VANDEN PLEAS

VANDEN PLEAS

SIR,

I’ve been doing some research for the present owner of 8-litre GP5, the flamboyant Vanden Plas two-seater built for Lord Brougham & Vaux. The present owner wants to recreate the body, but we haven’t managed to find a photo of the back of the car. The present Lord Brougham & Vaux has no photos or other details. It seems that Brougham & Vaux was in his very early twenties when he bought GP5, and he went through a great deal of money in a very short period of time. A lot of it on Bentleys; he bought a new Speed Six Gurney Nutting coupe in 1930, GP5 in 1931, and the Barnato Speed Six GJ3811 as well! This body was removed in the early 1930s when

GP5 was fitted with a Vanden Plas four seater, similar to the Barnato 8-Litre G13401 now owned by Reggie Presland and the sister car GT8780, still owned, I think, by Ted Reich. The old body was fitted to an Isotta-Fraschini that was sold for breaking in 1948. The enclosed side view is the only good photo we have. I hope that it jogs someone’s memory to turn up a photo either of GP5 in original form or perhaps of the Isotta. I AM, YOURS, Lit, MICHAEL HAY, PIIMOUTH