Description
SALE AGREED
A handsome, cleanly styled example with sliding sunroof, nicely sound and correct, with typical Hooper high quality fittings, such as stainless-steel door handles, and touches such as a sliding tool tray under the rear seat, a storage compartment incorporated into the offside rear door, louvred bonnet & scuttle, etc. Cosmetically, the car is on the scruffy side, with some blemishes to the paintwork, and the interior is all original, but tatty, showing its age somewhat! Importantly however, the structure seems to be very good, the doors closing with a satisfying 'click'. Just out of long-term ownership (27 years), during which time a good deal of work has been carried out, including an engine overhaul by Brunts of Silverdale, radiator re-core, and much more besides. The car is running nicely, driving particularly well, and comes with an impressive history file which includes various documents, a log of work carried out, letters, and photos going back to the 1960s, as well as the original buff logbook from 1934, together with two continuation books. Offered serviced, prepared and newly MoT tested.
Chassis No. GED45 Reg No. BGJ 525
Snippets: Wragg ?The Head Waiter?
Harry Wragg (1902/ 85) earned his nickname due to his trick of sneaking up behind his rivals before piping them at the post! His first win was in September 1919 at Derby riding the filly ?Flying Duck? owned by Majo J. Paget with Harry?s last race in November 1946 on Viva. Over a career spanning over 27years he had taken part in 11, 658 races, he won 1, 774 races and came second 1, 568 times with 1, 500 third places. Two of his brothers were also jockeys and in 1933 at Newcastle the 3 of them raced against each other with Harry 1st on Cornwood, Arthur 2nd on Bodyline and Sam 3rd on Myton -what are the odds on that happening! His success was such that in 1934 he purchased his first Rolls-Royce, that same year he was fined 15 shillings for not having a licence for his chauffeur! In 1941 Harry was acclaimed as the Champion Jockey of the season, he retired from racing in 1947 to become a trainer ? this entailed him selling GED45 in order to buy a horsebox! The owner?s that Harry raced for included Solomon Joel, Sir Hugo Cunliffe-Owen, Sir Victor Sassoon, Lord Rosebery, H. H Aga Khan and King George V. The family connections with horse racing continued with Harry?s sons Geoff taking over the family yard and Peter becoming an agent, in 1973 Harry?s grand-daughter Carolyn won the Newmarket Plate whilst riding Wood Ditton. A copy of Harry's biography by Michael Seth-Smith is with the car and is full of great tales of the turf. Later owners include Major Percy Marlborough Stewart ?he was a cousin of Winston Churchill & a godson of the Duke of Marlborough. In 1901 Major Stewart had married the wealthy heiress Katherine Priestman ? they purchased Burnby Hall where they created gardens filled with exotic and rare plants which they had collected on their numerous (8) world tours! When he inspected his estate, he did so whilst being driven in his Rolls-Royce ? he later gifted GED45 to his great-nephew Lt. Col. Henry Rice Nicholl who kept the car until the mid ?50s when it relocated to Scotland and spent time with Messrs G. Lawson whose Kilwuddie Weaving Factory produced official Robert Burns Check Ties! The late 60s saw the car with Dr Derek Todd whose had a PhD in Philosophy & lecturer in the English Department at Durham University with a special interest in William Shakespeare. Family members have fond memories of the car in which they regularly travelled from Durham to Bexhill and they can remember that one of the children fell out of the car due to lack of safety catches on the passenger doors!
