The Big Picture
Monte Carlo rally veteran and first PC project heads to auction
Celebrating our first ever resto project as ‘Zoey’ seeks a new home.
Fourty-one years ago, Practical Classics founder, Paul
Skilleter, launched the restoration of a very special Austin A40 in the pages of PC.
XOE 778 was the car in which Pat Moss and Anne Wisdom won the Ladies Class of the 1959 Monte Carlo Rally. Paul had bought the car in 1978 and chose her as PC’S first big project because, he says, she was ‘a typically common old
British saloon’ but one with a special history.
Talking in 2020, Paul described how the rebuild called for care and attention to detail. ‘We were meticulous in preserving as much of the original metal as possible. It was a lengthy process.’
Once restored, ‘Zoey’ was developed for historic rallying and swept the board in the 1985 Coronation rally with Pauls Skilleter and Rosenthal.
Just over a year ago, the PC team tracked this historic car down again, and were delighted when owner Adrian Boyd allowed the magazine to borrow the A40 for a number of events planned to celebrate the magazine’s 40th anniversary in 2020.
With the car transported to the PC workshop from Adrian’s home in Northern Ireland, PC Projects Editor Matt Tomkins set to work. ‘The engine hadn’t run in many years, so a full service was followed by careful recomissioning before a triumphant first start and MOT pass, ready to be driven to a full calendar of events.’
Unfortunately, such events were limited to a single photoshoot just prior to the first COVID-19 lockdown announcement and ‘Zoey’ has remained under covers in the magazine workshop throughout the pandemic.
‘The car will be sold on May 22, with an estimate of £40-50,000’
Sadly, ill health has caused Adrian to realise that he will not drive ‘Zoey’ again, so he is offering the car for sale with Bonhams MPH at Bicester Heritage on May 22, with an estimate of £40-50,000.
Paul Skilleter remarked of the sale: ‘Zoey proved that even an everyday old car is worth restoring… a message that PC still proclaims today.’ More at mph.bonhams.com.