Percy Markham car collection interview

Here is a copy of an interview I did on Kalamunda Community Radio KCR102.5FM on 22 February 2020 on Mike and Terry's "Around the Bend" program. The focus of this episode was the story of the Percy Markham car collection. I recount some of the stories that Percy's son, John Markham, told me about the origins of the collection and how it grew to become one of the most important car collections in the southern hemisphere. Sadly, a major part of the collection was sold off by a later government in a despicable act of profiteering, which led ultimately to the founding of the Motor Museum of Western Australia.

We also talk about the demise of Holden, the company's origins and a couple of 'what if' stories.

Enjoy!



For more information about the Percy Markham collection, go here:
https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2011/06/percy-markham-collection.html
https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2014/12/percy-markhams-antique-auto-museum.html
https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2013/10/percy-markham-collection-auction.html

The Percy Markham Collection

Shelly and I first visited the Whiteman Park Motor Museum in April 2010 and saw several of the remaining vehicles of the Percy Markham Collection on display  (http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2010/04/whiteman-park-motor-museum.html). I set out to find out what happened to the rest of the collection and that search led me to the Nazzaro and Percy's son, John Markham (http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2010/05/felice-nazzaro.html). 

John kindly provided me a list of the cars in the Percy Markham Collection and some details about them and I had the grand idea to create a little virtual online museum. This proved a little harder than I thought as some of cars are quite obscure. I remembered with some regret that when my brother Craig and I were in our early teens we'd bought a set of postcards from the West Australian Museum for all the cars in the collection. Although I am inveterate hoarder, my parents are not, and those postcards disappeared long gone. Many years later when I was clearing out some old boxes I came across the complete set. What a pleasant surprise! I had saved them after all.

Thanks to this freakish accident of preservation I am able to present here a 'virtual museum' of the Percy Markham Collection. Where appropriate I've attached the text of the postcard and credits in italics and also some of John's comments and memories.

John's list had 43 cars and I assumed the majority were included in the sale to the West Australian museum, a selection of which were later sold in a controversial sale in the 1980s. Details of the sale and controversy have been documented in research project by Dr Pauline Joseph of Curtin University: https://espace.curtin.edu.au/handle/20.500.11937/42749 Dr Joseph's valuable research has addressed many myths and misunderstandings about the sale. Although the total Markham collection may have been 43 cars, Percy Markham only sold 22 of the rarest cars and 5 motorcycles to the museum. The balance of the collection were either retained by the Markham family or sold separately.

The museum auctioned 10 of the most valuable cars. 9 were sold at auction while the sale of the oldest car in the collection, the 1898 Star, fell through. The Star is now on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum. Several other Markham Collection cars are on display at Whiteman Park while the balance are in storage with the West Australian museum.

A multimedia presentation has been prepared by Dr Joseph's PHD student, Beata Dawson, which takes the viewer on a virtual reality tour of the Markham Collection. The presentation is here: http://beata-dawson.site/test.html

To round out the virtual tour of the Markham collection I obtained from Paul Blank a copy of the original auction catalogue  http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/percy-markham-collection-auction.html

The Percy Markham Collection

1898 Star 3 1/2 hp 'vis-a-vis' (Britain)

Early motor cars clearly show the influence of horse drawn vehicle design; this car is obviously a 'horselesss carriage'. The car, built in 1898, was one of the first ten built by the Star Motor Co., an offshoot of the Star Cycle Co.

The oldest vehicle in the Collection was purchased from a famous collection of veteran cars from Scotland called the Sword Collection. The Star was one of the 10 cars put up for auction. John Markham was determined to buy the car back for the family but was outbid by a local Perth 'high flyer' who offered way above the reserve. John couldn't match the offer and retired from the bidding. The buyer however wasn't serious and defaulted on his offer so Christies approached John directly. John was happy to buy the car for his last bid but Christies insisted he pay the defaulted wining bid. John declined and the car was returned to the museum. It is now on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum. It is the oldest motor vehicle in Western Australia.

1902 Oldsmobile 10 h.p. Curved-dash Runabout (USA)

"This was one of the first cars to reach Western Australia;it was owned originally by Mr Claude Deane. This car, like the "Star"shows clearly the influence of the horse-drawn carriage. Note the steering tiller, which is mounted on springing that acts both as a shock absorber and as a stabiliser."

