SOLVED MJW #001 Chenard et Walcker 1924 with body by John Croall & Sons

[João]

Thanks! I really enjoyed it! 

Croall owned H.J. Mulliner untill 1960 and there is a Rolls-Royce with the same design!

[woodinsight]

That's interesting - I hadn't seen this photo before.
The AV registration is Aberdeenshire, Scotland - where I grew up.
I remember many Rolls-Royces similar to this one were used as taxis in Aberdeen back in the 1950s.

[fnqvmuch]

... the Cockshoot is so very like it, though.

[woodinsight]

Yes I can see that.

My grandfather probably decided to commission Croall & Sons of Edinburgh to build the bodywork as he was based in Dundee.

I'll post a history of the car either today or tomorrow.

[woodinsight]

Additional information -


Although my grandfather, Henry Baxter Wood, died in the 1920s I believe that he chose Chenard et Walcker on the basis of the make's victory in the first Le Mans in 1923. Reliability was undoubtedly one of his priorities.
The chassis was acquired new from the Chenard factory in 1923 and shipped to Edinburgh for bodying by John Croall & Sons, Edinburgh.

On his death, my father's oldest brother inherited the car and it was then kept at Forfar in Scotland.
It was only used occasionally and by the start of WW II it was laid up.
My father learned to drive in this car - it must have been quite an experience with brakes on the front wheels only.

Car dealer extraordinaire Bunty Scott-Moncrieff ("Purveyors of Horseless Carriages to the Nobility and Gentry") also had a house in Forfar at the time and managed to acquire the car in 1940.
It joined Bunty's collection of vintage cars and was apparently used infrequently by his wife Averil.

The current owner managed to acquire the car in 1986 and over a period of years restored it to its former glory.
The only part missing is the sun visor that probably disappeared back in the 1930s.

The Chenard is often used on rallies on the continent and is in first class condition today.

Photograph is courtesy of the Wood family.