Beschreibung:

Formerly the property of the Montagu Motor Museum 1903 PANHARD-LEVASSOR TWO CYLINDER 7HP SPORTING TWO SEATER Registration No. 500 NOY Engine No. 5887 Green with black leather upholstery Engine: two cylinder monobloc, 90 x 130mm bore and stroke, 1,654cc, automatic inlet, side exhaust valves, ignition by Scintilla magneto NAZL, Krebs automatic carburettor; Transmission: cone clutch, three speed and reverse gearbox with right hand quadrant change, side-chain final drive; Chassis: wood and steel flitch-plate, 1.8m wheelbase, 1.22m track; Suspension: semi-elliptic springs to front and rear; Brakes: contracting bands on back wheels from side lever and on transmission from foot pedal. Right hand drive. The first Panhard-Levassor car of 1891 used a V-Twin engine built under licence from the German Daimler company. In 1895 a parallel twin was developed, and this came to prominence in the June of that year when Levassor finished first with one of his firm's cars so powered in the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris race. Later Panhard-Levassors used variations on the engine in two and four cylinder form. In 1895 the bore and stroke had been 80 x 120mm, but a ten millimeter addition to both dimensions soon became most frequently used. For twins this gave about 7bhp at 1,000rpm. The late John Bolster of 'Bloody Mary Special' fame, staff writer and commentator of renown, owned a 1903 7hp Panhard-Levassor from 1934 and drove it annually on the London to Brighton Run. In 1962, writing in Veteran and Vintage Magazine , he commented upon the Panhard: "to the sympathetic it is a sheer joy to handle... the ride is comfortable, although the short wheelbase allows some pitching. The roadholding is excellent by any standards, particularly on wet and slippery surfaces. For a journey 20mph is a fair average." Bolster concluded: "Lacking the sheer drama of the big four-cylinder Panhards, the two-cylinder car must be regarded as one of teh most reliable and best-made machines of the Veteran era. Above all, it will give its ultimate performance only to the man who can feel its sensitive controls and interpret the sound of its engine." This 7hp car is a 1903 example of the make and type about which Bolster felt empowered to write so emphatically and passionately. For many years this car resided in the permanent collection of the Montagu Motor Museum, and was sold by Christie's in July 1975 to the present owner. Much of its history can be ascertained from the information provided in the 'Pictorial Guide to the Motor Museums at Beaulieu, Brighton and Measham' produced in 1963 (which features the car on its cover) together with our own catalogue description. We are therefore able to confirm that the car had originally been supplied "new to the late John Morant of Brockenhurst by the Imperial Motor Works of Lyndhurst" (both being local towns to Beaulieu) "and in 1904 was successfully driven from Venice to Athens." Christie's description notes that the car later "reverted to the ownership of the Lyndhurst Garage, being employed on the delivery of petrol to outlying farms" it continues to report that the car "had very little use between 1928 and 1959, in which latter year it was put back into running order" and that it had subsequently completed a number of London to Brighton runs. One of these was undertaken by Richard Bensted-Smith, writing in The Motor on December 5th, 1962. Clearly having enjoyed the experience, the car was driven back from Brighton to Beaulieu and the article includes such notable comments as "The Panhard, in fact, is a sports car, as the merest hermetically sealed week-ender could scarcely doubt after a glance at its dashing profile." This is joined by a note from Bob Warne of Beaulieu that its long drive would "help to run her in". During its Montagu Motor Museum ownership, the car came to be featured on various promotional material for the museum, ranging from postcards to an often seen set of metal table mats. As such it is probably one of