This car is NOT a part of the Percy Markham collection. It was donated by the Deane family but was incorrectly ascribed to the Percy Markham in the postcard. It is now on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum after a controversial restoration.

1905 De Dion-Boulton 8 h.p. Two Seater (France)

"Count de Dion, a Parisian aristocrat, employed Messrs Boulton and Trepardoux in 1882 to build light carriages. After producing a bewildering variety of steamers, de Dion switched to the petrol engine. By 1895 the first 1/2 h.p engines were in production, followed soon after by more powerful types."
This car is on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum.

1904 Rover 8 h.p. Two-seater (Britain)

1904 Rover 8 h.p. Two-seater (Britain)
"Built only five years after the Star, this car shows the early development of conventional car layout, and little influence of the horse-drawn carriage."
This car is on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum.

1909 Renault 15/22 kw Limousine (France)

"An original example of a classic car made by one of the oldest established car manufacturers. It is fitted with a compressed air starter." Photographed by Brian Stevenson. Printed by Crusader Press.
This car was sold at auction.

1909/10 Minerva 22 kw Tourer (Belgium)

"Minerva was one of the best known Belgian makes, renowned for quality. This model was a sensation when first shown in 1908, as it incorporated a double sleeve-valve engine designed by C.Y. Knight." Photographed by Brian Stevenson. Printed by Crusader Press.
This car was sold auction.

1909 Sizaire-Naudin 9 kw Two-seater (France)

"A rare vehicle of the pioneering firm of the brothers Sizaire. M Sizaire has certified this care as a Type F Series 09 No. 153" Photographed by Brian Stevenson. Printed by Crusader Press.
This car was sold at auction.

1910 BSA (Britain)
This car is on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum.
http://www.bsafwdc.co.uk

1910 Model T Ford (USA)

I believe this car may be in storage.

1910 Hupmobile

The Hupmobile (on the left) was an American company that was later taken over by Chevrolet. On the right is the Sizaire-Naudin photographed at Percy's Antique Auto Museum in Wembley in 1968 by Andrew Brownell.

1911 Peugeot 22 kw Type 135 Tourer (France)

"Peugeot is one of the oldest French car manufacturers. This original car was purchased in Switzerland in 1966." Photographed by Brian Stevenson. Printed by Crusader Press.
This car was sold at auction.

1911 Rolls Royce 30/37 kw Landaulet "Silver Ghost" (Britain)

"The first six-cylinder Rolls Royce of 1906 was nickle plated and has silver and grey bodywork, leading to the popular name 'Silver Ghost'. This model - one of the great classic cars - continued in production with minor modifications until 1925." Photographed by Brian Stevenson. Printed by Crusader Press.
This Rolls was once owned by an Indian Maharaja. This car was sold at auction.

1913 Delage 15 kw HB Series 7 Tourer (France)

"Delage cars had a reputation for reliability, ease of handling and for being light on tyres. This car was purchased in Switzerland in 1966." Photographed by Brian Stevenson. Printed by Crusader Press.
This car was sold at auction.

1913 Nazarro (Italy)

One of only three surviving examples in the world. John Markham retained ownership of the car until it was sold at auction shortly before he passed away. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2010/05/felice-nazzaro.html

1914 Detroit Electic Brougham (USA)

"The present-day widespread alarm about pollution of the environment has re-awakened interest in electric cars. It is interesting therefore to recall that from 1900 to 1915 at least twenty-five well known electric car companies advertised vehicles powered by batteries."
Ironically, this was written in 1980 - 31 years ago!! This car was owned by a little old lady in Perth who drove it from new until she died. It is on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum.

1920 Studebaker

This car is in storage with the West Australian museum.

1921 Stanley Steamer 20/60 h.p/ Tourer (USA)

"The present-day widespread alarm about pollution of the environment has re-awakened interest in steam as well as in electric cars. Steam is produced in steam cars by heating the boiler with an oil-burner. The Stanley Steamer had the longest production run of any steam car."
This car is now on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum.

1923 Vauxhall 30/98

The 98 reference was the car's advertised top speed. The car is on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum and is apparently one of the most valuable cars remaining in the collection.

1924 Rolls Royce 20hp light 6 ladies chauffeur driver car

This car is still on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum.

