Description
Coming to auction at the Castle Combe Autumn Classic on Saturday 12th September, full catalogue now online, search Dore & Rees Motoring for further info.
1959 Tojeiro Climax
Registration Number: 793 VXW
Chassis Number: TAD/ 3/ 59
Recorded Mileage: N/ A
- Unique surviving example
- Previous single ownership for c. 50 years
The car offered here, chassis TAD/ 3/ 59, is one of these particularly rare Tojeiro sports-racing cars and is now fitted with an 1100cc Coventry-Climax engine.
Its subsequent history is especially intriguing. The car was discovered during the 1970s by John Neil, a race mechanic at Wolfe Racing, in a derelict and partly dismantled condition, without an engine. Neil subsequently passed the Tojeiro to the renowned D-Type and C-Type Jaguar specialist John Pearson, who in turn sold it to David Lee.
At this point the car carried a particularly distinctive set of Elva magnesium wheels, complete with unique three-eared knock-on spinners. These wheels are believed to have been fitted to only one Tojeiro: the 1500cc Coventry-Climax-powered example raced by Sir John Whitmore during 1959. Although it has not been possible to categorically establish that TAD-3-59 is the same car, the provenance is tantalising. The Whitmore car is understood to have passed to Fred Warnell during the 1960s, after which its history becomes unclear until the discovery of the present car in the following decade.
By 1978, David Lee had completed the restoration, installed a competition-prepared 1100cc Coventry-Climax engine and began competing in historic events and hillclimbs. A quantity of period documentation from Lee's ownership accompanies the car, including programmes, photographs and results sheets recording its competition activities.
Lee subsequently retained TAD-3-59 for almost five decades, a remarkable period of ownership which reflects the affection in which the car was held. Following his death, the Tojeiro was acquired by the present vendor from his widow.
More recently, the car has been sympathetically revived and recommissioned, and has been successfully road registered with a modern V5c. In use, it has proved an engaging and spirited road car, offering the unusual combination of genuine 1950s sports-racing pedigree and the practicality of being road registered.
Today, TAD-3-59 presents in highly attractive form and represents a rare survivor from one of Britain's most interesting low-volume racing constructors. Its elegant alloy bodywork, lightweight spaceframe chassis and Coventry-Climax power encapsulate the ingenuity of the period, while its documented competition history and intriguing connection with the Sir John Whitmore Tojeiro add considerable interest.
Eligible for a variety of prestigious Historic Sports-Racing events, TAD-3-59 would make an evocative and potentially competitive entrant for its next owner, while equally offering considerable appeal as a highly unusual road-registered example of John Tojeiro's work.
A rare opportunity to acquire an important British sports-racing special, with fascinating period connections, extensive competition history and nearly 50 years of single-family ownership.
