1935 Railton Eight Saloon

Description

From a deceased estate; rare car with powerful 4-litre straight-eight engine; restored in America some years ago; current owner 15 years; for recommissioning following 10 years in storage

One of the most resonant names in British motoring history, Railton Cars was founded in 1933 by Noel Macklin, a gifted engineer who had already established his credentials as a top rank car manufacturer with the Invicta marque which he founded in 1925.

For his new venture he teamed up with Reid Railton, another brilliant engineer perhaps most famous for designing Sir Malcolm Campbell’s ‘Bluebird’ Land Speed Record cars of 1931 to 1935, and John Cobb’s record-breaking ‘Railton Mobil Special’. Macklin was a devotee of top gear performance and his goal was to produce a quiet and refined car with good handling, comfortable ride and above all, effortless acceleration.

Produced at the old Invicta works on Macklin’s Fairmile estate in Cobham, the first Railton Straight Eights used a modified Hudson Terraplane rolling chassis with a 94bhp 4,010cc straight-eight engine fitted with tourer or saloon bodywork by Ranalah. They offered exceptional performance for the era with a 0-60mph time of 13 seconds and a top speed approaching 100mph, and could be driven almost anywhere in top gear alone.

From 1935 the Hudson Eight chassis was adopted with a larger 113bhp 4,168cc engine and typically English-style bodywork by a range of coachbuilders including Ranalah, REAL, Carbodies and Coachcraft. When fitted with a lightweight body, the new Railton Eight proved startlingly quick, accelerating to 60mph in just 8.8 seconds, prompting Macklin to hail it as ‘the fastest production car in the world’. No wonder the police loved it, the Railton Cobham saloon becoming a favourite with the Flying Squad in 1930s London.

Costing £433 in chassis form and typically from £600 to £900 fully finished depending on coachwork, these were expensive cars and Macklin did well to sell 1,379 Railton Eights before production came to an end in 1940. He then turned his attention to the war effort, making equally fine torpedo boats for the Royal Navy under the Fairmile Marine banner for which he was awarded a knighthood in 1946.

First registered in Yorkshire in December 1935, this rather splendid Railton Eight Saloon seems to have the larger 4,168cc engine although the V5C records the capacity as 4,303cc so you will have to make your own minds up on that score.

On offer here from a deceased estate, it was acquired by the current keeper from an H&H auction in September 2009 when it cost him just under £22,000. The catalogue description at the time described the car as follows:

‘Finished in black with blue leather upholstery, this Railton is described by the vendor as being in "good" condition with regard to its engine, three-speed manual gearbox, electrical equipment, bodywork and paintwork. He considers the interior trim to be "very good" and notes that (a) "there is a small dent to the driver's door", (b) "the bonnet fit is slightly misaligned" and (c) "the paint on the spare wheel carriers is a little tired".

‘The subject of an extensive restoration whilst resident in America some years ago, the Carbodies saloon sports a striking Pegasus mascot, capacious boot, dual spotlights / horns and twin side-mounted spare wheels. As well as a sunroof and opening windscreen, the interior benefits from rich wood veneers, picnic tables, vanity mirrors and cut-glass ashtrays. Reported to "start and run well", the Railton is further understood to possess "a very comfortable driving position and loads of torque". Offered for sale due to the downsizing of a 14-car collection, VN 7885 is accompanied by MOT certificate valid until June 2010 and sundry tools.’

This description pretty much holds true today – we are told that the owner only used the car lightly until c.2014 when it got parked up, forming part of a collection of vintage cars, all kept in nice dry storage.

Although it has very little history apart from a smattering of minor invoices from 2007 – 2010, the MOT history shows that it was tested every year from 2006 – 2012 but from 2007 onwards they show the same mileage so the odometer presumably stopped working at that point as it still shows the same 856 miles today.

On offer here as a straightforward recommissioning project at an attractive guide price, this rare and powerful saloon leaves plenty of scope for any remedial work required to get it back on the road once more.

Contact: stewart.rich@brightwells.com