1935 Railton Running Issues

Picture of By Craig Ranson
By Craig Ranson

Managing Director โ€“ Bridge Classic Cars

In our workshops today we have a beautiful 1935 Railton.

Source: Wikipedia

History
The company was started byย Noel Macklinย who was looking for a new car making venture after he sold hisย Invictaย company in 1933. The name came fromย Reid Railton, the world speed record car designer, but his input was probably small although he did receive a royalty on each car sold.

1933 – Railton Terraplane
The first car was made by fitting a British body made by coachbuilder John Charles Ranalah to a 4010ย cc, 100 bhp, 8-cylinderย Hudson Terraplaneย chassis. Described as a pre-warย Shelby Cobra, the resulting machine was at first available as a two-door tourer. Being lighter than the original, it had for the time exceptional performance, with a 0โ€“60ย mph time of 13 seconds.[2]ย A saloon-bodied version was soon added to the range, and the cars were priced at ยฃ499.

1935 – Railton 8

In 1935 the original Terraplane chassis was replaced by the one from the Hudson Eight, the engine grew to 4168ย cc producing 113 bhp,[3]ย and a wider range of bodies from severalย coachbuildersย were on offer from at least seven different vehicle coachbuilders including;ย Ranalah, R.E.A.L,ย Carbodiesย and Coachcraft Ltd. Two special lightweight models were made in 1935 and, with a 0โ€“60 time of 8.8 seconds, were claimed to be the fastest production cars in the world. Altogether 1379 of the Railton 8s were made.[2]

1937 – Railton Cobham

A smaller six-cylinder car, the 16.9 was added in 1937 using a 2723ย cc Hudson 6-cylinder engine and chassis, but only 81ย [2]ย were made in saloon or drophead coupรฉ form and priced at ยฃ399.

1938 – Railton 8

An even smaller Railton, the 10ย hp, joined the range in 1938 built on a Standard Flying Nine chassis and with either saloon or drophead coupรฉ bodywork was claimed to be “A famous name in miniature”. 51 were made selling at ยฃ299.[2]ย In 1938ย Motor Sportย tested a 28.8 h.p. Railton Cobham saloon, FPH 970, offered for sale at ยฃ698.[4]

1939 – Demise

Noel Macklin turned his attention to powerboats in 1939, and he sold the company toย Hudson Motor Car Companyย ofย Detroit,ย Michigan, who transferred production to theirย Brentford, London works. However, the outbreak of war in 1939 stopped production.

Afterย World War IIย a few cars were completed using pre-war parts, and a new model was built and shown at the 1949 London Motor Show. However, at nearly ยฃ5000 the car was incredibly expensive, and it never went into production.

She has some running issues that we need to address. From first impressions the head gasket looks to be but as we delve further into the engine we may discover more of the cause. Pete has got to work removing the head, gasket and block to establish the cause of the problem.

Whilst in our workshops we will look to fully service the car and hope to get her back on the road whilst the sun is still shining.

We’ve enlisted the help of Mike from the Railton Owner’s Club who has been a fantastic contact to source parts and hopefully help set the engine back up.

 

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