Beschreibung
Bonhams are delighted to offer at our forthcoming Collectors' Motor Car Auction on Wednesday 6th December at Olympia International, London 89 collectors motor cars. The full online catalogue can be viewed at - details above. For further images and information on this lot, please follow the link.
1931 STAR COMET SALOON
REGISTRATION NO. OAS 378
CHASSIS NO. D784
* Rare survivor of a quality British make
* 2½-litre six-cylinder engine
* Believed original paintwork and interior
* Present ownership since 2009
* Engine rebuilt in 2010
£15, 000 - 20, 000
€17, 000 - 22, 000
One of Britain's top six motor manufacturers prior to WWI, the Wolverhampton-based Star Motor Company produced its first automobile in 1898. A close neighbour of Sunbeam, the company had been founded by Edward Lisle Sr, proprietor of the Star Cycle Company that would later build its own Starling cars under the guidance of his son, Edward Jr. Progressing from that first single-cylinder Benz-based design, the firm added twin- and four-cylinder cars to a diverse and expanding range and built its first six in 1907. Although technically un-adventurous in its early years, Star built up a deserved reputation for building luxuriously appointed and well constructed cars, aided by the fact that it made most of its parts, chassis frames excepted, in house.
Four-wheel brakes - on the bigger sixes - and overhead valves - on the four-cylinder 12/ 40 - made their appearance in the early 1920s, and then in 1927 came the first overhead-valve six: the 20/ 50hp PL2. Guy Motors acquired Star in 1927 and the firm changed hands again in 1932, but by then the ongoing economic downturn was hitting luxury car manufacturers hard and by 1935 Star was gone.
A rare surviving example of one of Star's smaller sixes, this 2½-litre Comet saloon was purchased new by one G Stevenson from Tunbridge Wells, Kent for £495 with a 20% discount given. The car was ordered with right-hand gearchange, black paintwork, and brown leather upholstery, and is believed to retain its original interior and exterior finish to this day. At some time in the 1990s the registration was changed from the original 'GO 1003' to the current 'OAS 378'.
The current vendor purchased the Star in Bicester, Oxfordshire in 2009, and soon after acquisition (in 2010) the engine was removed and rebuilt, with all the white-metalled bearings replaced, new pistons fitted, cylinders honed, etc (photographs on file). We are advised that it now runs smoothly. Used solely for pleasure and described by the private vendor as in generally good condition, this rare British quality car is offered with an original sales brochure, a V5C Registration Certificate, and invoices relating to the engine rebuild.