1926/27 Morris Cowley 'Bull-nose' Two-seater (Britain)

"One of the most popular vehicles of its day which helped William Morris outsell its competitors." Photographed by Brian Stevenson. Printed by Crusader Press.
This was Percy's first vintage vehicle. He bought the car as family project to teach his son's mechanical skills. It is still on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum.

1927 Ford T 16.7 kw Roadster (USA)

"This was one of the last of the various Fort T models which were produced from 1908 to 1927. This vehicle has travelled only about 8000 km and is in original condition." Photographed by Brian Stevenson. Printed by Crusader Press.

This is a photo of the car at West Australian museum storage facility taken by Dr Joseph in 2014 at a presentation in honour of the Markham family's substantial contribution to the museum. Percy's son's, Barry (suit on the left) and Roger (on the right in the check shirt) inspect the car. 

1927 Ford A

The first of the A model Fords. This example is on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum.

1927 Austin 7

One of several Austin's Percy owned. This one is still on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum. The Markham family have retained one of the other Austin 7s.

1927/8 Packard straight 8

This example is not Percy's car but it is on display at the Whiteman Park motor museum.

1928 Bentley 15 kw Sports Tourer (Britain)

"The Bentley had the reputation of being the best British sports car between World Wars I and II. In their famous 'British racing green' they dominated the Le Mans races in the 1920s." Photographed by Brian Stevenson. Printed by Crusader Press.

This car may be on display at Whiteman Park motor museum.

Here is a comment from Dean B, who worked on the restoration of this car as an apprentice.

Dear Paul,
Something sparked my memory of the Percy Markham collection, and through Google, found your excellent blog. I have a very distant connection with one of the cars from Percy's collection from around 1976 and you might find it faintly interesting. Allow me to explain...

I was an instrument making apprentice with a small business in Subiaco called 'Tisco 74 Pty Ltd' from 1975 to 1980. The owner (and my boss) was Stanley Tough who also had an interest in classic cars. Tisco was for many years one of the few businesses in Perth that could calibrate automotive instruments and became very well known as the place to have your car speedo checked - often as a result of a disputed speeding fine! We also made special parts where possible for just about any mechanical instrument.

In 1976, as a 16 year old apprentice, I remember being asked to make a some special parts for an old Bentley. They were the connector grips fitted to the ends of the spark plug leads and, in order to stay as close to the original parts as possible, we obtained some special black plastic rod which was the same stuff used back when this Bentley was made. Strange as it sounds, this plastic was actually made from sour milk and had been developed during World War One as a substitute for 'Bakelite' which was too brittle for some uses. I think this plastic was known as 'Casein'.

I wondered why I was being trusted to make parts like these for such a valuable car. As I started cutting the first piece of this special plastic in the lathe, the answer came to me. This stuff STANK! It smelled like milk that was very 'off' except many times stronger. Up until then, I had doubted that it really was made from milk - thinking it was one of those stories told to apprentices to see how gullible they are. Anyway, apart from the stench it actually machined quite nicely. I also made some brass inserts which went into these grips and these were like a miniature spear tip with a slot cut into the end to allow it to be slid onto the screw terminal of the old style spark plugs.

Percy Markham came into the workshop to pick them up and was impressed with how close to the originals they looked. I felt really proud that I'd made some parts for a classic car that were "as good as the originals".

Years later, when I heard that the collection had been purchased by the State Government and was to be sold off I felt quite sad that such a valuable collection was being broken up. But I had the satisfaction of knowing that somewhere out there is an old Bentley with some spark plug connectors made by me.

Cheers, Deano.

1933 Rolls Royce 30/37 kw Continental Sports Sedan (Phantom II) (Britain)

"This particular car was manufactured on 3 October 1933 and is authentic in every detail, including the original and elaborate tool kit." Photographed by Brian Stevenson. Printed by Crusader Press.

This car was restored by Jack Jefferies of Sydney. This car was sold at auction.

Leyland Double decker bus ex-London

This is a photo of the bus outside the York town hall. Details about the vehicle are contained in the link below: http://118.127.11.148/~perthbus/report.php?vid=RTL547

Link to the auction catalogue -  http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/percy-markham-collection-auction.html

The Markham's Aeronautical Legacy
Percy's sons, John and Barry Markham both shared an interest in aviation as well as classic cars. John Markham was the first person to fly a plane from the USA to Australia 'the long way round' over the North Pole to Perth.

