MELBOURNE.- The Mossgreen Motorclassica Auction this year includes the ex-Hope Bartlett, ex-Jumbo Goddard 1934 MG ‘Q’ Type for $400,000.

James Nicholls of Mossgreen says: “MG Q Type chassis 0257, whether originally dark green or black, as it is painted currently, presents a wonderful opportunity for its next owner to become a custodian of one of the purest British pre-war racing cars now available.”

Utilising a slightly narrower chassis but based on that of the K3, in 1934, MG created the Q Type capable of some 120 miles an hour in two-seater format and this little racing car achieved 122 mph (196km/h) at Brooklands with George Harvey-Noble driving a single seat version.

Q Type, chassis number 0257, the seventh of the eight cars built, was delivered new to Cec Warren in Victoria in August 1934. The earliest image we have of the car is at Sellick’s Beach in South Australia, a hard, smooth surface measuring over 3km in length, on which aeroplanes were known to land.

Just prior to the second world war the car came into the hands of Hope Bartlett of New South Wales and was to achieve the lap record for cars under 750cc at Bathurst in a time of 3 minutes 47 seconds.

At Nowra, June 1947, it came fifth in the under 1100cc Championship, despite gear problems. At Castlereagh on 14 December 1947 it recorded 20.1 sec. for the standing quarter mile.

During 1948, John G. Peek bought it and proceeded to become one of NSW’s most regular competitors. It was at Mt Druitt in January 1949, and then won its class in the 1951 Australian Hillclimb Championship at Hawkesbury in April 1949. A quarter-mile sprint was held at Mt Druitt on July 10 1949 and the Q won its class with 19.55 sec. Later in the year it recorded 18.64 sec. at Castlereagh. On 11 June 1951 it set a new Australian record for the standing quarter mile at 19.82 secs. and the standing kilometre of 38.88 seconds.

In August 2017 after major engineering work the car now looks very much the same as in the 1934 photograph taken at Sellick’s Beach when owned by Cec Warren.

1924 VAUXHALL 30/98 TOURER OE86/100 –A$330,000
In 1922 the OE version of the 30/98 was launched. It sported a 4224cc engine with ohvs developing 112 bhp with a rear axle ratio of 3.3:1. Front wheel brakes were available from 1923. Production of the OE ceased in 1927 but after 1924 numbers were limited. The total production of the Vauxhall 30/98 was just 596 which included 13 built before the first world war, 270 E-types and 313 OE-types.

Such was the build quality and craftsmanship of the 30/98 that the survival rate is high with relatively high numbers in Australia were the Vauxhall was very popular in its heyday.

In the 1920s the 30/98 was very much a fast tourer as opposed to a sports car such as the Bentley’s which were so prominent at this time at Le Mans. Although the 30/98 was not raced by the Works, Vauxhall guaranteed 100 mph (161km/h) for any example which was stripped down.

This particular example which in the 1930s would become the Trans-Continental and Round Australia record holder was amalgamated into a single car from two Velox bodied 30/98 fast tourers shipped to Australia in 1924, chassis numbers OE86 and OE100.

OE100 was purchased in 1934 as a gift, for John Balmer by his mother. Balmer was an adventurous competitor in speed events such as the Mt Tarrengower Hillclimb near Maldon where his family had a property. With his co-driver Eddie Scott, Balmer set the transcontinental Darwin to Adelaide, Fremantle to Adelaide, and Adelaide to Melbourne records during 1936 in OE100. In 1938, sponsored by Shell, Dunlop and Repco, Balmer, along with Richard Kent, established a new 9,326 mile circumnavigation record of the Australian continent in 24 days, 11 hours and 58 minutes.

Balmer and Robinson had become friends at the University of Melbourne. In 1942 as pilots for the Citizen Air Force stationed at the Melbourne Showgrounds before being sent overseas they decided to combine their two cars into one good car under shared ownership. Having taken the heaviest battering on the rough Australian terrain as a record breaker, the body of OE100 was discarded and its engine (still bearing three record breaking commemorative plates), front axle and gearbox incorporated into OE86. Unused components were stored at the Showgrounds.

The car has been extensively and comprehensively re-commissioned and is now offered for sale by auction from the estate of the late John Whiting.

Other highly desirable cars in the 2017 Motorclassica Auction will be a 1958 Lister-Jaguar ‘Knobbly’ recreation, a very original 1965 Porsche 911, two Maserati Ghiblis and an outstanding 1969 Mini Cooper S.

Enthusiasts interested in older cars of historical significance might like a boat-tailed 1930 Ford Model A which set a record for the Sydney to Bourke run or a 1924 Vauxhall 30/98 Tourer which set both trans-continental and around Australia records in the late ‘30s.

A full list of auction consignments can be viewed here