First sports car for sale

A 102-year-old Vauxhall is set to be sold for the first time in almost 50 years, and is expected to sell for up to NZ$733,000 at auction. The Telegraph says the Vauxhall Prince Henry Sports Torpedo is regarded as the world’s original sports car, and was capable of a top speed of almost 130kmh when it was first produced in 1914. At that time, the average road car would be lucky to reach half this speed. Rob Hubbard, senior motor car specialist at auctioneer Bonhams, says: “The Prince Henry is considered to be the first sports car and came from Vauxhall’s various racing successes. “It was a racing car with wings and headlights and it could comfortably seat four. This variant of Prince Henry is the rarest Vauxhall - I think there are just seven left in existence. “It is a very important car and because they are so rare, very few come to the market.” The open-top model was developed by engineer Laurence Pomeroy and was delivered new to T.W. Badgery, a businessman who worked in the leather industry in Worcester, England. Badgery ran the model on castor oil second pressings from his leather factory and kept it until 1931, by which time the Vauxhill had clocked up 225,000 kilometres. The car was then bought by Laurence Pomeroy Jnr., whose father was the engineer who designed the model. Pomeroy Jnr. had a pedal car version of the model, built for him by his father, but he always wanted the real thing. He kept the car until his death in 1966. The model was bought by engineer Reg Long in 1970, who died earlier this year. During the 46 years Long owned the car, it was driven around Europe and featured in numerous books and magazine features. The Prince Henry will be sold by Bonhams at its Bond Street sale in London on December 4.