StarterMotor is offering the chance to own the UK’s only Woods Dual Power Type 44 Roadster, one of just four believed to exist in the world.
Two of the others are Stateside in the Henry Ford Museum and Petersen Museum, with another in the National Automobile Museum of the Netherlands.
Built in 1917, and rebuilt over the course of a decade from 2011 following fire damage, the Type 44 is a remarkably early example of hybrid motoring. Its 1125cc four-cylinder Continental petrol engine was assisted by an electric motor that could propel the car to 20mph. Its top speed is thought to be around 35mph.
StarterMotor’s Woods is not running and requires a rewire, but that it exists at all is incredible. The car was shipped from Germany to New Zealand for restoration in 1984, only to be all-but destroyed. The original body and motors were lost, but the chassis was repaired and a redesigned body fitted. A replacement Continental engine was sourced and a traction type was installed into the saved casing of the original electric motor.
Around 1900 Type 44s were built by Woods, one of the many companies that tried their hand at automobile manufacturing at the start of the 20th century only to disappear by 1920.
The Woods will be sold by H&H Classics at its Buxton auction on 30 July. Proceeds from the sale and a third of the buyer’s premium will be given directly to StarterMotor, the automotive charity based at Bicester Motion.
