LOT 60 †

The 'Warden of the Cinque Ports' Ceremonial pennant previously fitted to Former British Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Winston Churchill's Ministerial Humber Pullman car during his post-War term 1954-55,

Sold for £11,475 inc. premium

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Lot 60^†

The 'Warden of the Cinque Ports' Ceremonial pennant previously fitted to Former British Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Winston Churchill's Ministerial Humber Pullman car during his post-War term 1954-55,

The Golden Age of Motoring Sale '1886-1939': Veteran, Vintage and Post-Vintage Motor Cars & Automobilia|5 November 2021, 13:00 GMT|London, New Bond Street

The 'Warden of the Cinque Ports' Ceremonial pennant previously fitted to Former British Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Winston Churchill's Ministerial Humber Pullman car during his post-War term 1954-55,

the woven 'Standard of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports' pennant in red, blue and yellow quartered Heraldic design, measuring approximately 13 x 28cm, as previously adorning the bonnet of Winston Churchill's 1954 Humber Pullman official state motorcar 'PDU 758' with Thrupp & Maberly coachwork (currently on display at the Louwman Motor Museum in Holland) during his post-War second term from 1954-1955, the pennant with some fraying and discolouration commensurate with age, mounted and displayed together with a printed official compliments slip from his then Private Secretary Sir Anthony Montague Browne, bearing Churchill's 28 Hyde Park Gate, London SW7, home address, and one of Churchill's 'Romeo y Julieta' cigars with label, by Rodriguez Arguelles y Ca. of Habana, (unused), all mounted together within a wooden glazed display with green baize lining with gilded frame, measuring 28 x 34 x 8cm overall, and offered together with a chrome-plated 'Bulldog' car mascot by Desmo, evocative of Churchill's 'Fighting Spirit', marked 'Copyright' to rear of base and mounted on a wooden base, of the type once later fitted to Churchill's Daimler 35Hp Barker (owned by Churchill 1932-1952) after a restoration in the 1980s.
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Footnotes

Winston Churchill (1874-1965), during his first Wartime term had grown attached to the government issued bullet-proof Humber Pullman cars. Having lost the May 1945 General Election to Clement Attlee's Labour Party, and after being re-elected as Prime Minister in October 1951, Churchill was in need of a suitable car and luring him away from his hitherto allegiance to his Daimler 35Hp Landaulette Limousine by Barker, William Rootes of the Rootes Group, in 1954 sold or permanently loaned Churchill the new 1954 Humber Pullman 'PDU 758' as his Official car towards the end of his second post-War term in office, on which the pennant offered here today was displayed until Churchill's retirement in April 1955.

The Humber Pullmans predate the Second World War but during the War years, were only produced for British Government officials and military officers, popular for their reliability and understated luxury. Churchill's 1954 model with the Thrupp & Maberly bodywork and the largest model in the range, was fitted with a large ashtray (to accommodate his preference for his iconic Havana cigars), a (novel for the time) push button radio, and independent heating systems and was garaged at the Rootes Devonshire House Headquarters.

Rootes also supplied Churchill, upon request, with a Chauffeur for the Humber Pullman, a Mr John Bullock, a company driver and eventually a favoured member of Churchill's entourage. Indeed Churchill was reported as referring to his Humber as "...The Bullock Cart".

The Churchill 1954 Humber Pullman now takes pride of place at the Louwman Motor Museum in Holland, and is displayed with a large image of Churchill with the car.

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