1924 Buick-McLaughlin Limousine

The McLaughlin Motor Company’s place at the very dawn of motoring is a fascinating, little known story of one of the few car makers who literally started with horse power. Founded by Irish émigré Robert McLaughlin in Enniskillen, Canada in 1869, a manufacturer of carriages of the highest quality. In 1877, he moved his growing business to Oshawa where he established the Oshawa Carriage Works, later known as McLaughlin Carriage. His sons George and Sam also became involved in the business, and George later served as Vice President of General Motors Canada. Interestingly, eldest son John became a chemist, started a soft drink company in Toronto, and invented Canada Dry ginger ale!

In 1907, the company diversified into building automobiles, and in September of that year Robert McLaughlin signed a 15-year contract with Buick Motors. These cars, with their Buick powertrains, were then sold under the brand-name Buick-McLaughlin, with coachwork by the Canadian craftsmen. The first McLaughlin car was produced in 1908 and in 1918 the entire McLaughlin car business was sold to General Motors of Canada. A smart move in light of Britain’s high tariff barriers in protection of the domestic industry from America's low-priced mass-produced cars. The other American motor industry leaders, in a cunning masterstroke, also circumnavigated these high duties via their Canadian sister companies. By 1923 Canada had the world's second-largest automotive industry, an important legacy which is largely unknown, even to the keenest of enthusiasts, perhaps due to the few cars left today to represent this achievement.

So, with the history lesson over, we come to this fabulous car, a true survivor, that had the temerity to cross the Atlantic and take on the absolute symbol of British Imperialism, the Rolls-Royce. Understood to have been delivered new to the UK, it was bodied by the Elkington Carriage Co. of Chelsea. Surprisingly, for a limousine, the car withstood the Great Depression and survived the military and civilian conversions of such cars during the war unscathed. Little is known of the car’s early history, presenting a fabulous opportunity for an amateur motoring historian to go sleuthing, until it was discovered in the 1960s in the South London suburb of Crystal Palace. Enthusiast, Ian Pratt, bought the car in 1977 and a methodical 25-year restoration to the very highest of standards was to commence. Completed in 2002, the car’s condition today reflects the quality that only patience and time can give, the folder of pre-restoration photographs on file is fascinating.

Over the following 18-years the car travelled some 2,700 miles, and it was bought by our vendor in 2020, joining a small but varied collection. With a year to go until its centenary, allowing plenty of time to plan a celebration, the car is presented to auction with a history file that includes the aforementioned photographs, a myriad of documents and the V5C.

Keenly estimated, we can think of no other motor car of comparable historical importance that can transport a gang of chums to the pub in comfort at a century not out.