Description
H&H Classic Auction @ The Imperial War Museum, Duxford/ Cambridgeshire
14th June, 2023 13:00
1926 Standard V3 Coventry Tourer
Estimate £12, 000 - £14, 000
Registration No: BF 8900
Chassis No: 57495
MOT: Exempt
Exported to Australia when new for its first registration
Professionally restored for Australia’s Bi-Centenary Celebration Rally of 1988
Refurbished magneto with the timing re-set after fitting
Offered with a copy of the owner’s manual and V5c document
There are various explanations for the company name, from the cars being assembled from 'standardised patterns and interchangeable parts' to the founder, Reginald Walter Maudslay, proclaiming he 'was determined to maintain the best possible standard'. Whatever, success came its way and in 1924 production reached 10, 000 cars, earning it a market share, comparable to that of the Austin Motor Company. The models produced in the '20s were named after English towns - not just those local to the factory, such as Canley, Kenilworth, Warwick, Coventry, but some much further afield, eg Teignmouth, Falmouth and Exmouth. Their trademark being a distinctive shouldered radiator adorned with a Union Jack badge which they adopted in 1908.
This 1926 Standard V3 Coventry Tourer was exported to Australia, when new, for its first registration. As such, export vehicles, such as those going to Australia, were fitted with a fan. Modifications also included traffic indicators and two brake lights. There are some early photographs of the car time in Australia. The four-seater body is of the English touring style with a roof that retracts fully.
The Tourer was powered by the 11. 4hp, 4 cylinder OHV engine with exposed pushrods and rockers and running a Zenith carburettor, Lucas Magneto ignition and a 6v generator. We believe this example was professionally restored for Australia’s Bi-Centenary Celebration Rally of 1988, whereafter it is thought to have participated and completed and completed the full distance.
Repatriated to the UK from Australia in 2019, Cranmore GT Limited of Wythall in the West Midlands carried out work to ‘recover from storage and then recommission’. The engine had not been running due to the magneto, so the magneto was tested, refurbished, rebuilding and after fitting, the timing was then re-set. There is an invoice on file for c.£700 from April 2022. A copy of owner’s manual and the previous magneto overhaul invoice are on file.
