GANGSTER STYLE

Richard Bromell ASFAV, Charterhouse Auctioneers

It was 1976 and the world, to me anyway, at 10 years old, was a good place. We had the hot summer, maybe better called the great drought of ’76, where standpipes were introduced due to the severe water shortage. We were advised to ‘Save water – bath with a friend’ which as a slogan was widely and quite rightly lampooned!

For me the summer of ‘76 is remembered for playing cricket at school in Sherborne with huge cracks in the ground. It is also remembered for the release of Bugsy Malone. If you have not seen the film, it is a spoof gangster musical with a cast made up entirely of children. The cast members sing and dance their way around prohibition-era New York, substituting Tommy guns and bullets for ‘splurge guns’ and custard pies. Back sometime in the 2000s, when the kids were at school, Bugsy Malone was put on as a school play. Needless to say the kids playing the various parts and the adults who produced and watched the play all had a great time. As spoof gangsters, the young actors drove around in 1920s American cars – the running boards mounted with actors with their toy Tommy guns. I say drove around, but as a spoof film/play, the cars were in fact scaled-down pedal cars.

Moving forward now to 2023 and I was recently asked to look at a collection of 1920s American cars. They all looked very gangster-like with their huge running boards, perfect as transportation for the likes of Al Capone and ‘Machine Gun’ Kelly. The cars had been amassed by the owner’s late father. Rather interestingly, he thought there were 23 cars in the collection, but when he checked there were in fact 29!

Some of the cars in the collection are firm family favourites and will be kept. However, to store, maintain and enjoy so many cars is not realistic for the family today which is why I was invited to look at the collection and advise on how to start selling some of them.

Four cars were selected to be sold in our next classic and vintage car auction being held at the prestigious Haynes International Motor Museum on Thursday 9th March. First up there is a 1924 Buick, followed by a 1927 Packard, a 1928 Packard and a 1929 Cadillac. All are similar in appearance – big and imposing. The 1928 Packard is unusual as it is an original right-hand drive with the other three being left-hand drive. The two Packards and the Buick are all 6-cylinder engines whereas the Cadillac has the all-American full-fat V8.

Over the past few years, all the cars have been available to use for wedding and prom night hire. Whether the new buyers of these cars – all of which are immaculate and will be driven to the auction – will continue being hired out we will have to wait and see but I think one thing is for sure, their gangster days are long over.