Beschreibung:

Few manufacturers contributed so much to automobile design as Panhard et Levassor, Levassor adopting the Daimler engine as early as 1891 and developing a basic motor car design which is still widely used. Had the phrase ‘The Best Car in the World’ been coined earlier, Panhard-Levassor would have been a worthy claimant in the late Victorian and early Edwardian era, the company being right at the forefront in early motor sport, notably the great city-to-city races, and inextricably associated with such motoring pioneers as the Hon. C.S. Rolls, Chev. R. de Knyff, Maurice Farman, Girardot and Charron. Production models were truly race-bred and in fact were remarkably similar to the cars used in competition. This Type-A 7hp twin-cylinder Panhard has a remarkable history. John Alfred Turner operated a garage in High Street, Walton-on-Thames, at the start of the 20th Century. He was to obtain the prestigious Panhard agency at The Walton Motor Works and was also an Official Repairer to the Automobile Club. In 1902 John Alfred Turner supplied a new Panhard-Levassor, this very car, to the local doctor on the understanding that it would be maintained by the Walton Motor Works. In 1905 he bought the car back from the doctor and it has remained in the Turner family ever since, passing through three generations. At the start of the Great War all vehicles at the Turner Garage were requisitioned apart from the Panhard which, already a veteran and looking a little out of date, was pressed back into service. This car was to participate in the Daily Sketch-organised London to Brighton Run in 1929 and continued to participate in these events between 1930 and 1946. Upon the death of John Alfred Turner in 1946 the car was to disappear from the public gaze and fell into disrepair before acquisition by John Alfred Turner’s grandson in 1973. Although not a veteran car enthusiast, he embarked upon a 20 year restoration in his grandfather’s memory, carefully retaining original parts and, despite this activity, keeping the car sheltered from prying eyes. Only a small handful of enthusiasts knew of the car’s existence; it was not recorded in any club’s membership lists and its re-emergence into the public eye is all the more remarkable for that. The Turner family Panhard archives, offered with the car, contain pre-war London to Brighton Run programmes and route cards and indeed rally numbers previously worn by the car, together with seven Brighton Run finisher’s medals, including the 1929 Run medal presented by the Daily Sketch. Although the car is running, further restoration will be required to bring the car to fully road-worthy condition, however rarely does one find such an original base from which to complete a restoration. An exceptionally comprehensive history file and photographic archive is offered with the car which prospective buyers are recommended to inspect closely. The car comes with a period spares book, old style buff log book, Swansea V5 registration document and surely an unquestioned and impeccable provenance which will forever name this car ‘The Turner Panhard’