His best quote? Car insurance certificate issued to Winston Churchill 90 years ago goes on sale for £1,500
14th August 2021
A car insurance certificate issued to Winston Churchill 90 years ago is up for sale at £1,500.
It gave him permission to drive his Wolseley Landaulette between January 1 and June 28 in 1931, when he was 56 – his 'wilderness years'.
At the time, the then-56 year old was going through his 'wilderness years' while serving as the MP for Epping in opposition.
The one-page document, issued by the Alliance Assurance Company Ltd, will be auctioned today by Henry Aldridge & Son in Devizes, Wiltshire.
It records his car registration number YP 4107 but does not disclose the cost of his insurance.
Churchill was a 'petrol head' who bought his first car, a French Mors, aged 26 in 1901.
In 1911 he purchased a Napier 15hp Landaulette in 'Marlborough blue' from a racing driver for £600 - £54,000 in today's money.
Churchill's bodyguard Walter Thompson reportedly said of his boss' driving: 'He strips gears and rams head-on toward anything.'
'Mr Churchill has an immense grasp of the advantages and uses of the machine age... but he has no personal sensitivity about the machines themselves,' he said.
Churchill, who also owned Rolls Royces, Daimlers and Humbers, eventually agreed to be chauffeured around 'to the relief of other drivers'.
The certificate has been consigned for sale by a private collector with auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son, of Devizes, Wilts, who describe it as a 'fabulous piece of history'.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: 'Churchill was fascinated by new technology and could be said to have been a petrolhead, getting his first car aged 21.
'The insurance certificate has been consigned by a private collector who collects weird and wonderful things.
'I have never seen anything like it before, it's a fabulous piece of history.'