The book of his travels is out of print now but second hand copies can still be found at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Home-John-Markham/dp/B008AV4LMO/ref=sr_1_35?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1531318759&sr=1-35&keywords=john+markham.

John owned and restored the original Royal Flying Doctor Services' first aeroplane, a De Havilland Fox Moth and several other planes. During his round the world flight he was forced to stop in a remote Indian airfield for several days. While there he noticed two De Havilland Tiger Moths and a a World War II Stinson air ambulance rotting at the side of the airfield. On his return he arranged to purchase all the planes and had them shipped to Australia. The Stinson was restored to flying condition but the Tiger Moths remained in storage at Jandakot airfield. The Stinson was sold several years before John passed.

Barry Markham also had a passion for Tiger Moths and recreated a pioneering solo flight from England to Australia in a De Havilland Tiger Moth in 1930. Barry's trip proved to somewhat more challenging as he was flying against the prevailing air currents. His adventures are published here: https://www.amazon.com/Solo-England-Barry-Markham/dp/1906050546 

Percy Markham's Antique Auto Museum

I thought I'd finish what has been an exciting and interesting year with a post about my great-uncle Percy Markham. Percy started collecting vintage cars in the early 1950s, initially just as an exercise to give his sons some mechanical experience. However, in those days vintage cars could be picked up for next to nothing and collection quickly grew. In the late 1960s Percy established the Antique Auto Museum in Wembley. It was a small private museum which was open to the public and includes two full-time mechanics who worked on the restorations. After a time Percy found the cost of maintaining the museum uneconomical and in the late 1970s he donated the collection to the WA Museum on the understanding that the cars would be displayed for the people of Western Australia. In the 1980s however, a particularly dishonest administration sold off a large portion of the collection, despite protests. Several of the individuals involved in that administration ended up in prison on corruption charges later.

I had heard about the museum but never saw it. I only ever saw the cars when they were in the Perth Museum. However, a witness to those times, Andrew Brownell, sent me these photos from the late 1960s.  He writes:

Hi Paul,

Back in the sixties I was a student of Architecture living with my parents in Mount Pleasant on the banks of the Canning River opposite Aquinas College. Needless to say as a student I had little money but somehow I met Percival Wynyard Markham and his wife who lived in Floreat Park. I do not remember how we met but chance had it and in discussion with 'Mr Markham' he offered me a Saturday job to keep his car collection clean and to drive occasionally for weddings. The attached shows most of the cars as they were in the Museum. As a result of meeting Percy in 1965 I joined the then very new Rolls-Royce Owners' Club, West Australian Branch and became the editor of the Newsletter and later editor of the National Magazine 'Praeclarum' and then many other positions in the Club at both State and Federal levels including that of Federal President.

I am not sure how you 'fit' into the Markham clan but I would be most pleased to hear. I have always enjoyed the Club and, of course the cars. I have had the pleasure of owning a total of 5 MkVI Bentleys, a 1921 Silver Ghost Tourer and a couple of 20/25's but also had the fortune to ride in and drive many more.

I hope that you find these of interest and would be pleased to assist you with identification of others if you need.

Sadly, Percy's son and fellow car enthusiast, John Markham, passed away a month before I received the email so I didn't get to see them. I'm sure he would have appreciated them. Nevertheless, I present here Andrew's photos to commemorate this lost era.

The 1913 Nazzaro



Detroit Electric

1908 Renault

Andrew and the Morris Cowley, Percy's first vintage car.

Stanley Steamer

Light the boiler!

The 1898 Star

Sizaire-Naudin (right)

1908 Star

The Rollers

1908 Minerva

One of the cars awaiting restoration at the rear of the museum



Rolls-Royce Club of WA day


After several years of operating the museum, Percy decided to sell the most significant part of the collection to the WA museum. Not only did he sell the vehicles at a bargain price (interest free in installments over ten years), but he also funded to construction of the new museum buildings to house the collection. This cost several million dollars. The museum building itself has been demolished.

Video presentation by Beata Dawson:


More links:
1. The Percy Markham Collection based on John Markham's records and the WA Museum postcards. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/percy-markham-collection.html
2. The Percy Markham Collection auction catalogue. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/percy-markham-collection-auction.html
3. The surviving Percy Markham Collection at the WA Motor Museum. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2010/04/whiteman-park-motor-museum.html
4. John Markham's Nazzaro, which was part of the collection. http://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com.au/2010/05/felice-nazzaro.html