Description
H&H Classic Auction @Pavilion Gardens | Buxton, Derbyshire
27th Nov, 2024 13:00
1926 Derby 9hp Grand Sports Special
Estimate
£38, 000 - £45, 000
Lot details
Registration No: WC 1431
Chassis No: GS 138
MOT: Exempt
Rare Vintage-Era French cycle car
Subject to an extensive restoration during the 1980's
Fitted with an upgraded 1, 098cc OHV Chapuis-Dornier Engine and Four-Speed Gearbox
Eligible for events such as Vintage Montlhery and VSCC hillclimbs
Founded in 1912 by Bertrand Montet, Derby was initially engaged in general engineering and after the Great War dealt in War-surplus Harley-Davidson motorcycles. From 1921, the firm began producing lightweight Voiturettes (Cyclecars) that were fitted with the Harley Davidson V-Twin motorcycle engines with which they had become so familiar. Very quickly the marque started to produce larger models and would fit these chassis with four-cylinder, overhead valve 1, 098cc engines sourced from Chapuis-Dornier. Competing with the likes of Amilcar and Salmson, Automobiles Derby exhibited a British bodied 9hp 'Sports' model at the 1923 Olympia Motor Show which was a direct descendant of their 9hp Racer that had competed in the Brooklands 200 mile race. Unfortunately, Derby failed to attract much interest at the show, but it would inspire the imagination of one Vernon Balls. Balls was a Gentleman motor racer who had trained as a motor engineer and made a name for himself by purchasing the remaining stock of Mors spares, and his business would handle all repairs and servicing for the firm right up until 1923. Later in that year, on a business trip to Paris, Balls purchased an Amilcar for sporting use and saw great potential in French cyclecars in British sporting events, and merely a few years later, his firm would become the main sales agent for Derby and market them under the name 'Vernon-Derby' from 1927.
The 9hp Grand Sports Special was a slightly more updated version of the 9hp Sports Model, and featured more elegant bodystyling with louvred side-panels upon the chassis, wrap-around cycle wings and a four-speed gearbox in place of the earlier three-speed unit. Little is known of the early history of this particular example, chassis GS 138, however we are of the understanding that it was originally supplied within the French home market.
More information to follow.
