Vintage Morgan 4-4 found in North Wales barn to go under the hammer in Ewloe classic car auction

A 1938 Morgan 4-4 sports car is amongst a collection of classic vehicles going under the hammer at Clwyd Car Auctions in Ewloe next month.

The collection which includes a 1953 Bristol 403 saloon, an ex Water Board series 2 Land Rover, a 1953 Ford Anglia and a B.S.A C11 Motorcycle were found in a barn in Denbighshire and put up for auction following the death of the owner.

The five vehicle collection which is being sold as separate lots has remained largely untouched for 40 years and while some have been exposed to the elements on a whole they look to be fairly good shape.

The pick of the collection is the Morgan, the company began making the classic 4-4, meaning four-cylinder, four-wheel in 1936, the price of a new one back then was £195.

In its prime the 4-4 could do 0 to 60 mph in a time of 28.4 seconds with the Coventry Climax engine pushing it onto top speed of around 80mph.

Between 1936 and 1950 912 were manufactured by the Malvern car maker.

With just 22,628 miles on the clock the emerald green Morgan has spent 40 years hidden away in a north Wales barn, documents show it last had an MOT in September 1972.

An original purchase receipt which comes along with the car also shows the last owner paid £195 for the two-seater in 1953, a year when Blackpool won the FA Cup with Stanley Matthews, the Kinsey Report was getting a few people hot under the collar, the average house price was £2,750 and one pound would buy you 16 pints of beer.

The Bristol 403, from the same collection as the Morgan is another British Classic, the luxury car was built in 1953 by Bristol Aeroplane Co.

The 403 was the third of the eventual five series of Bristols powered by the BMW-derived pushrod straight-six engine, it replaced the Bristol 401 and 402 in 1953 and continued production for two years.

The car has had three previous owners, the last MOT was carried out in 1979 and a new engine fitted in the late 60’s

Along with the collection of cars to be auctioned there’s a B.S.A C11 manufactured in 1950 by the Birmingham Small Arms Company at their factory in Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham.

Actor Steve McQueen famously owned a BSA C11, the model was launched in 1939 and came ‘packed’ with an 11 horsepower 250cc engine.owned

Owned from new this one was purchased from Cundles, a motorbike shop in Moor Place Liverpool and had been garaged for 40 years.

All the cars and the BSA bike will go under the hammer at Clwyd Car Auctions on Holywell Road in Ewloe on April 25th – for more information about the Classic Car Auction head over to their website here