The NEC Classic Motor Show Sale 11th - 13th November 2022

55 + buyers premium of 12.5% plus VAT (15% incl VAT) on the first £300,000 of the hammer and 10% plus VAT (12% incl VAT) thereafter Lot 647 1957 Turner 803 Ex-Betty Haig Registration: TSV 483 Chassis No.: 30/40 Estimate: £20,000 - £30,000 A letter in the large history file states that this car, was bought new from Jack Turner through Swanden Motor Sales in Worthing by Betty Haig, and registered SUF 1. It’s an 803 but was fitted with a 948cc A-Series and was, the prototype for the Turner 950 which commenced production a little later. At some point the engine was bored out to 997cc and we understand that £100 (a substantial sum then) was invested at Downton Engineering on further modifications. This ‘hot’ engine, although stripped and in need of repair, accompanies the car today which is currently powered by a 948cc unit, lightly modified for road use. In 1960, she sold the car to Isobel Robinson who was the Public Relations Officer for BRM. She had started to compete in Eric Broadley’s 1,172cc Ford engined special (the forerunner to the Lola) before moving to the then Downton-tuned Turner. She owned it for three years continuing to use it in competition - some lovely period shots having been unearthed at the archive at the Beaulieu Motor Museum. The car then moved to Sue Taylor, a friend of Isobel’s, who according to a letter from her in 2006, ‘raced it a bit’. As a trainee nurse she found it all a bit expensive and part-exchanged it for a Mini. By 1964 the car was seen advertised in Motorsport (copy in file), Sue having kept the number SUF 1 which she still had on her modern Clio when the letter was written. It was re-registered 872 DRV. The story then goes quiet until 1979 when it was discovered, abandoned in Southampton. Recovered by Lee Barton and passed on to his father-in-law, Ken Edwards, its whereabouts was reported to the very active Turner Register. Issued with the age-related number TSV 483, photographs of it exist in a rather down-at-heel state in 1991 when owned by Dave Scott. Happier days lay ahead as the file also contains an invoice and photographs from 1994 of a body-off restoration by West Country Motorsports. The car was then exported to the US in 1995 to begin the next stage of its life. #30/40’s racing career then took off again, with a series of strong finishes in the VSCCA Historic Race Series before returning to the UK in 2004 where the owner’s brother looked after it until 2012 when it was offered for sale. At that point it was purchased by our vendor, who’s Collection includes some fairly exotic machinery, and was duly registered to him but, as is often the way, it was very rarely used. There is a lot of history with TSV including correspondence from the Turner Registrar, articles and features, old pics, Turner/Fairthorpe magazines, a number of invoices, restoration details and photographs from 1994, lots of racing results from the US, import documentation, MOTs and V5s etc. Frequently photographed in period, this stunning little Turner is eligible for a wide range of events. It has the potential to be right up there in the thick of it thanks to the ever increasing power outputs squeezed from the remarkable A-Series engine, the superb handling characteristics and the car’s light weight. As mentioned earlier, the original engine will be supplied with the car (will need to be collected) and with Betty Haig’s regular appearances at Goodwood and with sufficient investment it may well be welcome at all sorts of glamorous events. Charismatic little 948cc-engined Turner 803 purchased new and raced by the legendary Betty Haig, Britain’s most successful female competition driver ever. More Details Lot 647 Bid On Lot 647