The Vauxhall 30-98, arguably one of the more significant sports cars of the 20th Century and the first to top 100 mph in production form, marked its centenary in style this May, when almost 50 surviving examples turned up for the UK’s Waddington Fell hillclimb, site of the car’s first appearance and competition success in 1913.
Described as “The car of grace that sets the pace,” the 30-98 was derived from Vauxhall’s C10 “Prince Henry”—acknowledged as the UK’s first true sports car—and was produced at a time when Vauxhall vied with Bentley in the prestige car market.
Armed with a curb weight 400 kilograms less than a Bentley 3.0-Liter, a powerful engine and high axle ratio, the 30-98 became renowned as a high-performance car that could swallow long distances with ease. This made it particularly popular with drivers overseas, and explains why so many cars still survive in Australia today.
At a time when car manufacturers promoted the performance, durability and handling of their products through competition, Vauxhall had already been successful in hillclimbs, grands prix and endurance trials since the company was formed in 1903—now celebrating its 110th anniversary, it’s the UK’s oldest surviving car brand.
And the 30-98 represented the zenith of those achievements. On its first outing at the Waddington Fell hill climb in Lancashire, it set fastest time of the day, proving to the car’s designer, Laurence Pomeroy, and Vauxhall’s directors, Percy Kidner and Leslie Walton, that the car had a future, and production started in earnest.
Originally fitted with a 4,525 cc side-valve four-cylinder engine, producing 90 bhp, the model was made in two basic types: E-type and OE-type, with the latter denoting the more powerful overhead valve cars producing 112 bhp, and built between 1923 and 1927.
And it was the OE-type that became the first production car to exceed 100 mph, partly prompted by a letter to The Autocar’s editor from a Major L. Ropner, complaining that he was unable to buy a road car that could cover a flying mile at more than 100 mph!
Vauxhall responded by producing a stunning two-seater 30-98 for him in polished aluminum, with a full set of road equipment. On March 28, 1923, factory test driver Matt Park took the car to Brooklands and achieved a flying lap at 100.7 mph, before delivering the car to Major Ropner, who used it extensively for competition, continental touring and commuting to London from his home in Yorkshire.
