Swallow Doretti

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When the Triumph TR2 was unveiled at the London Motor Show in 1952 not everyone was convinced by its wide-mouthed frog styling, although all would agree it was a rugged old thing. One company – Swallow Coachbuilding (1935) Ltd saw the car as both inspiration and opportunity.

Swallow was the rump of the company that had been owned by William Lyons, manufacturers of the SS, which later became Jaguar Cars. Swallow had the idea to produce a more stylish, Italianate, version of the car for sale chiefly in America, where British and Italian cars were highly prized. The car was designed by Frank Rainbow and – at the suggestion of its dynamic American representative Dorothy Deen – was called Doretti (an Italian version of her own name).

Swallow produced their own ladder chassis and the body used a framework of small diameter high tensile steel tubes clad in aluminium. The choice of construction was influenced by Swallow’s owner Tube Investments, who manufactured the high-tensile Reynolds 531 steel tubing used (also used in some of the best cycle frames – Ed). A similar system – tradenamed “Superleggera” (super light) - was used by Carrozzeria Touring on such upmarket cars as Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, and Aston Martin.

First seen in 1954, the Swallow Doretti was received enthusiastically both in America and the UK. Although the new car’s performance was no better than the TR2’s, the styling was undeniably superior. Unfortunately, that style came at a premium: the Doretti cost over £1,100 pounds – the TR2 sold for just £844.

Little over a year after the first Doretti was produced the company ceased trading. Only 276 cars had been produced, of which an impressive 197 are believed to survive, 72 of them in the UK.

This gorgeous 1954 Doretti was first registered in the Swallow company’s name, is believed to be one of the cars on the company’s stand at that year’s Motor Show and is known to be the Press Car tested by The Motor magazine in 1955 (a copy of The Motor from 1955 accompanies the car).

Little is known of its history between 1955 and 1966, but in that year it was registered to Nora Sybil Penrose of Dorset and is believed to have been rebuilt and repainted in her ownership. By 1970 it was registered to Rodney Leach of Aberdeen, who owned it for less than a year before selling it to its current owner in 1971.

609 CRF has been driven regularly by our enthusiast vendor and has often been seen at Doretti and TR gatherings, clocking up nearly 100,000 miles in 34 years. In 2004, when the car was parked, another car ran into it causing relatively minor damage to the front end. Although the damage was minor, the insurance company decided that it would be uneconomic to repair and decided to write it off.

Our vendor had become quite attached to the car by this time and decided to pay for the repairs himself. To undertake the work he chose Paul Webb of Colmworth Classic Cars, who was not only a skilled craftsman but also a fellow Doretti owner. Colmworth worked closely with specialist body shop ASR Body Engineering of Hanslope, Bucks and between them they embarked on comprehensive and detailed restoration of the whole car.

The plan had always been to do more than just rectify the damage, which was relatively light. The chassis itself was undamaged but the body was showing its age and one thing soon led to another. Over the following eight years the car was completely stripped down and every component was either restored or replaced. This involved major new panels being hand-made, the engine and running gear being rebuilt, the interior and hood retrimmed and the body repainted.

Our vendor admits to an emotional attachment to the car and was insistent that the car be rebuilt ‘properly’ - even if this took longer and cost more. In fact, the cost of the body and structural work was around £30,000 and the total bill came closer to £40,000.

The results, though, are truly impressive and the car is a tribute to the craftsmen involved. Seven years after the car went back on the road it still looks fabulous and turns heads wherever it goes – it cannot have looked better when new.

The owner has now decided to part with the car as he finds he no longer has the time to enjoy it – in the last seven years he has driven fewer than 2,000 miles - and feels that it should be used and appreciated by a new custodian.

609 CRF comes with a huge history file, which includes contemporary road tests of this very car, an original factory owners handbook, invoices, correspondence, past MOTs, specialist magazines and two CDs of photographs of the car being restored.

The Swallow Doretti is a rare and beautiful car combing practical TR2 mechanics with Italianate elegance. It is not a car often seen at auction and we have only spotted one other for sale, across the Atlantic, which has a hefty guide price of $140,000. How would you value this one?