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This car was the first to be designed and built by the late John Tojeiroand is of considerable historical significance. A self-taught car designerand constructor, ‘Toj’ was one of the pioneers of Britain’s motor racingrenaissance in the post-war years and began, like so many others, bybuilding a special for his own use. He is best remembered nowadaysfor his role in the gestation of the AC Ace and its Cobra derivative. Aninfluential and widely imitated design, the Ace could trace its originsback to the one-off sports-racer that Tojeiro built for Cliff Davis in1952. The success of Davis’ Bristol-engined Tojeiro - registration ‘LOY500’ - prompted AC Cars to acquire the rights to the design, whichwas put into production in 1954 as the Ace using AC’s own venerable,2.0-litre, six-cylinder engine. The Davis car’s pretty Ferrari 166-inspiredbarchetta bodywork was retained, as was Tojeiro’s twin-tube ladderframe chassis and Cooper-influenced all-independent suspension.Tojeiro’s subsequent designs were somewhat less successful, thoughhe can claim the credit for creating the world’s first mid-engined GTcoupé sports-racer. The latter had resulted from a commission fromÉcurie Écosse, and two Coventry Climax-engined examples were builtfor the 1962 Le Mans 24-Hour Race, though only one made the start.The solitary Tojeiro-Climax failed to finish but the two cars, re-enginedwith American V8s, went on to achieve considerably success onBritish short circuits, most notably with future World Champion JackieStewart at the wheel.The accompanying Tojeiro Register certificate confirms that this caris the first built, stating that Mr Tojeiro had authenticated it as beinghis ‘number one chassis’ after making a close inspection of it in June1992. The late owner had acquired this car in a derelict condition fromMr David Jeffery of Gatwick, West Sussex in 1988.Its first owner is known to have been Mr K O King of King & Harper(Motor Engineers). The Tojeiro has had various registration numbers inthe past, the previous being ‘239 BER’. When the current registrationwas offered, the owner could not resist it.He subsequently commissioned a detailed restoration of the car, whichincluded a replacement two-seated sports body in ‘166 Barchetta’ style.The total mechanical rebuild was carried out by Paul Kitcher of Milfordon-Sea,Hampshire while the body was built by acclaimed specialistsRod Jolley Coachbuilding of Lymington, Hampshire using CarrozzeriaTouring’s Superleggera system of construction, employing a lightweighttubular steel structure to support the aluminium-alloy outer body panels.The car’s mechanical specification includes a channel frame chassis;all-round independent suspension by means of transverse leafsprings and lower wishbones; rack-and-pinion steering (modifiedMorris Minor); MG XPAG 1,350cc engine; MG TC Gearbox; and anENV differential. Rebuilt and developed by George Edney, the engineincorporates a Phoenix steel billet crankshaft, Edney racing camshaft,Laystall aluminium cylinder head (gas flowed), 11:1 compression ratioand twin 1½” SU carburettors.John Tojeiro saw the rebuilt and finished car in August 2004 andseemed to be entirely satisfied with the end product. After his deathin April 2005, ‘TOJ 1’ was present at his memorial service at GuildenMorton, Hampshire. Since its completion the Tojeiro has covered onlysome 2,700 miles and is described as in generally very good condition.Offered with current road fund licence and V5 registration document(with the most appropriate TOJ 1 registration number), it representsan opportunity for the connoisseur to acquire a unique piece of Britishsports car history.£50,000 - 70,000€62,000 - 86,000Motor Cars | 63