Lot Ended
Description
Later BMC B-Series engine and gearbox fitted; shortened chassis;
interesting history; always in regular use; pre-war looks with post-war
performance; lots to like!
Richard Lea and
Graham Francis set up in a small workshop in Coventry in 1895 to produce high
quality bicycles. These were in great demand and the little firm soon moved to
larger premises and expanded into motorcycles and cars.
During the Great War they were busy fulfilling Admiralty contracts
but by 1919 they had introduced a car of their own design, although they had an
agreement with Vulcan to share many components in order to keep costs to a
minimum.
With the engineer CM van Eugen in charge
of design, production of cars rapidly expanded, starting with the
Meadows-engined D-Type in 1923.
A sporting image
began to appear from around 1925, leading to models such as the supercharged
Hyper and the Ace of Spades. Keen to capitalise on their success, various other
models were produced for the wider market, including the 12/40 P-Type offered
here.
First registered in Bristol in November
1933, this P-Type 12/40 Tourer would originally have had a Meadows 4ED 1.5
engine but this was removed many years ago and it was fitted with a pre-war
12.9hp engine instead.
By the early 1970s the
P-Type was owned by Lea-Francis aficionado, Reuben Welch of Clifton. He planned
to use the car competitively and shortened the chassis for that purpose, but it
seems from correspondence on file that these two major alterations excluded the
car from taking part in VSCC events under the eligibility rules that applied at
the time (these have since been relaxed somewhat).
In view of this, Mr Welch generously agreed to sell the 12.9hp engine
to the gentleman who owns the ultra-rare Corsica-bodied 1938 Lea-Francis
Sports elsewhere in this sale (Lot 6). This enabled him to compete in VSCC
events as his own Corsica had been retro-fitted with a post-war engine which
also excluded it from competing at the time. Mr Welch then put a BMC B-Series
engine into the P-Type and just used it for fun.
An old V5 shows that from 1995 – 1999 AAE 875 was owned by a Mr J
Persse of Newport, and then by a Dr Lloyd-Davies of Bessaleg who seems to have
kept it until at least 2012, judging by the invoices on file, although a copy of
an old V5 shows that it was transferred into the name of a lady in Cardiff in
July 2005.
The invoices during the Dr’s ownership
include an interior retrim in 2002 by Touch of Class Upholstery in Aberbargoed
and mighty fine it looks too. There are also invoices for wheel bearings; hub
and diff oil seals; half-shafts; rebuilt crown wheel and pinion; diff bearings;
thrust bearings; track rod ends plus various other parts, all supplied by Barrie
Price of Lea-Francis Cars.
There are also 15 old MOTs which show
the mileage rising from 510 miles in 1996 to 5,757 miles in 2012, plus 18 old
tax discs from 1994 – 2012. The odometer currently shows 7,128 miles so the car
has clearly been in regular use, always a good sign with old cars. Other
documents include some historic photos, a Lea-Francis Cars parts catalogue and a
copy of the factory build record which is sadly too faded to read although it
looks like the car originally left the works in late 1932.
Our vendor acquired the car in 2024 and we are told that it runs and
drives well. It has certainly been starting promptly and running nicely as we
have moved it around on site, with good 50psi oil pressure.
With
pre-war looks and post-war performance and ease of maintenance, this rare and
sporting LeaF looks very tempting at the sensible guide price suggested. Only
around 1,093 P-Types were made between 1927 and 1933 and there can't be many
left now so it could be a while before you see another for
sale.
Consigned
by James Dennison – 07970 309907 –
james.dennison@brightwells.com