Rolls Royce Park Ward Single Tourer 20hp
Rolls Royce Park Ward Single Tourer 20hp
The automotive industry grew rapidly in the 1920s. Following in the footsteps of Henry Ford and his huge success with the Ford Model T, which we covered in Sir Arnold Clark’s classic car collection: Part 1, more and more car makers were taking advantage of mass production, and creating models that were both reliable and affordable.
Most of the cars – especially in the first half of the roaring ‘20s – were open top tourers (convertibles). New manufacturers were cropping up everywhere; from the affordable Ford to the upmarket Rolls-Royce, and many are still going today.
In stark contrast to Ford’s unimaginative palette, many cars of the 1920s now had bright paint and attractive details. This is typified perfectly by the oldest of Sir Arnold Clark’s 1920s car collection – the Citroën Cloverleaf.
Registration: TU 3087
This sunny Citroën has a striking yellow chassis that would certainly have turned heads. Built in 1926, this Citroën C3 Cloverleaf is a lightweight model, of which 81,000 units were made.
The model was nicknamed the ‘Petit Citron’ (little lemon), due to it only being made in yellow at first.
The Type C Citroën brought motoring to the masses, and for the first time, Citroën marketed this model particularly to women, which paid off handsomely.
This C3 version was a three-seat ‘Trefle’ (Cloverleaf), with room for one passenger in the rear.
The C3 ceased production the year this one was built, and we think you’ll agree, it’s difficult to see why.
The car now resides at our Stafford Car & Van Rental branch.
Registration: YV 3444
The 20hp Rolls-Royce was introduced in the early 1920s to offer a more affordable option than the Silver Ghost, which was much bigger and harder to handle.
An immediate success, the 20hp was hugely popular with the upper working classes, such as lawyers and doctors.
Between 1922 and 1929, 2,940 were built. This particular model is from 1928.
The light coachwork and delicate interior controls give the Park Ward Tourer an attractive style and sense of precision.
Whilst the 20hps were not fast, with a maximum speed of just over 70mph, they were agile, and also economical to run.
This Park Ward Tourer has a bright blue over black body, and a brown leather interior with red dashboard.
Sir Arnold purchased this car in 2004, when it also underwent some repair work.
With just 54,940 miles on the clock, such a low-mileage original Rolls-Royce is quite a rare find. The car now resides at our Inverness Car & Van Rental branch.
Registration: OF 1151
The Austin Heavy 12 was produced between 1921 and 1939, and around 88,000 were made in total.
This 2-seat Tourer has an attractive extended rear with a smooth curved wheel arch. The 12 were originally only offered as a tourer, but later body styles were added, including a four-seat tourer, the two/four-seater and the coupé.
The Austin Heavy Tourer had a small but faithful following of buyers, and had a 4-cylinder, 1,861cc engine with 12.8hp rating.
Sir Arnold’s Austin Heavy 12 now resides at our Inverness Car & Van Rental branch.
You can view the other parts of this series via the links below.
