1931 Hampton 16HP Open Sports Tourer

Offered by Bonhams | Beaulieu, U.K. | September 10, 2022

Hampton Cars was a British automobile manufacturer that existed from 1912 into the 1930s. It’s kind of remarkable that this is the first car from this marque that I can recall coming up for auction in the last decade. And they were around for about 20 years!

The company was originally founded by William Paddon in 1912, but they were out of business by 1915, with very few cars built. Hampton reappeared in 1919. Four years later they were selling 300 cars a year, but bankruptcy followed in 1924… and again in 1925. They reformed once more but were done for good sometime around 1930. About 1,100 Hampton cars were built, and only five are thought to exist. Well that explains that.

This particular car was built in 1931 after Hampton’s final bankruptcy. It was constructed by/for former company GM William Milward. Right before they went out of business, they planned to produce 50 independently sprung chassis and ordered 100 engines from Rohr in Germany. Only one such chassis arrived before both Hampton and Rohr went out of business.

So Milward left the company upon its demise, taking all of the parts with him. This car was the result. It’s powered by a 2.3-liter inline-eight paired with a ZF gearbox. It has known ownership history since new, having been with the current owning family since 1961. The car has not been used in some time, so it’ll need a recommissioning. The estimate is $30,000-$35,000. Click here for more info.

Update: Not sold.