GRR

This GN cyclecar could be yours at the Bonhams|Cars Revival sale

02nd September 2024
Simon Ostler

One of only two remaining overhead-cam V-Drive GNs could be yours if you’re willing to part with £120,000-£160,000 in the 2024 Bonhams|Cars Revival sale. It’s a 1922 GN ‘Akela’, a car that raced to fourth place in the 200-Mile race at Brooklands.

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With an extensive racing career throughout the early-mid 1920s, this vintage classic was known as ‘The Pickett Car’ after the man it was built for, and went on to race at Brooklands on three further occasions in 1923, ’24 and ’25. It also raced in Boulogne during that period, ending its original run of racing in 1926.

This was one of two GNs fitted with streamlined bodywork in an attempt to improve top speeds, but the modifications were eventually scrapped, their fate lost to history. It was then modified again in the late 1920s with a supercharger, new brakes and reformed suspension fitted to a new aluminium chassis.

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It remained in that uprated form until 1938, when the GN engine was removed from its modified surroundings and re-housed inside a brand-new car completed by a W. Craddock in 1964. Chassis ‘3092’ has since been completely restored to its original V-Drive form, with a single modification being an electric starter.

If you fancy yourself the owner of an original 1920s racer, then this GN Akela offers something a little different, and you should consider bidding when the Bonhams|Cars Revival sale opens on Saturday 7th September.

  • Bonhams|Cars

  • GN

  • Akela

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