The first of three London sales by Christie’s this year will be held on 25th March, at the Jack Barclay Showroom in Ponton Road, London SW8.

One of the highlights of the sale is described by Christie’s as the ultimate example of an Art Deco car. The unique Star ‘McEvoy Special’ Sports Tourer was built in 1932 by Star of Wolverhampton, with M.A. McEvoy adding performance via a Zoller supercharger. The car’s first owner, a former Lord Mayor of London, Sir Gilbert Inglefield, affectionately nicknamed it ‘split banana’ because of the original yellow, brown, green and cream colouring. The present owner, who has painstakingly restored the ‘McEvoy Special’ over many years, bought it for just £40 in 1964 and is now hoping to see around £60,000 for the car.

One of the most successful Grand Prix cars of the immediate post-war years was the Maserati 4CLT, and the 1948 Maserati 4CLT Supercharged Grand Prix Monoposto being offered by Christie’s is expected to fetch between £280,000 and £320,000. It is certainly a car eligible for many Historic events; possibly including the Goodwood Revival Meeting.

The auction will also feature the Anthony V. Katter Collection of Porsche 356 Spares and Related Memorabilia, which includes a set of Carrera air filters, a complete tool kit and even an original factory Sport 2 experimental exhaust system. Within this collection there is also one actual car: a 1954 Porsche 356 ‘Pre-A’ 1500 which has apparently clocked up just 12,000 miles. Christie’s claims this is one of the most original and untouched Pre-A models in existence, and with its fully documented history from new is expected to realize £50,000-70,000.

Text: Charis Whitcombe. Photos: Christies