Bonhams Offers 'The Somerset Hoard': Seven Veteran Cars Untouched Since 1939

Barn finds are a cliché of the classic car world. This one is different in scale and in age. Bonhams will offer 'The Somerset Hoard', a collection of seven veteran cars that has been hidden away and untouched since the outbreak of the Second World War. The auction house counts it among the most important finds of period veteran cars in recent times. The cars cross the block at the Golden Age of Motoring Sale on Friday 30 October 2026 at the Bonhams head office on New Bond Street in London.

The timing is deliberate. The sale takes place just before this year's London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, and the hoard takes its name from the English county where the cars spent most of their lives. All seven were acquired in the 1930s and have since been passed down through many generations of the same family.

Seven cars, seven stories

The most recently used car of the collection is a 1905 Humber (Coventry) 8/10HP two-seater with a rear platform deck and a distinctively shaped radiator. Its original supplier's plate names the Humber depot at 27 to 33 Leece Street in Liverpool. The car is no. 355 and wears the registration YD 5598, a 1932 Somerset number that replaced the original Liverpool plate in period. The estimate is £20,000 to £30,000.

A c.1903 Baker electric car, estimated at £35,000 to £45,000, is one of the more unusual lots. It was first registered as Y 311 to an owner in Bristol. In 1915 the number was reassigned to the Bristol Carriage and Wagon Works Co., when the car was re-registered as Y 3907. Bonhams describes it as a genuine English import model with right hand tiller and controls, and traces of over writing are still visible on the leather dash panel. The Baker was recorded in Scotland in 1915 before returning south to Tewkesbury in 1918.

The c.1902 Progress, built by the Progress Motor Co. of Bishops Green, Coventry, was a short-lived model with open two-seat bodywork and a platform deck. The name appears on its hub caps, and it carries De Dion Bouton engine no. 10258, possibly an 8 or 9HP unit. It is estimated at £35,000 to £45,000.

A Rover, a Swift and a second Darracq

Rover is represented by an 8HP with two seats plus two occasional seats, estimated at £25,000 to £35,000. The model was launched at the Crystal Palace show in February 1905, next to a prototype that had covered 10,000 to 11,000 miles in the last months of 1904 to prove its robustness. Its monocoque construction carries engine, gearbox and suspension, and the original steel cable steering and the Bowden cables for the steering wheel controls are still in place. The wire spoke front wheels are paired with wood spoke rears, an optional extra when the car was new.

The c.1904 Swift has two seats and a detachable groom's seat at the rear by Hollick and Pratt of Coventry. It runs a 6HP De Dion Bouton engine, number 12075, carries the registration FX 7944 and shows unusual drivetrain details even for its time, including its rear axle and a starting handle at the back. Estimate: £35,000 to £45,000. The 'most modern' car of the hoard is a 1913 Belsize 10/12HP four-cylinder at £10,000 to £15,000. The highest estimate within the collection belongs to a c.1903 Darracq 12hp Twin-Cylinder with four-seat rear-entrance tonneau body, registered A 3367 by the London County Council and fitted with engine number 3231: £55,000 to £75,000.

The sale beyond the hoard

The Golden Age of Motoring Sale is led by a 1904 Darracq Twin-Cylinder 10HP Swing-Seat Tonneau with an estimate of £150,000 to £200,000. Also consigned, from outside the hoard, is a 1910 Brasier 12/18HP 12C Tourer, estimated at £40,000 to £60,000 and offered without reserve.

Tim Schofield, Head of UK Business Development Sales at Bonhams, calls the sale "the traditional curtain raiser to the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run weekend" and says it will offer the largest selection of cars eligible for the event anywhere. He looks forward to seeing successful buyers set off from the start line in Hyde Park, near the New Bond Street saleroom, in the years to come.

Cars that have stood for more than eighty years need careful recommissioning before they run again. Our classic car restoration guide explains the steps, and the guide to classic car auctions covers estimates, premiums and viewing.