Tag: John Young

Racing Driver’s Collection of Automobilia

John Young racing in the 1955 Goodwood Nine Hour Endurance Race in his Lotus-Connaught
John Young racing in the 1955 Goodwood Nine Hour Endurance Race in his Lotus-Connaught

A remarkable collection of automobilia from the Sussex based 1950s motor racing driver, the late John Young, is to be sold at Toovey’s Washington salerooms on Friday 23rd February 2018.

John Young was a gentleman motor racer and enthusiast. He joined the R.A.F when he left Dulwich College. He once told me “I wanted to fly a Spitfire but there were too many pilots just after the war for me to get a look in, so I left and joined the family firm, Rose and Young. We were agents for Mercedes-Benz.”

1955 was an important year for British motor sport, especially in endurance sports car racing.

In August 1955 John Young raced in the Goodwood Nine Hours Endurance Race here in Sussex driving a Lotus-Connaught. His co-driver was John Coombs. John explained to me “We were going well in the Connaught and racing into the evening until Coombs came in saying his hands were cold and borrowed my gloves. Shortly after that he turned it over but, thank God, he was alright!” The story was a timely reminder of how dangerous motor racing was in the 1950s.

Earlier in 1955 as April turned to May Stirling Moss famously won the Mille Miglia with his navigator Denis Jenkinson. They finished thirty-two minutes ahead of second place Juan Manuel Fangio. Both men were driving a Mercedes 300SLR. Commenting on his own 300SL Gullwing Mercedes John Young told me “When you drive a 300SL quickly it’s important to keep the power on in the corners or they spin – you’ve really got to drive it! Moss was the master…the best driver of these; he was very good.”

At the Le Mans twenty-four hours race in June 1955 Mike Hawthorn won in a works Jaguar D-type. In the early stages of the race Hawthorn raced closely with Fangio who was co-driving a Mercedes 300SLR with Stirling Moss. But the tragedy of the accident which resulted in a Mercedes disintegrating and killing some eighty spectators would overshadow Hawthorn’s victory. Hawthorn was devastated.

A fine ⅛ scale hand-finished model of Mike Hawthorn's 1955 Jaguar D-type Le Mans winner
A fine ⅛ scale hand-finished model of Mike Hawthorn’s 1955 Jaguar D-type Le Mans winner

The beautifully crafted and poignant ⅛ scale hand-finished model of Mike Hawthorn’s 1955 Jaguar D-type Le Mans winner is just one of the lots of automobilia entered from John Young’s collection and carries a pre-sale auction estimate of £600-£900.

An oil painting by Roy Nockolds of an Aston Martin DBR1/300 with a presentation plaque to Roy Salvadori from Aston Martin owner David Brown
An oil painting by Roy Nockolds of an Aston Martin DBR1/300 with a presentation plaque to Roy Salvadori from Aston Martin owner David Brown

John Young’s great friend, Roy Salvadori, would deliver victory at Le Mans for Aston Martin in a DBR1/300 sports car in 1959. The evocative oil painting by Roy Nockolds of a DBR1/300 has a presentation plaque to Roy Salvadori from Aston Martin owner, David Brown, dated December 16th 1957. It is estimated at £800-£1200.

John Young’s delight in sharing a story and his enthusiasm were balanced by his self-effacing modesty. A generous man, he epitomised the best of his era: a gentleman racer, a collector and an enthusiast with a deep love of life, cars and the Sussex countryside. His collection of automobilia will be sold at Toovey’s on Friday 23rd February 2018. For more information visit www.tooveys.com.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.

“One More Sir!” A Sussex Connoisseurs Collection

The late John Young, gentleman, motor racer and collector
The late John Young, gentleman, motor racer and collector

Toovey’s Christmas series of specialist auctions include an exceptional range of silver, furniture, collectors’ items and works of art from the estate of the Sussex collector, the late John Young.

My friend John was not only a gentleman motor racer and classic-car enthusiast but also a connoisseur of art and antiques. His taste matched his glamorous lifestyle and he created an elegant but comfortable home in the heart of Sussex.

He had a passion for life and loved the theatre of a sale day at Toovey’s. His bidding often ended just before the gavel fell with the raise of a finger and his customary call, “One more, sir!”

John Young was educated at Dulwich College and subsequently joined the R.A.F. He once told me: “I wanted to fly a Spitfire but there were too many pilots just after the war for me to get a look in, so I left and joined the family firm, Rose & Young. We were agents for Mercedes-Benz.”

John was a man whose life was closely bound up with the fortunes of motor racing and automobiles. A works driver for the Connaught team in the 1950s, with drives at many of the great motor racing circuits, he was part of that glamorous and courageous cohort of racing drivers in the years after the Second World War.

Louis-Ernest Barrias - Nature unveiling Herself before Science, a late 19th/early 20th century gilded and silvered cast bronze figure of a standing maiden
Louis-Ernest Barrias – Nature unveiling Herself before Science, a late 19th/early 20th century gilded and silvered cast bronze figure of a standing maiden

Amongst his collection is a beautiful gilded and silvered cast bronze by the famous French sculptor Louis-Ernest Barrias. This well-known sculpture is titled ‘Nature unveiling Herself before Science’. The Art Nouveau figure is allegorical and dates from the late 19th/early 20th century. It is modelled as a standing maiden representing nature as she reveals her hidden secrets to science. It is estimated at £5000-8000.

A Napoleon III kingwood and floral marquetry inlaid meuble d'appui, circa 1860
A Napoleon III kingwood and floral marquetry inlaid meuble d’appui, circa 1860

John loved fine French furniture and there are a number of examples from his collection in the sale. They include the Napoleon III kingwood and floral marquetry inlaid meuble d’appui (cabinet) seen here. It was made in 1860. The two bronzed plaques after the sculptor Clodion compliment the fine ormolu mounts and inlay. It is an exceptional piece and carries a pre-sale estimate of £4000-6000.

It was always a treat to spend time with John at his home. Once, as we drank champagne on the terrace, I asked him why he didn’t live in Monaco with his peers and he gestured towards the South Downs beyond and replied, “Oh, I’ve had yachts down there but I love England. Look at that view – why would you want to be anywhere else?” His delight in sharing a story and his infectious enthusiasm were balanced by his modesty. A generous man, John Young epitomized the best of his era: a gentleman, a racer, a collector and an enthusiast with a deep love of life, cars, animals and the Sussex countryside. I am privileged to have counted John as a friend. Collections of this quality are rare and I am looking forward to the sale. The auctions are on view at Toovey’s Washington salerooms from Saturday 25th November 2017.

By Rupert Toovey, a senior director of Toovey’s, the leading fine art auction house in West Sussex, based on the A24 at Washington. Originally published in the West Sussex Gazette.