre Drophead Coup
Sole roadworthy survivor of just 14 Drophead Coupes made
Reputedly the sole roadworthy survivor of just 14 Drophead Coupes made before the introduction of the Buckland model, the 4/5-seater has been extensively featured in Leo Archibald’s book on ‘AC Two Litre Saloons and Buckland Sports Cars’ – a copy of which is included in the history file alongside the original buff logbook.
Restored during the early 1990s and treated to further fettling including an engine overhaul in 2009 at a cost of some £18,000, this handsome drophead coupe is said to have been ‘used regularly but sparingly over the years’.
This stunning 1948 AC 2 Litre, 6-cylinder triple carburettor drophead is a 4/5-seater tourer was first registered in February 1949 in Burgundy with Beige hood and complimenting red leather interior. With its light aluminium body and straight-six engine fed by SU carburettors, the car is surprisingly nimble to handle.
The tourer was manufactured by AC Cars of Thames Ditton, Surrey, famous for the iconic AC Ace and AC Cobra of the 1960’s. The company goes back to 1901 when their first motor vehicle was produced. In 1919 the company started production of its own AC 2 litre engine which was developed and improved over the years and basically propelled the AC cars for over 40 years.
For more information about the Auction, please visit H&H Classics
Press Inquiries: Julian Roup ON +44 (0) 7970 563958 OR email [email protected]
Registration No: KLM 558
Chassis No: L990
MOT: Exempt
– Reputedly the sole roadworthy survivor of just 14 Drophead Coupes made before the introduction of the Buckland model
– Extensively featured in Leo Archibald’s book on ‘AC Two Litre Saloons and Buckland Sports Cars’ – a copy of which is included in the history file alongside the original buff logbook etc
– Restored during the early 1990s and treated to further fettling including an engine overhaul in 2009 at a cost of some £18,000
– A handsome 4/5-seater drophead coupe that is said to have been ‘used regularly but sparingly over the years’
Estimate: GBP£20,000 – GBP£25,000
Roseberys -L.S. Lowry, Cyril Power, & Peter Lanyon
LONDON: Desirable works by significant artists from the Modern British canon will be offered for sale at Roseberys London on February 11.
The 393-lot Modern & Contemporary British Art auction will include a comprehensive works on paper section giving bidders the opportunity to buy art for relatively low sums by leading artists like LS Lowry, Peter Lanyon and Frank Auerbach. The section includes studies and sketches for known paintings and prints such as the two by the Grosvenor School artist Cyril Power. In addition, the auction will contain oil paintings and sculpture made by a range of 20th century artists based in Britain including two market-fresh abstract paintings by Richard Smith and material from the studio of late sculptor Geoffrey Harris.
WORKS ON PAPER
The sale will give LS Lowry (1887-1976) collectors a rare opportunity to bid on a group of early drawings by the renowned northern industrial painter. Some of the five-lot group were completed under the tutelage of the French painter Adolphe Valette, as indicated by the artist’s careful inscription ‘av’, and a notation of how long the drawings took to complete. Their authenticity has been confirmed by Martin Summers, former Managing Director of the Lefevre Gallery, the dealership that held Lowry’s first one-man show in London and continued to represent the artist until his death. Prices range from £8,000 to £20,000. [Lot 102-106]
A watercolour of an Italian landscape by the St Ives artist Peter Lanyon (1918-1964), painted during the Second World War while he was serving as a flight mechanic with the Royal Air Force, carries hopes of £1,800-2,400. Lanyon was 25 when he first went to Italy in December 1943. He stayed for two years, in which time he learned Italian and travelled the southern provinces, drawing, painting and taking photographs. Italian landscape with houses has passed by descent from a private collection in St. Ives. [Lot 76]
Primrose Hill, the small park in north London whose paths culminate at a high point with a fine view over the city, has been the local green spot for German-British painter Frank Auerbach (b.1931) since the 1950s when he moved to his nearby studio in Camden. A 1960 study of the park in pencil and oil paint is on offer at £2,500-3,500. It has auction pedigree and was featured in Sotheby’s £2.7m auction of art from David Sylvester, Britain’s greatest post-war critic and curator of modern art. [Lot 91]
A widely exhibited oil painting of mackerel by the Camden Town Group painter Walter Sickert (1860-1942) carries hopes of £6,000-8,000. The signed still life was painted in Dieppe at the turn of the 20th century, before Sickert left for Venice in 1903. The artist became involved with Madame Villain, a divorced fishwife in Dieppe, who acted as both landlady and mistress to the artist. It was presumably from Villain that Sickert obtained the fish for this, and other still-life paintings of the period. [Lot 2]
SCULPTURE
Among Michael Ayrton’s (1921-75) chief inspirations was the myth of the ancient Greek craftsman Daedalus, who famously fashioned wings for his son Icarus. ‘At the apex of his climb, because mass is modified by its velocity, Icarus changed his form and the anatomy of this transformation obsesses me’, wrote Ayrton in 1961. Icarus Transformed I, a twisted figural form in bronze from this period, is estimated at £3,000-5,000. [Lot 188]
The sale contains a 12-lot collection of sculpture and archival material from the studio of the late sculptor Geoffrey Harris (1928-2019), who worked as a studio assistant for Henry Moore.
Harris was born in Nottingham in 1928 and studied at Leeds College of Art and the Royal College of Art. He worked as an assistant for Leon Underwood, David John, and William Bloye and lectured at several art colleges including Birmingham, Stourbridge, Bromley, and Ravensbourne. However, he is perhaps best known for, and his work most influenced by, his period working as a studio assistant for Moore from 1957-1960. Harris had solo exhibitions at the Leicester Galleries and the Queen’s Square Gallery in 1964.
The collection comprises a series of Portland stone sculptures from the 1960s and 70s, a handful of bronze maquettes and a significant collection of photographic prints and negatives of the artist’s works. Prices range from £200 to £1,000. [Lot 169-180]
Modern & Contemporary British Art
Tuesday 11 February, 11am
Viewing times
Friday 7 February 9:30am-5:30pm
Sunday 9 February 10am-2pm
Monday 10 February 9:30am-5:30pm
Tuesday 11 February 9.30am-10.30am
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For further information please contact Peigi Mackillop [email protected]
+44 (0) 20 8761 2522