Arthur Conan Doyle's Chummy

[Colin Morgan]

Is it this car that is up for sale at Mathewson's shortly (Lot 5)?  

   

[austin]

You are going to need Sherlock Holmes to work it out from that photo!

Although I do like the use of the picture frame hook to hold the petrol dipstick, not sure if it would stay on if you hit a bump / pothole though.

[stuartu]

I'm undecided as to whether that's Sir Arthur or just some passing ectoplasm.

Regards,

Stuart

[Colin Morgan]

Well, it looks as if it could be a 1928 Chummy.  And that is him - it is a 'still' from one of his home movies on Youtube.

[Colin Morgan]

...but it seems to have a nickel radiator in the shot from old video?

[Parazine]

The auction notes state the history. I remember Ray Hood working on this car, more than twenty years ago; he was convinced that it was the car owned at one stage by Conan-Doyle, although as ever, much had been changed during the long years before and after WW2.

Curly Goodwin lived on the Isle of Man and died around 2018 but was using his collection of A7's, including the Chummy, a stunning Swallow two-seater and a late two-seater, for long trips and foreign adventures until just prior to his death. He had an Arrow, which was involved in a high speed motorway accident, which Ray also rebuilt including straightening a very bent chassis. All his cars carried their name, sign-written on the bonnet, in this case "Moriarty".

[Colin Morgan]

As the London registration YV records haven't survived, presumably the information about the first owner came from a different source? Perhaps the London supplier?

(Another larger car in one of the home movies does have a visible number plate - an Austin with a YV number.)


[Sold on 17th November for £15500 at the hammer.]

[JonE]

I presume there is a first logbook present, and if there is a car number tag still present, then all is probably well!

Worth looking at the Motorsport Boddy 2009 review of Conan-Doyle motorsport interest. Search online and then look at the pages themselves rather than the transcript.