Born in 1884 into a farming family, Ulsterman Harry Ferguson became interested in cars from the time that cars first began to appear on British roads. Though he had planned to emigrate to Canada to escape the severe discipline that his very religious father imposed upon the entire family, his elder brother Joe invited him to work for him in the garage he had set up in Belfast. Harry seized the opportunity and in 1911 he set up his own garage, May Street Motors in Belfast. He competed in motor sport events and as he was an agent for Vauxhall cars, was given the chance to drive a works Vauxhall CType. Unfortunately, he crashed it and with it went his chances of any further drives for the company.
During the 1920’s, Harry Ferguson held the Austin dealership for Belfast and one of his private cars was a 1929 Austin 12/4 with a fabric saloon body. Though most cars at this time would have been finished in a dark colour, Harry Ferguson was bucking the trend with this car, as the picture is captioned ‘the first all-cream car’.
Harry Ferguson’s personal car, a 1929 fabric-bodied Austin 12/4, in what was then a most unusual cream colour.
Ferguson Family Museum/Sam Scadgell
We have no details of what cars he may have had when he and his wife, Maureen moved to Yorkshire when the Ferguson-Brown tractor was being built, but we do know that he enjoyed the privileges that his new wealth brought, which included retaining a butler. Maureen Ferguson never learned to drive, so Harry may have retained a chauffeur to drive her around when he was out on business. It wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination to think that, as his income grew, he developed a taste for quality cars. In the years immediately prior to the Second World War and through the war years, the Fergusons were domiciled in the USA. Again, we have no idea of exactly what cars he may have owned or had at his disposal, but considering his connections with the Ford Motor Company, some may have been Lincolns, Ford’s luxury brand.
Harry Ferguson’s first post-war car, the Phantom III Barker Sports Saloon. Tom Clarke
It’s only from when Harry Ferguson acquired the Abbotswood Estate in 1946 that we know about the cars he bought and enjoyed. One maker, Rolls-Royce was his clear favourite. The first car he bought on his return to Britain, in August 1946 was a pre-war Rolls-Royce Phantom III, the first of six Rolls-Royces or Bentleys he bought post-war. This may well have come from London Rolls-Royce and Bentley dealers Jack Barclay, as a picture of such a car appears in one of many Rolls-Royce book carrying the caption ‘Jack Barclay Ltd’. Dating from the late 1930’s, this Phantom III had a swept-tail sports saloon body by Barker. A photograph of him standing by the passenger door can be found in Colin Fraser’s biography of Harry Ferguson.
Ferguson had wanted a new car, but in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, new cars were very difficult to acquire on the home market, as the government demanded that as many cars be exported as possible to recoup the huge sums spent on fighting the war. Used cars of any description were also hard to find and fetched ridiculously high prices, regardless of condition, but Ferguson may have had some good connections in obtaining the Phantom; either that or Jack Barclay was struggling to sell such a large, thirsty car (it had a 7.3 litre V12 engine) in a time of severe petrol rationing.
Nevertheless, he bought the Phantom and at the same time, placed an order with Barclay for a new Bentley MkVI. This was one of Rolls-Royce’s two new models, (Rolls-Royce bought Bentley in 1931) the other being the more expensive Silver Wraith. A radical departure for Rolls-Royce was that the MkVI and its slightly later sister car, the Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn had a new all-steel 4-door saloon body, made at Cowley by the Pressed Steel Company.
Harry Ferguson steps out of his first new car after the Second World War, a Bentley MkVI Standard Steel saloon. Ferguson Family Museum/Sam Scadgell
Though the majority of these bodies, known as the Standard Steel Saloon, were trimmed at Rolls-Royce’s new Derby factory, Harry Ferguson’s example was painted and trimmed by Bromley, Kent coachbuilder, James Young, which had been acquired by Jack Barclay in 1937. Rolls-Royce expert Tom Clarke told me that the factory in Derby, where the new cars were being made, was having great difficulty trimming the new steel bodies. Tom also suggested to me that Ferguson may have struck up a good working relationship with James Young’s manager and chief designer, A.F. ‘Mac’ McNeil, as the name of James Young will appear again in this story.
