Lot Ended
Description
Original RHD car for the UK market; lusty 50bhp 3.1-litre ohv
straight-six; expertly restored by the current owner, a retired motor body
design engineer; magazine featured; superb condition throughout; original number
plate; find a better one!
Founded in 1867,
the McLaughlin Carriage Company of Oshawa, Ontario, was Canada’s foremost maker
of sleighs and carriages. They had a go at making their own cars too, but
quickly realised that it would be a lot easier to team up with an existing
manufacturer, hence their agreement with Buick’s founder, WC Durant, to use his
running gear in cars that they would body themselves. Thus was McLaughlin-Buick
born in 1908.
Although they shared mechanical
parts with Buick, the McLaughlin bodies were made to an altogether higher
standard and the interior appointments were significantly more luxurious. The
engines were also more powerful thanks to tweaks to the cylinder heads and other
tuning goodies. They were all right-hand drive, not just for the Canadian market
but for Commonwealth countries too, including the UK, where they incurred a
lower rate of import duty than American-made cars which made them especially
attractive to British buyers.
Quite apart from
the fact that UK or European-built cars were just too expensive for most Brits,
American cars were not only cheaper but also stronger and better made thanks to
more advanced production techniques. Not to mention the fact that, this being
the height of the Jazz Age, it was far more glamorous to turn up at the golf
course or the horse races in a Gatsby-esque 3-Litre Open Coupe like this than in
a relatively dowdy Austin or Morris...
This
sparkling 1925 McLaughlin-Buick two-seater with dickey is based on a Buick
Standard Six but has various McLaughlin upgrades to differentiate it from its
humbler American cousin. A brass plaque on the dash shows that it was supplied
new via The Black Horse Auto Service Company of Surrey, a well-known garage and
General Motors agent on the Sheen Road in Richmond, who would in turn have
received the car from the famous London distributor Lendrum & Hartman, a
flamboyant outfit who specialised in importing luxury American cars that were
coming in thick and fast to their sprawling premises in Willesden to feed a
car-starved UK market.
A buff continuation
logbook shows that PE 1218 was first registered in Surrey in February 2025,
listing five owners between 1930 and the early-1960s by which time it was
resident in Maidstone. Here it was to remain until our vendor spotted it for
sale about 15 years ago.
A retired motor body
design engineer who served his apprenticeship with Jaguar before moving to the
drawing office at Rootes, he went on to work in Detroit and Australia, designing
bespoke coachwork for affluent customers including the Sultan of Brunei. The
Buick was exactly what he was looking for: an interesting, high-quality Vintage
car that he could restore as a project to keep him busy in his retirement.
At this stage the car had been off the road for
decades and had been partly painted yellow but was solid and largely complete,
apart from the rear bodywork which had been modified at some point to turn it
into a pickup truck for use as a breakdown recovery vehicle by a local
garage.
Over the next few years our vendor
treated the car to a total body-off rebuild with the spectacular results you see
today. Although there are no invoices to show the extent of the work carried
out, the finished car was featured in a two-page article in The
Automobile in July 2018 which covers the whole project in some detail, also
showing the car as it looked when acquired and during the rebuild (see photos).
Once the body had been removed, it became
apparent that the rear of the chassis had been bent in an accident of some sort,
perhaps explaining why it had been converted into a pickup. This was carefully
straightened, primed and painted black.
As the
restoration progressed, our vendor became increasingly impressed with the sheer
quality of the Buick’s engineering. Despite leading what was probably quite a
hard life, all the major components remained in remarkably good condition and
responded well to thorough dismantling, cleaning and
refurbishment.
This included the 3,130cc
straight-six ohv engine which was soon restored to its hearty 50bhp at 2,800rpm
performance (RAC rating 21.9hp) and repainted in the original trademark bright
green. The original Marvel carb was somewhat inefficient so the inlet manifold
was modified to take an SU side-draught carb with an air cleaner, as recommended
by Burlen of Salisbury who provided expert advice on the optimum
set-up.
The back axle, differential, halfshafts
and three-speed gearbox were all in equally good shape and needed remarkably
little attention to restore them to tip-top working order. New king-pins were
sourced from an autojumble and the leaf springs were reconditioned by Jones
Springs of Darlaston. The four-wheel brakes were all fully overhauled and given
new linings.
The original hickory-spoked
artillery wheels were carefully restored and fitted with the correct Goodrich
Silvertown balloon tyres which were specially imported from America. A complete
new exhaust system was specially made, using stainless steel downpipes mated to
mild steel silencers and tail sections. The vendor also made a new fuel tank
from scratch, using the old one as a pattern.
A
complete new wiring loom was made and effective brake lamps and flashing
indicators were discreetly fitted in the interests of safety. The
vacuum-operated Autovac was ditched in favour of a more efficient electric fuel
pump. The honeycomb radiator proved to be in amazingly good condition and needed
nothing more than a thorough flushing, although the water pump was replaced and
a more efficient cooling fan was fitted.
All the
dash instruments were rebuilt and a new wooden dashboard was made – more
luxurious than the spartan metal dash fitted to American Buicks. The original
wooden rim on the sturdy four-spoke alloy steering wheel was falling apart but
was carefully reassembled and restored.
The interior was expertly
restored by an ex-Jaguar coach-trimmer, the front bench seat, rear dickey seats
and door cards being covered in top-quality hides supplied by William Marston of
Birmingham. He also made a new canvas hood, tonneau and sidescreens, the latter
with metal frames specially made by our vendor to attach to the front of the
windscreen pillar rather than the sides, greatly reducing water ingress when
motoring at speed in wet weather.
Body
engineering is our vendor’s stock in trade and this is where the quality of the
restoration really shines out. Using another McLaughlin-Buick owned by a friend
in Sheffield as a pattern, he completely restored the ash frame, admitting that
he got a bit carried away and over-engineered parts of it with additional
hardwood in the interests of structural rigidity and longevity.
He also
repaired all the existing body panels and skilfully made up the missing rear
sections on his English wheeling machine, finally painting the car himself in
the correct cellulose, the light blue finish displaying a deep lustre built up
by applying dozens of thin coats over a two-month period. As the original hood
frame was missing, our vendor made a new one, again using that on the
Sheffield car as a pattern.
Since the
restoration was completed about eight years ago, PE 1218 has been in regular
use, including frequent trips to Prescott and attending many VSCC events. Aside
from the aforementioned Automobile article and buff logbook, she comes
with some useful technical literature, including a 200-page copy of an original
maintenance manual, plus sundry running spares, some handy tips from the
vendor on starting and driving plus two sets of keys. She also retains her
original (transferable) Surrey-issue number plate, PE 1218.
As you can see in the photos, this imposing McLaughlin-Buick is in
spectacular condition throughout. We are told that she drives as well as she
looks and she has been starting first press of the button and running
beautifully as we have driven her around on site, with healthy oil pressure. We
are told that many new and refurbished Buick parts are still readily available
from specialist suppliers in America, such as Bob's Automobilia of California,
so keeping her in good shape should not be an issue.
A lasting testament to the engineering expertise of her
owner/restorer, this stunning Open Coupe is probably in better
condition now than she was when she first rolled off the Oshawa production line
over 100 years ago.
On offer here at a fraction of the costs lavished
upon her to date, all she needs now is a fortunate new owner who can play
their own part in continuing to preserve her well into the next century and
beyond.
Consigned
by James Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com