1936 Railton F28 Convertible

Railton automobiles were built in the old Invicta works in Cobham, Surrey, England between 1933 and 1940 using American Hudson chassis and powertrains. The brand was named after Reid Railton, a famous race car designer, who was not involved in the ongoing manufacture of the cars. The first cars were priced at £499, a substantial price for the day. Noel Macklin, who had been building expensive and hand-built Invicta cars at the same factory, was the entrepreneur who was so impressed with the performance and quality of the Terraplane cars made by Hudson that he contracted to import the straight eight chassis to England. He made modest alterations to bring it more in line with British tastes and arranged for at least seven different coach builders to build different bodies for the Railton.

The Railton was a hybrid: built in Great Britain using an American chassis and British coachwork. The American chassis was supplied by the Hudson Motor Company.

This 1936 Railton Fairmile with aluminum body by Coachcraft on a Hudson Eight chassis, powered by a 4168cc side-valve straight eight engine, claimed a 0-to-60 mph time of 8.8 seconds, reputedly the fastest production car in the world in its day. Altogether 1,379 Railton 8 models were made. This particular 1936 Railton has undergone a complete, frame-off restoration but all parts are original.