The car, JLX 73 was finished in black and was ready for delivery in Spring, 1948 a year and a half from him ordering it. However, Ferguson’s ownership of it began with a rather unfortunate incident. Michael Winter, who served as Harry Ferguson’s personal assistant between 1947 and 1954, wrote of the matter in his 1995 book, Harry Ferguson and Me (selfpublished in 1995). The Ferguson family were in France at this time, where Harry Ferguson was visiting his French subsidiary, ahead of a holiday in Provence. Winter acted as Ferguson’s chauffeur when the regular chauffeur was driving Mrs. Ferguson and he was instructed to collect the car from Jack Barclay and take it across the Channel. He was met off the ferry at Boulogne by the French subsidiary’s Managing Director and, as was the custom, they stopped on the way for what can best be described as a ‘very good lunch’. When Winter arrived in Paris, the effects of the lunch were beginning to take their toll and, sleepy from the wine and confused by the Paris traffic, he wrapped the Bentley around a lamppost. Ferguson was furious, especially as he had waited so long for it to arrive and he told Winter bluntly that this incident put his job in great jeopardy. Fortunately for Winter, Ferguson relented and kept him on. Winter does not say whether the family continued with their holiday, but if they had not, Mrs. Ferguson would have not been at all pleased, as, since they had moved to Abbotswood, she was continually trying to get her husband to cut down on his workload! Incidentally, around this time, Ferguson was filmed outside the offices of the tractor factory in Coventry, getting out of the driver’s side of a Triumph 1800 saloon. Whether he had bought the car, or if he had been either given or loaned it by Sir John Black, the boss of Standard’s, we don’t know. In any case, we know that Ferguson’s eyesight was troubling him and as a result he rarely drove, so it may have been a posed shot. But Harry Ferguson, it seems found riding in cars, or indeed sitting down for any length of time, troublesome. He had suffered chronic back pain since he crashed his aeroplane back in 1911. The Ferguson Family Museum displays an item that Harry Ferguson used whenever he was sitting. It is a small, padded seat, known as his ‘Throne’, which he used to ease his discomfort.
Harry Ferguson is standing next to his second Bentley the 1950 gunmetal standard steel saloon MkVI. Ferguson Family Museum/Sam Scadgell
In 1950, Ferguson bought a second Standard Steel Bentley MVII, LLD 703, finished in gunmetal metallic paint. James Young’s name reappears in connection with Ferguson’s third Bentley MkVI, MLY 28, which, rather than the steel body, had a 6-light coachbuilt saloon body by James Young. This he bought in 1952 and it may be that the Phantom was taken in part exchange for this car.
Harry Ferguson’s first new Rolls-Royce, postwar, was this 1954 Silver Wraith, with a James Young body. Tom Clarke
In 1954 he bought his first new Rolls-Royce. This was a Silver Wraith, OLM 98 and, like MLY 28 also had a James Young saloon body, finished in silver but of a somewhat more modern style. Peter Warr recalls Ferguson’s penultimate Rolls- Royce, which was bought in 1955. It was another Silver Wraith saloon, registration number RXY 618 and Ferguson’s third car with a James Young saloon body. This had similar lines to MLY 28, but it was finished in black.
Harry Ferguson is next to his second Silver Wraiths which was a long-wheelbase James Young saloon, known as the ‘five houses’ car. Tom Clarke
Peter Warr recalls this car clearly, saying: “It was a very expensive car, which we nicknamed ‘five houses’, because that’s what the price of the car would have bought! Unfortunately, the car made Mrs. Ferguson travel sick, so she couldn’t ride in it. Harry Ferguson said that this was sad, because having worked so hard to earn the kind of money he was earning, his wife could not enjoy the benefits.” He took the car to Belfast on at least one occasion. It still exists, but has been repainted in maroon.
The1955 Silver Dawn James Young saloon that was sold new to H.P.Lenaghan & Son. Tom Clarke
He wanted to replace RXY 618 fairly soon, but could not take delivery of a new car to replace it in a short period of time, so he bought a second-hand 1955 Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn, registration number PXD 94, with, yet again a James Young saloon body. The original owner was Belfast ship owner H. P. Lenaghan & Son and Ferguson may possibly have done business with them. This is the last of the Rolls-Royces and Bentleys that Harry Ferguson owned that we know of.
Thanks to Peter and Ann Warr and Tom Clarke for their help in producing this article.
Published in Journal No. 109 Summer 2024, Bill Munro
