1937 Railton Special Limousine by Rippon Bros Coachbuilders

1937_Railton_12One of the featured cars in the August 2016 issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car magazine is a 1937 Railton Special Limousine by Rippon Bros Coachbuilders.  I had to do a double take when I saw the article because several years ago, I was able to photograph this very car.

But first, what exactly is a 1937 Railton Special Limousine?  This particular car hails from an era where a customer could have a car built bespoke to their specifications.  This Railton’s body was aluminum, made by one of England’s premier coach builders – the Rippon Brothers.  Matter of fact, Rippon Bros also built bodies for Rolls Royce.  This car was built for Reid Railton who was at the time, a land-speed record holder.

1937_Railton_11I had a chance to photograph this gorgeous car at a gathering of Hudson automobiles.  The event took place at the then owner’s home and there were numerous Essex-Hudson-Terraplanes on display.  But… What does this have to do with a Rippon?  You see, this limousine is powered by a Hudson engine!  Matter of fact Rippon cars were powered by Hudson engines and this was not the only one in the collection.  I’ll have more posts about the others soon…

Back to the 1937 Railton Limousine…

1937_Railton_02As you can see in this picture, the back seat has access to a pull-out table.  Each side featured a lift-top with compartments for many things…  On one side a fully stocked bar with crystal and barware necessary for making cocktails along with compartments for cigars ; on the other side a vanity, with mirror, hair brush, comb, and aspirin bottle.  There was even a center compartment with silver plated affairs to hold various snacks and sweets.  And that was just the start…

1937_Railton_03The rear trunk area includes custom fitted luggage!  That compartment at the very top, included plenty of tools all neatly arranged in their respective locations.  That trunk lid is special…  Note the part with the corrugated rubber – that is there for a reason:  it is designed for adults either standing or seated.  But why?  This car could also double as a shooting-brake and yes, it has a “secret”, water-tight compartment designed to hold shotguns.  I also remember seeing under the front seat several drawers containing an assortment of fuses, spark plugs, spare light bulbs, etc.  The dash also had a pull out map tray.  There was nothing left to chance here.

The chrome work around the front grille and emblem is something else!

IMG_3839The article in the issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic car magazine mentions this car is now part of the Gilmore Car Museum (Hickory Corners, MI) and was transferred there by the car’s previous owner, a Hudson collector by the name of Eldon Hostetler.

These pictures were taken when the car belonged to the owner prior to Mr Hostetler at his residence in Greenville SC.  If memory serves me right, this was in the summer of 2006.

Finally, I do remember this car as being gorgeous but at the time was not in “museum quality”.  According to the article in the magazine, the limousine went through an extensive restoration and won numerous awards.

1937_Railton_081937_Railton_05

Further Reading

Conceptcarz.com article about the 1937 Railton Limousine – there are interesting pictures here.

LaVine Restorations article about the 1937 Railton Limousine – apparently the Limousine underwent restoration by this company and there are very nice pictures on this link.

1937 Railton Limousine at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance – this link opens to a beautiful photo collection from Ryland Scott Photography at the time the Limousine was shown a Pebble Beach in 2011.

Special Feature at Hemmings website – this link opens the article at the Hemmings website about the 1937 Railton Limousine.

 

4 thoughts on “1937 Railton Special Limousine by Rippon Bros Coachbuilders

  1. Brian

    Me and my grandfather are trying to figure out where the break lights are he has a 47 hudson can anyone tell us where the break lights are on the limo

    Reply
    1. bowtie6 Post author

      Thank you for your inquiry Brian, but I have no idea how to answer your question. I really don’t know where that would be. Perhaps you could try to contact a member of the Hudson community?

      Reply
  2. Tyson

    Too funny. Well, first of all that Limousine is freakin’ amazing. But second of all, I’m just realizing how teeny the car collector community world is. That Alfa on the cover of the Hemmings magazine belongs to my friends Scott King & Sandy Edelstein – I blogged about their car collection a year or two ago! I sent Scott a screen shot of your blog post today and said, “Is that yours?” And he said, “Yep – our first cover!” Cool stuff man. Hope you had a great weekend.

    Reply
    1. bowtie6 Post author

      Thank you Tyson for the message! I agree with the comment about the collector community…

      And yes, the Railton is a thing of beauty. On the list of places to go to is the Gilmore Museum. Cheers!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *