A heavenly drive? Presenting Mr. Everson and his cheerful Cherub...

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Now this neat little sports car is very much to our liking. It was made in 1935 by the Everson brothers of Auckland, New Zealand. The picture originally came from a clipping from The Weekly News with a caption giving adequate if slightly limited information: “Aucklanders build their own motor-car: Mr. C. Everson with the small coupe motor-car built by himself and his brother to their own design. The car is driven by a motor-cycle engine mounted at the back.”

We found a little more, though. The Everson brothers were named Ernest and Arthur and their pretty little creation was front-wheel driven by a 2½ hp, two-stroke, single-cylinder Villiers engine, which was indeed placed at the back and mated to a three-speed gearbox - certainly not the typical product of a cottage industry. The little car had a name, too: the Everson Cherub. Isn't that sweet? They supposedly built a handful of them.

It has a style unlike any other vehicle we have come across. The lack of a radiator grille enhances the aerodynamic looks, further aided by the rounded bonnet and roof, beautifully made from aluminium strips, or so it seems. The beautiful front wings closely enshroud the wheels. The Everson brothers may well have been capable of building it. Previously, they had produced a number of aeroplanes. Although the first two of them crashed, a third twin-engined monoplane was made with the 1934 MacRobertson Centenary Air Race, from London to Melbourne, in mind.

The surviving Cherub was last seen in action in Dunedin in 1954, by which time it was powered by Ford’s famous 1172cc four-cylinder engine, still driving the front wheels. Another decade later the Everson Cherub name made a comeback as a Mini Moke-style vehicle built and marketed by Ernest Everson’s son Cliff. History repeated itself once more: just five of them were made up to 1969.

Words: Jeroen Booij; picture: archive
 

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