A vintage British classic car which featured in the 1942 film Casablanca has gone up for sale – for £128,000.
The iconic 98-year-old 24HP Sunbeam made its silver screen debut carrying police through the crowded streets of Morocco’s biggest city in the early moments of the WWII romantic drama starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
And, to borrow one of Bogie’s famous lines from the film, if you miss out on this one, “you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life”.
Vintage British classic car undergoes £160,000 restoration
The rare classic, first registered on 23rd July 1919, was formerly owned by the Warner Brothers movie company and it has recently been treated to a £160,000 four-year restoration.
That involved removing the body and attending to every conceivable item. The engine gearbox and rear axle have all been completely renewed.
The body was retained but refurbished with new seats upholstered in buttoned purple leather to match the new coach paint.
A new windscreen was tailor made, and a new hood frame was covered with a mohair hood. A new two-part tonneau cover was also fitted along with a hood bag.
Since restoration the car has done around 2,000 miles to run in.
Vintage British classic car “a pleasure to drive”
According to sale notes: “The result is an immaculate car in first-class mechanical condition. With a low revving engine and a high gear ratio it is an excellent, comfortable touring car which will cruise at 55 mph all day long and climb most hills in top gear. “
The car is being sold by Vintage & Prestige Classic Cars, based in Grays, Essex.
A company spokesman said: “This is a car that may be bought, rallied and used with absolute confidence as everything that can be done to the car has been done to it. Driving it is a pleasure.”
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