The Collection of the Late Peter Briggs

A remarkable collection celebrates Peter Briggs’s lifelong passion for automotive history

Text: Graeme Cocks

Significant cars, motorcycles, memorabilia and collectibles from noted Australian collector and motor museum owner, the late Peter Briggs, are currently on offer from Donington Auctions in Australia.

Peter and Robin with his 1899 Renault Type A – the last car he drove in the London to Brighton

The Collection of the late Peter Briggs’ is a timed online auction that draws together vehicles from Briggs’ personal collection, and display vehicles surplus to the needs of the York Motor Museum, originally established by the Perth entrepreneur.

Peter and Robin Briggs with their 1895 Peugeot. Peter specifically wanted car number one for the London to Brighton, and purchased this remarkably original Peugeot sight unseen after it had spent 60 years locked away in a French château

The auction opened on 6 October, and bidding will close progressively over the weekend of 17-18 October.

Peter Briggs with his 1902 Clement in 1980 being strapped onto a pallet to be air-freighted to London for the London to Brighton

The auction is underway online. The link is: https://online.doningtonauctions.com.au/auctions/catalog/id/402

Peter Briggs was a prominent West Australian businessman and entrepreneur, whose success in the mining industry enabled him to indulge his passion for all things automotive. He owned more than 200 cars during his lifetime.

Peter Robin and family crossing the line in the 1902 Clement at the London to Brighton in 1980

A keen yachtsman, Briggs twice represented Australia in the Admiral’s Cup and won the Two Ton Championships in Sardinia (Italy) with his yacht ‘Hitchhiker’.

Peter Briggs in Bentley Boy jacket with a range of his cars from his personal garage in 2007, including Hispano Suiza Alfonso, Bentley Chassis 141 and the George Eyston MG NE

He also showed his cars at concours events around the world, winning awards at Pebble Beach, Villa d’Este and New Delhi.

Donington Auctions is a premium European-style auction house and Australia’s largest auctioneer of classic automotive items.

With more than 100 years’ combined market expertise as specialists in vintage and veteran, classic and collectible cars and motorcycles, Single Owner Collections, and automotive memorabilia and ephemera, it is ideally placed to handle the collection of the late Peter Briggs.

Peter Briggs at the wheel of the 1922 Bentley Chassis 141, the first Bentley to race at Le Mans

Among the cars which are being offered by Donington Auctions is a 1919 Australian Six, one of the very first Australian-made motor cars, a c. 1902 Clement first owned by the Governor of Victoria, a 1966 Ford Mustang Convertible, a 1950 Jaguar XK120 OTS roadster, a 1909 Holsman Highwheeler Model 9K, and the legendary c. 1959 Charlie West Speedcar.

There’s also a 1913 Peugeot Bébé, the first car designed by Ettore Bugatti, a 1958 Messerschmitt Kabinenroller K200, and a 1903 Oldsmobile Model R ‘Curved Dash’ runabout.

Peter and Robin in the Bentley 4¼ Litre during the Luis Vuitton Rally in 1993, known as the Singapore Kuala Lumpur Vintage Equatorial Run, arranged by the Singapore Malaysian Car Club

A rare factory ‘cutaway’ chassis used by Chrysler in 1925 to promote its new four-cylinder model around the world is also on offer, along with one of the oldest post-war Volkswagen Beetles in the world, from 1946.

Included in the auction too is an eclectic range of motorcycles such as a water-cooled Lewis, one of the first Australian-made motorcycles produced between 1901 and 1925; a four-cylinder Nimbus and four exceptional speedway bikes.

Peter had a fondness for MGs since he was a young man, and he amassed quite a collection including the Nuvolari Ulster Mille Miglia class-winning car

There’s also a 1925 Coventry Eagle 350cc and an early shaft-drive FN Single from the 1900s.

Briggs’ collection also encompasses an array of memorabilia, collectibles and automobilia. Among them are a substantial motoring and nautical book collection and rare and valuable paintings from the golden age of motorsport, all being offered in the auction, both in Perth and at Donington Auctions’ Melbourne headquarters.

“My husband collected these vehicles over many years, and it is time for them to go to new owners who could enjoy them as much as our family has done,” Robin Briggs said of her late husband of 67 years. “For Peter, every one of these cars and motorcycles had a story, and he loved telling people about them. Many of them are significant pieces of Australian motoring history.”

Prince Rainier of Monaco with Peter and Robin Briggs after Peter and Robin won the historic Monte Carlo Anciennes Rally

The York Motor Museum in the Avon Valley, near Perth, was established by Peter Briggs and James Harwood in 1979.

Peter Briggs sold the museum to a local community organisation in 2017 and in the last decade, the museum has diversified the collection to include exhibits which were not part of the Briggs Collection.

Peter Briggs with the 15-Litre 1904 Napier L48 Samson recreation which won the most historic car at Pebble Beach in 1999

The York Museum vehicles being offered at the auction were retained in the ownership of the family and some of them have been on display for 40 years. The ‘Collection of the Late Peter Briggs’ auction represents an opportunity for the York Motor Museum to freshen up its galleries and put on new displays.

Just to remind you once again, the auction is underway online, and the link is: https://online.doningtonauctions.com.au/auctions/catalog/id/402

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