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Duncan Hamilton & Co. Ltd


Ford GT40 # 1084

Ford GT40 # 1084

Ford GT40 # 1084

Ford GT40 # 1084

Ferrari 250 TR Replica over Porsche 936

Ferrari 250 TR Replica over Porsche 936

Ferrari 250 TR Replica

Ferrari 250 TR Replica

Jaguar E-Type

Jaguar E-Type

Kremer Porsche 936 # 005

Kremer Porsche 936 # 005

Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Aston Martin V8 Vantage

Ford GT40 # 1084

Ford GT40 # 1084

Kremer Porsche 936 # 005

Kremer Porsche 936 # 005

Kremer Porsche 936 # 005

Kremer Porsche 936 # 005

Arrows F1 Car

Arrows F1 Car

Ford Lotus Cortina

Ford Lotus Cortina

Ford Lotus Cortina

Ford Lotus Cortina

Dino 246 GT # 05110

Dino 246 GT # 05110

 

Founded in 1948 - Duncan Hamilton & Co. Ltd is now celebrating its 60th Anniversary, and is one of the longest standing family car sales businesses in the United Kingdom. Its founder was Duncan Hamilton, from whom the company takes its name, who was a F1 and F2 driver in Gordinis, HWMs, Lago-Talbots and Maseratis, with works sports car outings for Ferrari, Healey and most famously Jaguar, a marque with which his name is synonymous. He was the winner of the Le Mans 24 Hour Race in 1953 driving a “C” Type Jaguar with Tony Rolt, with another of his major international victories being in the Reims 12 Hour Race in 1956, where he won in a “D” Type Jaguar with Ivor Bueb. It’s highly unusual for somebody to get sacked for winning a race, but that is just what happened to him for ignoring team orders! His response was to go and drive for the rival Ferrari team! He was paired with Alfonso de Portago for the Le Mans 24 Hour Race in a 625 LM, but he didn’t get to drive as De Portago took the start and was involved in an accident with two “D” Types, which ended their race. He drove again for Ferrari in the final round of the Manufacturers’ Championship in Sweden, teamed with De Portago and Mike Hawthorn, where they finished 3rd in an 860 Monza.

New Blood – Duncan retired from the business in 1975 and handed over reins to his son Adrian, who had started with the company in 1966, and continues to head the business today from their rural, one might easily say idyllically set, premises in Hampshire. His father’s 1953 Le Mans winning “C” Type was acquired by the family in 1981 from the Briggs Cunningham Collection, and remains today as a family heirloom, which gets regular exercise at historic race meetings. The company moved from their original premises in Bagshot, Surrey, to the current location about 12 years ago, with the traditional country houses, paddocks, pond, and gravel drive off a single track road, Duncan Hamilton & Co. Ltd really is an attractive place to visit, and can be easily located by the huge Union Flag flying from the flagpole. It is approximately 40 miles from London, and only five minutes from junction 5 of the main London - Southampton M3 motorway. 

Big Numbers – Over the years the company has handled numerous high end cars for clients, including seven Porsche 917s, some eight Ferrari 250 GTOs, and around eighteen Ford GT 40s, together with numerous “C” and “D” Type Jaguars, a Ferrari 412 P and a Mercedes Benz W196 Grand Prix car, to name but a few. They also employ a specialist in more modern prestige cars, as another string to the bow of the main business, offering the likes of Audi, BMW and Porsche models. At the time of the visit there was a spectacular blue and orange Gulf liveried Ford GT 40, chassis # 1084, in the showroom along with a Kremer Porsche 936, chassis # 005, together with a Dino 246 GT, chassis # 05110, an Arrows F1 car and a very clean example of a first series Lotus Cortina. 

Additional Services – Apart from the company’s traditional skills and in-depth knowledge of the rarefied top end dealings in prestige collector car sales and their brokerage services, they also offer clients a variety of other personal services. These include car transport in a specially constructed closed transporter, adapted to accept cars with minimal ground clearance, high security car storage in a temperature and humidity controlled environment, air charter and yacht brokerage services. If you want a holiday location, Adrian will even go so far as to rent you his villa in the Algarve, complete with Astro turf tennis court, infinity pool and floodlit gardens, with spectacular sea views. 

Parting Shot – We started by introducing the founder of the company, so we will close by recommending that you find a copy of his autobiography “Touch Wood”, it is a wonderfully readable account of his motor racing life during the fifties, with a plethora of hilarious anecdotes.

Contact Duncan Hamiltion >>> 

Keith Bluemel          
01/2008