WORDS: NATHAN CHADWICK | PHOTOS: DREWEATTS/POPPYSEED MEDIA
Two pieces of history relating to pioneering speed record holder Sir Malcolm Campbell are to be auctioned off from the private collection of Drew Pritchard, the star of the Salvage Hunters TV show. Auction house Dreweatts is putting 500 lots up for grabs in its Drew Pritchard: The Collection sale, which takes place on March 5-6, 2024.
Sir Malcolm Campbell broke the world Land Speed Record in 1924, before going on to set many more records on land and sea over the next decade and a half. In 1931, he was knighted by George V after setting a Land Speed Record of 245.736mph at Daytona Beach, Florida.
The Campbell artefacts will be auctioned in the Drew Pritchard: The Collection sale, which takes place between March 5-6, 2024
The first object is a large, painted, wood and iron-bound engineer’s chest for the Blue Bird series of Land Speed Record cars. The chest’s finish reflects the changing colours of Campbell’s Blue Bird vehicles, and the auctioneer believes it dates from before Malcolm’s knighthood, as the title ‘Sir’ seems to have been applied later. The underside of the lid appears to show chalk-inscribed numbers, which are said to be calculations of one of the speed record attempts.
The chest belonged to Leopoldo Alfonso Villa OBE (1899-1979), who served as Sir Malcolm’s mechanic in nine Land and four Water Speed Record runs. After Sir Malcolm died in 1948, Villa served as the chief mechanic for Donald Campbell. Pritchard bought the chest for his own collection in 2015, and is estimated to sell for between £20k and £30k.
The second item is a silver cigarette case gifted by Sir Malcolm to Montague B Brinton in 1938. Brinton was a representative of Vosper’s, Portsmouth – the construction company behind Blue Bird Mk2 – and would attend every preliminary water speed test held at Coniston Water in the Lake District. In 1937, Campbell broke the Water Speed Record with a time of 129.5mph; a year later, he raised that speed to 130.93mph at Lake Hallwil in Switzerland. The inscription reads: ‘Monty Brinton from Malcolm Campbell, Lake Halwill, 17 September 1938, Speed 130.90mph.’ Constructed by Frederick Field in Birmingham, the cigarette case is estimated to sell for between £5k and £8k.
More details on the sale, in Newbury, Berkshire, can be found here, and below you can watch Pritchard talking about his collection.
