Lot Ended
Description
Subject to a meticulous 25-year restoration and only 53 miles since;
retrim alone cost £17k; interesting history; vanishingly rare; one of the finest
Vintage car restorations we have ever seen
Founded by the
Lisle family of Wolverhampton in 1898, the Star Motor Company is largely
forgotten today but was a major force in the British car industry before the
First World War with more than 30 different models on offer with engines ranging
from 6hp to 40hp.
By 1914 Star was the sixth
largest car manufacturer in the UK, producing 1,000 cars per year plus numerous
commercial vehicles, virtually every component being made in-house using only
the highest-grade materials.
In 1922 a pair of
11.9hp Stars came first and second in the Scottish Six Days’ Light Car Trials,
earning glowing reviews in the press. ‘No praise too high is there for the two
Stars, which seemed to face every obstacle sturdily and surmount it surely every
day of the trial,’ said The Motor. ‘Both created a sound and lasting
impression in the minds of those who saw them, for they never once faltered.
Sturdily built, handsome and economical, they won their laurels in no uncertain
fashion’.
The winning car was shipped out to
Australia where it covered 11,000 miles across the Outback before
being taken to New Zealand where it shredded hill climb records set by much
more powerful cars. Another 11.9hp won the gruelling Australian 1,000 Mile
Alpine Test – ‘all scenery and shell-shock’ – which further boosted sales to the
Colonies.
However, such build quality came at a
cost and Stars were soon far more expensive than lesser machines from rivals
like Austin and Morris. To compound the problem, Edward Lisle positively shunned
modern manufacture, his adverts imploring: ‘Why buy the cotton of mass
production when the silk of English workmanship costs so little more?’.
His stubborn refusal to compromise on quality proved the
downfall of the firm, and Star went out of business in 1932.
Launched in 1927, the Stella 20/50 was typical of the breed. A
handsome six-light saloon rated a 19.8hp, it bristled with quality components
and was powered by a c.3.2-litre side-valve straight-six with Lanchester Patent
four-wheel brakes. The list price was £545 at a time when the average
annual wage for a skilled male worker was £215.
The sales brochure emphasised the quality of the materials used:
‘Frame - pressed nickel steel. Frame brackets - high tensile steel. Rear axle
shafts - nickel chrome steel. Valves - cobalt chrome steel. Con rods - Duralumin
stampings. Brake shoes - die cast aluminium alloy… The 20/50 Stella easily
touches 60/65mph… holds the road perfectly… glides at all speeds’.
This magnificent Stella 20/50 Saloon has an
interesting story to tell. First registered in Lancashire in June 1927, it was
put into a barn at Hill Top Farm near Leeds in 1938 where it was to remain for
the next 51 years.
When the farmer died in 1989,
his widow, Mrs Stone, put the Star into an auction where it was acquired for
£6,000 by a Mr S Cowell of Norwich who also owned a Star Flyer lorry and a Star
14/40 Royal Saloon. When his industrial holdings business went into liquidation
in 1990, Mr Cowell was declared bankrupt and fled to the Far East, leaving the
Stella in storage with a car restorer in Norfolk. The Star Flyer was seized by
the receiver but the restorer managed to gain title to the Stella which he put
into a Sotheby’s auction in July 1998 to recoup some of the rent he was owed.
Our vendor acquired the Stella at the auction
for £3,000, the catalogue describing it as: ‘A barn discovery from the Vintage
period, worthy of restoration’. Although it looked pretty decrepit, it was in
fact remarkably sound having been pushed into the Yorkshire barn when it was
just 11 years old.
Our vendor spent the next 25
years meticulously restoring the Stella, which has resulted in the spectacular
machine you see today. Although there are only invoices for some of the work
carried out, the results speak for themselves.
The interior retrim alone cost £17,000 but boy was it worth it – the
pale blue leather seats and door cards are works of art in themselves. The
nickel plated lights and dash instruments gleam like jewels and many of the
fittings, such as the exquisite interior and exterior door handles, are made
from solid nickel. The sharp-eyed will note that even the drives on
the heads of the screws all align in the same direction. How do they
do that?!
The engine was completely rebuilt with
new pistons, bearings, re-ground crank etc. The axle had a new crown-wheel and
pinion, all the instruments were rebuilt and the odometer re-set to zero, the
radiator was restored at a cost of £2,000, the leather suspension spring gaiters
cost nearly £800 – you get the picture, this was a labour of love with no
expense spared and no corners cut.
The history
file contains much useful literature about the Star marque, correspondence from
the Star Register to whom this car is well-known, copies of the Sotheby’s
catalogue description, invoices, drawings, photographs etc.
One of the finest Vintage car restorations we have ever seen, this
Stella has only covered 53 miles since the restoration was completed and will
require a careful running-in period before the performance is exploited to the
full. If you are wondering whether it will fit in your garage, it is 13ft 6"
long x 6ft wide x 5ft 10" high.
It has been starting easily and
running beautifully as we have moved it around on site, with a good turn of
speed. The icing on the cake is the original Southport-issue number plate, WM
801, which is transferable (according to the V5C) and doubtless has a
significant value of its own.
If Edward
Lisle were looking down now, he would be deeply gratified to see this
magnificent machine looking as good today as it must have done when it
left his factory almost 100 years ago. It was always his intention to
produce cars that would last a lifetime and our vendor is a man cut from the
same cloth. His refusal to compromise on the quality of the restoration commands
our deepest respect and we have no doubt that this jewel of a car will still be
providing quality motoring far into the 21st Century and beyond.
We have been unable to find out how many Stellas
were made, let alone how many survive, but we strongly suspect that you will
never see another for sale again. On offer here at no reserve, this really is
the chance of a lifetime: if a Star has ever been on your radar, bid vigorously
now or regret your hesitancy bitterly hereafter.
As Aldo Gucci famously
observed: 'The quality remains when the price is long
forgotten'.
Consigned by James
Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com