According to information within the file from Sunbeam registrar Bruce Dowell, this 12/16 HP side-valve six-cylinder model was acquired new by Arthur Hearn Sr of Henley-on-Thames via local agent Thomas Rolfe. In a fascinating piece of correspondence with Mr Dowell, included in the file, Arthur Hearn Jr recounts that his father took delivery of the car in May 1914 after making a trip directly to the Sunbeam factory at Wolverhampton to inspect its inventory. “He took a good look at the car and made up his mind to buy it there and then. The tank was filled with petrol and he drove it home to Henley-on-Thames.” Proof of this early purchase is a Rolfe invoice from 1915, apparently a service receipt for minor repairs as well as topping up of various fluids.

After being used until 1935, the Sunbeam was put up on blocks at the family home in 1935. Eleven years later, it was fired up again and driven on two Cavalcades held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the British motor industry—one in July 1946 in London and another that September between Coventry and Birmingham. Following those events it was once more tucked away by the Hearns, and remained preserved in their ownership. Amusingly, when queried by Mr Dowell about “what problems [you] encounter” in use, Mr Hearn somewhat snappily responded: “There are no problems as the car has not been on the road since 1946”. In 1975 he wrote another correspondence, stating: “I do not take the car on show or drive it in any veteran races because of risk of damage by vandals.”

The car appears to have remained with the Hearns until May 1982, when it was at last sold at a Sotheby’s sale at Filching Manor. There it was acquired by the late Jim Boland, and has remained with him—its first caretaker outside of the original family—ever since. This car would go on to complete a number of Gordon Bennett International Rallies in Mr Boland's ownership.

It has been kept in essentially the same configuration in which it was acquired, with much of its original green and black lacquer paint still in place, along with the opulently trimmed interior in wool cloth with button-tufted door cards and railroad-style windows. The Sunbeam sill plate is still present, as are CAV Model B brass headlamps, an impressive bulb horn, and the small brass plate commemorating its Coventry to Birmingham “run” in 1946. Please note, following a period of static display, it is recommended that the car is inspected by a mechanic prior to being driven.

In a collection of automobiles that proudly wear their past, few wear it as well as this Sunbeam. A car with a genuinely fascinating history—kept by one family for 68 years, by the second for 43, and now posing that challenge of longevity for its third caretakers—it is well-loved.