Beschreibung
DOROTHEUM Classic Car & Motorcycle Spring Sale
Saturday, June 24, 4pm
1937 S. S. 100 Jaguar 2½ Litre
Documented from its first day!
One of just 198 2 ½ litre S. S. 100s!
Two-time contestant in the Mille-Miglia!
€ 290. 000 - 390. 000
Appleyard, the Leeds-based agent, whose son Ian became a famous race driver and skier and also went on to marry Lyons’s daughter Patricia, delivered chassis number 18106 to its first owner, S. C. Duckworth. He registered his new sports car on 11 June 1937, receiving the license plate ABT274.
A badge on the dashboard suggests that the car took part in the 1938 Seventh Annual Blackpool Rally. It certainly competed in the Morecambe Rally in 1952. The S. S. 100 held onto its dominant position on the racetracks of the early post-war years, but new and better race cars gradually brought its era to an end.
Before setting off on its journey across the Big Pond in 1961, the 18106 was owned by B. E. Rutland from Isleworth, Middlesex; then, though, Chris Coburn from Portola Valley imported the car to California. Sam Huston from Palo Alto purchased the S. S. 100 from him, before selling it on to Van S. Hurd. Sojourning briefly with another owner, the vehicle finally made its way to the man who would keep it for 30 years: Hugo Molnar, a native of Hungary who emigrated to Vienna in 1956 and later on to the United States.
In a written response to a letter from Molnar, Hurd revealed a certain irritation that the car had been sold to someone who was just looking to make a fast buck. Evidently he would have preferred to keep the car, but he did give Molnar a few tips on how to obtain assistance, as the S. S. had started to show its age by then and was needing some attention.
In the following years, Molnar set about restoring his S. S. with immense dedication. Like many of its kind, the engine had already been replaced with a larger, more competitive 3 ½ litre model back in England, but the rest of the car was in a good condition, as shown by photographs.
After completing the restoration, Molnar drove his S. S. 100 in numerous vintage races, among them in Laguna Seca, becoming an active member of the Californian S. S. scene. Photos show Molnar at various races, meets and parades. Growing older, Molnar finally sold his S. S. to Christopher Hutchins on the eastern seaboard in Maine in 1998.
The consignor, a Jaguar collector, brought the 18106 from the United States to Austria in 2008. Although repainted again in the meantime, the S. S. 100 had evidently benefited from the decades spent in the dry climate of Palm Springs. The new owner submitted the S. S. to a specialist for maintenance, and from then on drove the vehicle at numerous events. He competed in the Mille Miglia for the first time in 2013. At the start of 2014, he purchased a completely overhauled, original 2 ½ litre S. S. 100 engine from the English S. S. specialist Davenport, restoring the car to its initial specification. He then successfully took part in another Mille Miglia in 2016.
Today, the S. S. 100s have a special place in automobile history, and it is rare to find such a comprehensively documented specimen. This one will turn 80 today, and immediately captivates devoted enthusiasts. It is beautiful, fast and the embodiment of a seemingly endless history. A legend in its own lifetime.
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