1930 Vauxhall Hurlingham

Article

Boattail Roadster

Alexander Wilson founded the company in Vauxhall, London in 1857. Originally it was named Alex Wilson and Company, then Vauxhall Iron Works. The company built pumps and marine engines. In 1903, the company built its first car, a five-horsepower model steered using a tiller, with two forward gears and no reverse gear. In 1925, Vauxhall was bought by GM for $2.5 million.

The Hurlingham roadster was Vauxhall's last attempt at a semi-sporting car until the Viva GT of the 1960s. Vauxhall first advertised the art deco-styled Hurlingham in the 'Motor' magazine in October of 1929. Priced at 650 pounds with its voluptuous boat-type aluminum body resplendent with motorboat-style scuttle vents, standard bolt-on wire wheels, and twin V-screens, and a single dickey seat (rumble or 'mother-in-law'), the Hurlingham represented good value by the standards of the day.

The Hurlingham was powered by a 3.3-liter overhead valve six-cylinder engine. It is believed that fewer than 50 examples of the Hurlingham Speedster were produced.

Vauxhall Hurlingham Speedsters a very rare. This example was discovered in a Springfield, Ohio dump, discarded by its original owner. The current owner obtained the car from the second owner in 1975.