Purchased new in 1929 by Richard Hissey of Hay-on-Wye, Herefordshire. The Hissey family

were of significant wealth from land owned in central Chicago USA. This afforded them a privileged lifestyle without the need to seek employment. They were also early adopters of the motorcar, starting with a Daimler dog cart. From 1884 to 1917 John Hissey wrote 14 books regarding his motoring adventures around England. He sought out the minor roads and byways on his travels, avoiding the towns and cities and staying in old coaching inns. His writings painting a vivid picture of the countryside of those days. 

Richard was the youngest son of John Hissey, his fathers love of quality motor cars obviously didn’t go unnoticed and this Sunbeam would have been much admired when new and was to be a life long companion, with its an exquisite one-off coachwork by London coachbuilders The Progressive Carriage Company. A true four-seater DHC, propelled by Sunbeams three-litre inline-six with 4-speed gearbox. Richard kept the car until his death in 1959.

UU6995 was passed onto the second custodian before selling onto Moons of Gloucester Ltd in 1965, who in turn sold via auction in 1977 to David Royle Ltd, who passed on UU6995 to Terry Scott of Harrogate in 1983 showing 90689 miles.

Terry Scott held the car in his care until 2007 covering nearly 40,000 miles. During this time UU6995 was maintained by Bill Barrott of Sheffield. Bill being held in high esteem by Sunbeam owners due to his knowledge and engineering expertise. Invoices are held in the history file covering this period. 2007 saw UU6995 move home to Yarm, where she stayed until 2010 having two custodians in the town neither of whom completed much additional mileage.

UU6995 then moved to Leyburn under the custodianship of Paul Wignall. Paul and his wife are very well known in historic car circles, in both pre and post-war disciplines. During their tenure, they had various mechanical and cosmetic jobs completed and covered a further 4000 miles including two tours of Scotland. Paul re-offered the car on the open market in 2012 where she was sold to a new owner in Milan. My Client purchased UU6995 in 2015 where she now resides in a small private collection in Longridge. During this time the current custodian has given her a full brake service, completed a cylinder head rebuild with new valves and guides, along with a thorough cosmetic refresh. Following this work UU6995 has completed circa 3000 miles in his 4 years tenure, and been much admired at every event our vendor has attended. Like all fully grown boys, a new toy has taken his fancy and it’s only right the UU6995 story must continue with another enthusiast.

Size matters

Lenght without box 14ft 10 inches (4.3m)

Lenght with box     15ft 7 1/2 inches (4.8m)

Width                     5ft 7 1/2 inches  (1.75m)