Squire automobile

For some reason I cannot see the photo. I know my friend Fred Simeone has one in his collection

http://www.simeonefoundation.org/

 

English car, only a handful made, twin overhead camshaft 4 cylinder (I think) engine. There is one in the Southward museum near Wellington, New Zealand.

Looks like a Jaguar SS, but apparently the driver and passenger sit too high making it look better empty.
Pete

 

I like the Squire Markham roadster even more than the Squire Corsica roadster shown above.

edit - Well, the link gets blocked, but I am sure most any search engine will find you text and photos if you care to look.

 

The car shown here (Squire chassis number 1063) was one of the two cars built up from spares by Val Zethrin after the Squire works were closed. There were only 7 "factory built" Squires produced, and a total of only 9 or 10 in all.

I have at least 10 Squire magazine articles here in the home collection, including histories of the individual cars. Kev, if you're looking for specific information, I might be able to help.

 

I had the fortune of being able to look closely at the Squire Corsica yesterday on the lawn at Mar-a-Lago. I found the design and workmanship to be stunning. The engine was a work of art w/ its supercharger, reserve oil tank, etc. The trim details and flowing lines of the car were a true standout in a field of fantastic cars. Initially I was taken by the MB 540K, Caddy V-16 and Bugatti. But when I saw the Squire it got my vote as Best in Show. I guess others agreed as it won the honor.

I was told that there were a total of 10 built and 9 still exist. The company failed after building 6 cars but was resurrected to complete another 4. Again.....I have no direct knowledge....this is just what I was told.

 

http://www.ultimate car page.com/car/4680/Squire-1500-Markham-Roadster.html

Remove spaces ...

 

Yes I believe it was the Markham and why I went to the museum (and the 250F Maserati that Chris Amon used to drive).

Pete

 

couple of more Squire photos. this one has a four cylinder doc supercharged anzani engine. the car is now in the keller collection. this car was featured in classic and sports car magazine in about 2003. JB 5568 is a 1935 Squire VDP sport tourer - chassis number X-103
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Ron, what a beauty!Malcolm

 

Hi Guys,

There are more than a few myths and rumors about the machines built by Adrian Squire. He was just a teenager when he laid out the basic design that totally bucked all conventional thought on sports car construction of the day.

The norm had been a flimsy and flexible chassis coupled to rigid, non-adjustable axles front and rear with non-self adjusting cable or rod-actuated brakes. More or less pretty basic stuff that car builders had been relying on for the previous twenty years.

Adrian wanted his cars to be the best handling, best braking and best performing sports cars ever conceived and built. He spared no money on his approach which in the end put him out of business as the cars were insanely expensive to build and near impossible to sell in the mid-1930s.

Adrian insisted on a torsionally rigid chassis with a massive cruciform brace in the center as well as solid bracing fore and aft. To that he fixed completely adjustable, under-slung axles, front and rear. Braking was by dual-circuit, self adjusting, leading shoes hydraulic brakes on all four corners. The brake drums were massive 15 inch by 3 inch finned magnesium items that were simply without equal until well into the late 1950s and early 1960s! At the time, the best Aston Martins, Bugatti's and Alfas of the day relied on non-self adjusting cable and rod actuated brakes that at best could be described as being adequate.

The suspension of the squire is fully adjustable and springs are relatively soft with very hard setting friction shocks. As such the car can be set with a fair amount of toe-in and camber that enables impossibly perfect handling. The gearbox is an pre-selector and this is attached to an E.N.V. rear axle with 8x34 or 4.25:1 rear gears. The final drive ratio allows for blistering acceleration but still leaves the car easily capable of speeds well in excess of 100mph!

Squire chose the Anzanni R1 as the basis for his car's powerplant. These engines had absolutely no equal and coupled with a David Brown blower produced well over 115bhp out of just 1,500cc displacements.

Adrian and his partners acquired and amassed components minus body work to build a limited run of ten cars.

Upon completion of the first few he was essentially bankrupt as the cars cost more than the top of the line Bugatti Type 55, Alfa 8c and more than twice the most expensive Astons. He struggled along for a few years but found it nearly impossible to sell his cars despite a variety of attractive coachwork from Vanden Plas, Markham and Renlaugh on both short and long chassis configurations.

After completion of the 4th and 5th car he was in receivership. Over the next few months he completed a sixth car but finally agreed to allow his creditors to turn everything over to his backer Val Zetherin. The company never closed its doors and Val Zetherin kept everyone in place. Under his guise the company continued to service the cars already built and sold as well as completing the final three cars, the last two which were built and sold in 1938.

