A 1923 Vauxhall 23/60 has returned to its Luton birthplace after undergoing an 18-month mechanical restoration.
The car, known as ‘Alice’, is thought to be the most original surviving example of the 1,300 produced at Vauxhall’s Kimpton Road plant in Luton between 1922 and 1926.
Alice was reunited with Kay Lorenzato, whose late husband Raymond owned the car from the 1950s and who sold the car to current owner, Mark Walker, through Bonhams auctioneers last year. The restoration uncovered evidence of the remarkable life Alice enjoyed with the Lorenzato’s, with a windscreen sticker marking a 1950s crossing of the Grimsel Pass in the Swiss Alps and three tickets from a Lucerne cinema found under the seats.
Last seen in Luton for an owners club meeting in 1964, Alice came home last week after being returned to running condition. A cracked block, which saw the car retired to the Lorenzato’s family garage in 1967, has been repaired by Walker, a renowned restorer and vintage racer. New high-compression pistons have also been fitted, but Walker has tried to keep the car as authentic as possible, even retaining the original leather trim.
‘In Alice, sixty mph at two-thousand rpm is still a comfortable and smooth cruising speed and the car keeps up well with modern traffic,’ said Walker. ‘Higher speeds are certainly possible, but with only rear brakes, probably not advisable! I intend to use the car as family transport and would love to recreate the trip over the Grimsel Pass one day.’
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