Guide Price: £13,000 - £17,000

﹒Full nut-and-bolt restoration
﹒One of only 2 in the UK, and 36 worldwide
﹒Excellent runner
﹒It’s 103 years old!

The pace of development of the motor-car in the early twentieth century was truly remarkable. At the turn of the century, automobiles were seldom-seen bathtubs on bicycle wheels, and yet as the world came roaring towards the 1920s people were driving around in luxurious and attractive machines like this, the Scripps-Booth Roadster.

Unfamiliar with the name? You’re not alone. This is a company with an interesting story, and it only existed as a manufacturing concern for a decade: founded in 1913 by the unhyphenated engineer and artist James Scripps Booth, the aim of the company was the luxurious high-end of the market. The quality of its wares caught the eye of Chevrolet, who bought the brand outright in 1916, although marque overlap within General Motors ultimately saw the name killed off in 1923. For a certain hardcore of veteran enthusiasts, however, the Scripps-Booth moniker lives on as a marker of great quality and desirability – and, of course, extraordinary rarity.

The car we have here is a 1918 example, a Model G Roadster with the company’s proprietary 1,702cc overhead-valve engine. Having enjoyed a full restoration in its native land, the car made its way to the UK in 2011, and now it’s available for sale right here with Car & Classic Auctions.

It’s important to remember that this car is 103 years old. Remember how achingly long ago it was that England won the World Cup? At that point back in ’66, this Scripps-Booth was already almost half-a-century old. So while there are many stories hidden within those slinky curves, hidden is where many of them shall stay. Which is only right and proper, an old girl like this deserves her secrets. What we do know is that prior to being imported to the UK, the car was living in Terre Haute, Indiana, and received a full and thorough restoration – and it’s evidently been very well cared for since.

The Scripps-Booth register states that there are only thirty-six of these cars left in existence worldwide – fourteen of which are in museums – and just two are in the UK. So the opportunity to buy this obscure curio is a truly beguiling one.

History files of veteran cars always make for interesting reading. Naturally there’s a V5 present which shows that the Scripps-Booth has been registered with the DVLA under the correct chassis number (although it’s worth noting that wartime motoring is evidently beyond the scope of some officials in Swansea, as the date of first manufacture is erroneously recorded as 2018), and there’s also a photocopied version of an original owner’s manual - or ‘instruction book’, as it’s endearingly titled - borrowed from the Detroit Public Library.

There are clippings from club literature, which are as charmingly rudimental as the Scripps-Booth Register’s website itself (that’s well worth looking up, if only to remind yourself what the internet looked like in the 1990s). Finally, we find a copy of the vehicle title from the State of Indiana, showing it to be registered as a 1918 model. Investigative types could even use this document to write a polite letter to the former keeper and enquire about its past…

The first thing you notice about this car’s interior is the gloriously bizarre layout. It’s a three-seater, but not in the latterly-accepted manner of a bench seat; no, instead the occupants sit facing each other in an offset triangle, as if crowded around a pub table, and that frankly sounds like a brilliant way to travel about.

The restoration that was carried out here is evidently of a high standard and has weathered well; the seats are well-stuffed and the leather uncracked, and the door panels and carpets are similarly tidy and well-fitting. The wood-rim steering shows no signs of wear, and the dash and floors are all in excellent condition. The period dials and brightwork are all in place, and the inside of the soft-top hood is in good condition.

As with the interior, the exterior of the Scripps-Booth has been subject to meticulous and fastidious work, and this really makes itself clear in the results. The body panels are all straight and free from visible corrosion, each one fitting snugly with its fellows and boasting the period-correct accoutrements in terms of lights, mirrors and trim. The hood is in good order and its folding mechanism works as it should. The red wire wheels are all in excellent condition, including the rear-mounted spare, and wear quality Universal 4-ply tyres with no evidence of perishing. The underside of the car is largely as clean and straight as the top – the restoration was a full nut-and-bolt job with no stone unturned and, aside from some surface corrosion to the metalwork above the differential, it all looks remarkably neat for a car of such advanced years.

The layout of this car is simple and effective – there’s no brawny Detroit pig-iron V8 here, but instead a buzzy and frugal 1,702cc four-pot with external push-rods. It makes a fabulous noise, and a key feature of this model (which was most unusual in 1918) is the inclusion of an electric starter, so you don’t need to risk broken wrists cranking a handle, it’s all done from the driver’s seat.

The engine is mated to a relatively smooth three-speed transmission with a conventional floor-mounted shifter. All of this was overhauled as part of the restoration, and impressively it starts up very easily and is reportedly a thoroughly pleasant thing to drive. We can see from peering underneath that the suspension and braking components have all received the proper attention, and the owner assures us that everything is as it should be.

There are rare cars, and then there’s this. Not just an obscure model, but an obscure manufacturer; a name that’s largely sunk into obscurity within the mists of time, and yet this car, this beautifully restored and magnificently tidy car, acts as a storyteller for the legacy. People mightn’t have heard of the Scripps-Booth, but that merely gives you an excuse to let them buy you a pint while you explain it all. It isn’t just a 103-year-old car – it’s a 103-year-old car that starts on the button and is very happy to potter about, all the while looking superb and providing (by 1918 standards, at least) supreme comfort within. Where else can you buy such rarity and cachet for such little outlay? This is surely a vital addition to the collection of any serious vintage motoring enthusiast.

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