Nine of the ten original Squires built survive to this day with few ever trading hands publicly. There are long waiting lists of hopeful buyers each time an example becomes available for purchase. Today's current owners of the nine surviving examples are some of the world's most famous and sophisticated collectors. Having a Squire in their collections for many is a crowning achievement to their efforts.

After the war, Val Zetherin began to tool up for continued production of the Squire but found new construction of the Anzanni engine to be impossibly expensive. He refused to consider any other engine for Adrian's design and shut the company down for good.

The car spoken about here came to me after 8 years of negotiations with the former owner's estate. This was the seventh Squire built and the first of the Squires completed under Val Zetherin's leadership. It was also the sole example executed on a short chassis with coachwork by Corsica of Grimaldi Street London.

While it may have taken 8 years to acquire this car, it only took about 8 minutes to sell... That alone speaks of the rarity, exclusivity, demand and desire of a machine most have never even hear of.

One final comment... back in the 1980s, Phil Hill was doing a road-test and article on the best sports cars of the 1930s. He did road and track driving comparisons of a Type 55 Bugatti Roadster, 8c2300 Zagato Spyder and Vanden Plas Squire. He described the Bugatti and Alfa as some of the best and most capable sports cars of their day. He then spoke about his experiences with the Squire and described it as something so far and above the performance, handling an braking of the Alfa and Bugatti that it could have been built in the 1960s rather than the 1930s.

Fitting words indeed from a man who new his machines...

Cheers,

Bill

 

But it still had beam axles, but then so does the rear of my Alfa.

Why didn't others learn from this car, and why didn't Adrian get a job working for other car companies as he obviously predated Colin Chapmans understanding that the chassis should be rigid and the springs soft ... how did he know this I wonder? Did he have engineering training?
Pete

 

Adrian had a formal engineering education and training as such in the automotive field before starting up his company. When the war broke out, he ran to an air-raid shelter in one of the first attacks and was killed instantly during the bombing.

It was said that if he had stayed put at his desk he would have been fine.

One can only guess what his talents could have created at War's conclusion. In more ways than one, his designs were 20-30, 40 and even 50 years ahead of their time.

Yes the car used a beam axle in the front and a live or rigid one in the rear. Unlike the Alfas of the period they were fully adjustable and in both cases extremely underslung to achieve an un-parralleled low center of gravity.

Unless you have been able to look at one of these machines up close or drive one on them on the road, you cannot fully understand the extent of the design and how impossibly perfect the execution of it is in it's entirety.

As much as I love the other machines of this era, the Squire makes every Aston, Alfa, Bugatti... etc... of the day simply look like a complete antique.

Cheers,

Bill

 

Thanks for the little history lesson Bill.

Cheer to ya!

 

Thanks Bill, and yes I have been lucky enough to have a good close look at one all by myself in the Southward museum but I admit although I knew I was looking at something good/special, I did not realise just how special it was.

Pete

 

I had been hearing rumors about this for some time but could not say anything publicly until now. Gregor Fisken has made a press release and announced that they will have Val Zetherin's original long-chassis 2/4 seater Renlaugh bodied Squire at Retromobile. This is chassis 1501 and my notes show just four owner's from new and the last for many years. The car is completely original and un-restored. Not sure what they will ask but the chance to acquire such a machine is literally priceless.

Cheers,

Bill

 

Here Fred Simeone's Squire being driven by Jay Leno. http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the-garage/antiques/1933-squire-roadster/ This car is also currently on display at the Philly autoshow, and is found the other 99% of the time at its resting place at the Simeone Museum in Philadelphia.
Erik

 

That is the same car Phil Hill Test back in the 80s against the Type 55 Bugatti and Alfa 8c2300!

It was originally Adrian Squire's personal car and only eventually sold by him to raise capital to keep the company going.

Ciao,

Bill

 

BTW a little internet search on Adrian Squire shows that he worked for Bentley and afterwards Lagonda ...

Pete

 

Amazing cars, always nice to hear stories of this rare gems.

Is there any good book about Squires? or any good literature?

 

Dr. Simeone's book "The Spirit of Competition" discusses the Squire that is part of the collection, the background of the company, and also what the car is like to drive; however, it only accounts for about 4-5 pages. The book is fantastic though and covers the histories of 70 other cars in his collection as well.

Erik

 

Beautiful car!

 

http://www.prewarcar.com/magazine/previous-features/1935-squire-unveiled-at-last-015034.html

A Ranalagh bodied 4 seater Squire barn find to be presented at Retromobile by Fiskens.