From Turin With Love: A Scottish Farmer's Ceirano

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One of the more unlikely partnerships to be forged during the early years of the motor car was that of the Torinese firm of Ceirano and Messrs Newton & Bennett of Manchester. The various Ceirano brothers had dominated Italy’s motor industry at the beginning of the 20th century with their several marques, while Newton & Bennett had assumed the British agency for one of them, SCAT, in 1907. When the first cars built in large numbers to be badged as Ceiranos appeared just after the Great War, it fell to Newton & Bennett to sell them to the British market.

The S 150 overhead-valve model was clearly equipped to rival the best British and European light cars of the day. Though not a radical design, it was still capable of speeds in the region of 70mph and handled very satisfactorily. This rare survivor from 1924 was, surprisingly, sold new to a Scottish farmer. Placed into storage in 1931, rediscovered in 1968 and restored between 2008 and 2012, it remained in single-family ownership until 2023, since when it has been enjoyed by two very active enthusiasts, including at the recent VSCC Winter Driving Tests.

Clearly built to a high standard of quality – the interior’s surprising inlaid woodwork is evidence of that – all who have driven it lately have been enamoured with it. Scott Barrett falls for its charms in the February issue of The Automobile, available now.

Words by Zack Stiling
Photographs by Mick Walsh

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