1928 Lea Francis O Type Sports For Sale

1928 LEA FRANCIS O TYPE SPORTS ROADSTER - 4, 624 MILES SHOWING - A$135, 900

R. H. Lea and G. I. Francis started the business in Coventry UK in 1895. They branched out into car manufacturing in 1903 and motorcycles in 1911. Lea-Francis built cars under license for the Singer Company. In 1919 they started to build their own cars from bought-in components.

From 1922, Lea-Francis formed a business relationship with Vulcan of Southport, sharing manufacturing and dealers. Vulcan supplied bodies to Lea-Francis and in return got gearboxes and steering gear. Two six cylinder Vulcan designed and manufactured cars were marketed as Lea-Francis 14/ 40 and 16/ 60 as well as Vulcans. The association ended in 1928 when Vulcan stopped making cars.

A sporting image began to appear from about 1925, leading to models as the Hyper and the Ace of Spades. The Hyper, also called the S Type, was the first British supercharged production car with a 1. 5 Litre Meadows engine and in 1928 a Lea-Francis Hyper won the Ulster TT, a 30 lap race on the 13. 5 mile (21. 7km) Ards circuit on the roads of Northern Ireland in the hands of race driver Kaye Don. The race was watched by a record 250, 000 spectators and the victory placed Lea-Francis firmly on the map.

Presenting in Black with red leather interior trim.

This car is quite rare and has an interesting history.

It was imported into Australia in the 1930’s and owned at that time by Len Sidney, who turned it into a competition sports car by replacing the original 1. 5 Litre Meadows engine with a 3 Litre Meadows 6ENC unit and completely rebuilt the body to it’s current design.
He raced it in vintage events reasonably successfully and the car was written up in the early 1950’s in the Australian Motor Sports magazine.

The vehicle then disappeared before entering the ownership of Neville Webb of Queensland, a collector of the marque. It has had another engine rebuild some years ago by a well known engine builder in Sydney named L. W. Parry and Sons. They also overhauled the SU carburettors and replaced both SU fuel pumps.

Currently featuring the 3 Litre Meadows 6ENC engine, mated to a 4 speed non synchro gearbox, we have no performance figures to share, however the current South Australian owner says for a late 1920’s sportscar, it starts happily and performs well on the road.

We hold a large paper file which covers much of the work done over the years and also interesting old photos when Len Sydney was competing in the car.

Currently on South Australian historic registration, it should be eligible for similar schemes in other states, making on road costs minimal.

An ideal car for vintage runs, events and car shows and also would be perfect knowing it’s competition history, to enter vintage hill climbs and vintage races.

Don’t miss this handsome vintage sports car on our showroom floor in Adelaide.

We can arrange transport door to door Australia wide or even to an overseas destination.

Finance – our broker will investigate options available on this type of car.

We welcome the opportunity to consider your trade in.