Engine No. OE 117 Registration No. TU 831 The unremarkable specification of the famous Vauxhall 30-98 is perhaps, in itself, exactly what makes this much-loved vintage sports car quite so remarkable. It would be difficult to argue that Vauxhall Motors should be credited with producing the world’s first sports cars, but what can more easily be argued is that, with the introduction of the 30-98 model, Vauxhall Motors created the “Finest of Sporting Cars.” If the Vauxhall 30-98’s predecessor, The Prince Henry is widely accepted as the first British production sports car, the 30-98 is regarded as Britain’s first genuine 100 mile per hour production sports car. This accolade stands the surviving examples in good stead going forward and ensures their enduring popularity with sporting motorists of all generations for the future. In later overhead-valve (OE-Type) form they simply run rings around their more sophisticated contemporaries from Bentley and Sunbeam. On the open road often show a clean pair of heels to modern motor cars nearly 100 years their junior. The big-engine lightweight formula is well understood these days and is often cited as the reason for the 30-98’s superb performance. Whilst this is a completely fair assessment one must also consider that, when introduced in 1913, the 30-98 was designed to cater for the emergence of a new and popular market for “Sports Cars” and that the 4½-litre engine was not actually considered to be all that large. This “new” concept of a sports car was not based on the simple ideology of the earlier leviathan racing car where a bigger engine equalled a bigger performance, but on a wholly more modern concept of a lighter car, with a powerful, smaller capacity engine that could often better the monster-sized motorcars on the open road by virtue of their better handling, better braking, and better all-round performance. The 30-98 was a superb demonstration by Vauxhall of how to make a sports car, a fact borne out by the result achieved by Joseph Higginson at The Shelsley Walsh hill-climb in 1913, when, in the first ever 30-98 built, a car that he himself commissioned, he broke the hill record, a record that remained unbroken until 1922. This superb example of the “Finest of Sporting Cars,” chassis number OE 118, is one of the later and highly desired overhead-valve, low radiator, front wheel-braked models. It left the Vauxhall Motors erecting shop on 27 May 1924, fitted with engine number OE 117 and factory Velox type coachwork, both of which the chassis retains to this day. The completed car was supplied new to Sir William Proctor-Smith and originally registered FM 404. This would likely be a private registration number retained by Sir William Proctor-Smith as it re-appears in 1930 on a Bentley 4½-Litre Vanden Plas tourer that he bought new. It is not known exactly how long Proctor-Smith retained ownership of OE 118, but by 1933 it was owned by W.G.S. Wike and now registered TU 831. From Wike the car passed to N. Sharratt in 1935. Contained within The Vauxhall 30-98 Centenary Index, written and compiled by Nic Portway, is a photograph of OE 118 in Manchester before the second World War when Sharratt owned the car and had modified the Vauxhall by fitting a lavish external exhaust system from a supercharged Mercedes, Stephen Grebel headlights, long pointed wings and (inexplicably) the word “DIESEL” emblazoned on the radiator in large nickel or chrome letters. When researching the history of OE 118 Portway relayed that his late father-in-law, Ken Neve, remembered OE 118 in this form at V.S.C.C. events before the war. Sharratt kept the car until 1946 when it passed to P. Coates, who was well-known to Portway and the owner of a number of interesting cars and Vincent motorcycles. By 1957 OE 118 was with a J. Bacon and was in rather a poor state of repair. In 1965 the Vauxhall was purchased by Dr. Robin Barnard, a collector of many fine vintage sports cars. Dr. Barnard entrusted Arthur Archer with a comprehensive restoration, a process that proved to be both costly and time consuming, but that ultimately rescued the car from dereliction. Tragically, by the time the restoration was completed in the early 1990s, Dr. Barnard had started to lose his vision and was unable to drive. To this end, the car was little used and in 1995 it was purchased, via Fiskens, by Roger Firth of Cheshire. Firth used OE 118 sparingly and carefully, carrying out regular maintenance. During Firth’s ownership the car was never pressed into competition work and was mostly used for an annual trip from Cheshire to the V.S.C.C. meeting at the Prescott speed hill-climb where the model is well represented each year. Roger Firth retained ownership of the car until 2020, when most of his collection was sold via Robert Glover Limited. The current owner has carried on the good work of Roger Firth and OE 118 has continued to be maintained to the highest standards, with recent works entrusted to Piers Trevelyan at the world-renowned vintage restoration specialists, Ashton Keynes Vintage Restorations. Of particular note is a significant refresh of the original engine with the connecting rods, pistons, and valve gear all replaced. All works carried out by Ashton Keynes Vintage Restorations are listed in the history file supplied with OE 118 which also includes period monochrome images of the car during the 1930s, the car pre-restoration by Arthur Archer and some excellent photographs of the running chassis during the Archer restoration, that show in some detail the extent of the works carried out on behalf of Dr Barnard. Sadly, recent ill-health suffered by the owner has limited his driving enjoyment of OE 118 and thus this finest of finest sporting cars is offered for sale. It is sure to provide its next custodian with many miles of fast vintage motoring. Vauxhall 30-98 OE-Type Velox chassis number OE 118 is eligible for numerous events around the world and would be equally as comfortable on a long-distance rally, hill-climb, or vintage race as it would on a concours lawn.