1939 LANCHESTER LIMOUSINE DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR GEORGE VI TO GO ON SALE AT BONHAMS
A car formerly belonging to and personally driven by King George VI will go under the hammer at Bonhams Beaulieu Sale of Motorcars on September 12 where it is expected to fetch up to £35,000.
A keen driver, King George VI would drive his family himself in this car, hence the sumptuous cloth seating throughout, instead of the usual leather for the chauffeur’s seat. Following the premature death of King George VI in 1952 this car continued in the Royal service of the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth for a further two years before it was released from service.
The car, a Lanchester 32hp Straight-8 Limousine was bought in 1939 by the King, who had been a customer of the Birmingham based company since the 1920s.
A keen, discerning and informed motorist, Prince Albert, Duke of York decided that the products of the Lanchester Motor Company were well suited to his needs and in 1925 bought the first of three Royal Lanchester 40hp cars for private use by himself, his relatively new bride, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, and eventually his daughters Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, who were to make several public appearances with the cars.
Following the merger of Lanchester and Daimler into the BSA empire in 1931 the Prince’s Lanchester loyalty continued, the two young Princesses each driving 10hp Lanchester models, while Prince Albert was to order an 18hp four door sports saloon and later a pair of Lanchester Straight-8 cars, one a limousine and the other a landaulette.
Prince Albert succeeded to the throne following his Brother Edward’s abdication late in 1936. The King’s Lanchester motor cars were subsequently used for private use rather than State occasions and in 1939 two new cars were ordered, the 32hp, 4,624cc Straight-8 Limousine, (this car), and a similar landaulette.
The longer F-Type chassis provided a perfect platform for the King’s new exquisite, all-aluminium, four-light limousine, crafted by Hooper, Royal Warrant holders. The King himself contributed to the design of the elegantly flowing and pleasing coachwork, so dissimilar to the rather staid State limousines in the Royal Mews.
The Car’s subsequent fate is not fully recorded however in later years it was found complete but neglected in the USA. Returning to its homeland it later joined the Lanchester collection of Chris Clark, Lanchester historian and author of ‘The Lanchester Legacy’. There are few Royal cars of such significance outside the Queen’s own collection.
Bonhams, founded in 1793, is one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. The present company was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son and Neale UK. In August 2002, the company acquired Butterfields, the principal firm of auctioneers on the West Coast of America and in August 2003, Goodmans, a leading Australian fine art and antiques auctioneer with salerooms in Sydney, joined the Bonhams Group of Companies. Today, Bonhams offers more sales than any of its rivals, through two major salerooms in London: New Bond Street, and Knightsbridge, and a further seven throughout the UK. Sales are also held in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston in the USA; and Switzerland, France, Monaco, Australia, Hong Kong and Dubai. Bonhams has a worldwide network of offices and regional representatives in 25 countries offering sales advice and valuation services in 57 specialist areas.
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Christopher Tate 
Rachel Bailey 
Jo Minion 
Julius Thurgood 
Chris Jolly, Chairman,
