A rare - only 1,900 made - 1923 Vauxhall 23/60 was reunited with its former owner after the car spent 18 months receiving mechanical restoration. The car is called 'Alice' and was owned by Raymond and Kay Lorenzato who owned Alice from the 1950s and was used extensively through the decade and into the 60s. The happy reunion took place after Alice took her post-restoration drive from Leicestershire to the Vauxhall Bedford Owners’ Association (VBOA) that took place last Sunday at Vauxhall Motors’ Heritage Centre in Luton.
Unfortunately Mr Lorenzato has passed away but his widow Kay was able to see Alice in working order again in what is a lovely story. The car was restored by well known restorer and vintage racer, Mark Walker who purchased the car from Mrs Lorenzato at a Bonhams auction at Beaulieu. Walker repaired the cracked block that had taken Alice out of action and fitted new high-compression pistons fitted. He used original parts where possible and has kept the bodywork original and was even able to save the original leather trim.
As mentioned previously the car was used extensively, Alice was used in road trips to Europe, evidence of this comes in the form of cinema tickets from Lucerne found inside the car. The car was also used to compete in VSCC events before being mainly used as daily transport in the 60s. The car was last seen in Luton in 1964 at a 30-98 Register meeting before the cracked block took Alice off the road and saw her condemned to a garage.
‘In Alice, sixty mph at two-thousand rpm is still a comfortable and smooth cruising speed and the car keeps up well with modern traffic,’ said Walker. ‘Higher speeds are certainly possible, but with only rear brakes, probably not advisable! I intend to use the car as family transport and would love to recreate the trip over the Grimsel Pass one day.’