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Invicta 4.5 S Low Chassis - A pre-war dream for sports car fans

Name: Invicta 4.5 S Low Chassis 1929
Brand: Invicta

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Created on October 1, 1983

Text:

Halwart Schrader

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Bruno von Rotz

Wolfgang Simlinger

Michael Alschner

Bonhams

Archiv Bernhard Brägger

Balz Schreier

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

Bruno von Rotz

Wolfgang Simlinger

Michael Alschner

Bonhams

Archiv Bernhard Brägger

Balz Schreier

Archiv

Invicta S-Type Low Chassis (1929) - in the sports car class at the Gaisbergrennen 2014

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Invicta 4.5 S Low Chassis Tourer (1934) - with bodywork by Carbodies Limited Coventry, auctioned by Sotheby's in 1991

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Deliberate skidding by racing driver and designer Donald Healey on his Invicta S

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Invicta 4,5 S Low Chassis (1930) - at the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring 'in 1976 - driver R. C. J. Wood

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Invicta 4,5 S Low ChassisTourer (1930) - less than 100 were built, this red painted and restored car was auctioned many years ago

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Invicta 4.5 S Low Chassis Tourer (1931) - offered at a Christies auction around 30 years ago at an estimated value of 80,000 francs

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Invicta S-Type Tourer 4.5 Litre (1932) - probably one of the most beautifully designed sports cars of the era

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Invicta S-Type Tourer 4.5 Litre (1932) - open-top high-performance car as a four-seater tourer

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Invicta S-Type Tourer 4.5 Litre (1932) - the windshield can be folded down, there is a door on the left only

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Invicta S-Type Tourer 4.5 Litre (1932) - emergency top only

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Invicta S-Type Tourer 4.5 Litre (1932) - richly equipped dashboard - water thermometer, ampèremeter, oil pressure at the top, trip counter, timer, mileage counter at the bottom

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Invicta S-Type Tourer 4.5 Litre (1932) - six-cylinder OHV engine seen from the right, a plaque with the setting data between the SU carburetors at the top

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Invicta S-Type Tourer 4.5 Litre (1932) - in-line six-cylinder engine seen from the left - exhaust side

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Invicta S-Type Tourer 4.5 Litre (1932) - Front wheel suspension with large drum brake

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Invicta (1947) - the passenger car of Col. Heywood

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Invicta (1947) - not a sports car for once

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Invicta (1947) - four-door passenger car by Col Heywood

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Invicta Black Prince (1948) - shown at the 1947 Paris Motor Show

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Invicta Black Prince (1948) - equipped with a fully automatic mechanism, a sensation at the time

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Invicta S Type (1931) - Le Mans Classic 2014 - Plateau 1

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Invicta S-Type Low Chassis (1929) - at the airfield Niederöblarn at the Chopard Racecar-Trophy 2014 (Ennstal-Classic)

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Invicta 4 1/2-Litre S-Type Low-chassis Drophead Coupé 'Salamander' (1930) - offered as lot 341 at the Bonhams auction on the occasion of the Goodwood Festival of Speed on June 27, 2014

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Invicta S-Type Low Chassis (1932) - in the sports car class at the Gaisbergrennen 2014

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Invicta 4.5 S Low Chassis (1931) - at the Klausenrennen 2013 in the uniformity classification

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Invicta S-Type Low Chassis (1932) - at the Klausenrennen 2013 in the uniformity classification

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Invicta S-Type Low Chassis (1929) - at the Klausenrennen 2013 in the uniformity classification

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Invicta S-Type Low Chassis (1932) - in the category of pre-war vehicles at the Grossglockner Grand Prix 2013

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Invicta S Type Low Chassis (1932) - at the Grossglockner Grand Prix 2012

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Invicta "S" Type (1931) - in Plateau 1 (1923-1939) at the Le Mans Classic 2012

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Invicta S-Type Low Chassis (1932) - at the Gaisbergrennen 2012 - sports car class

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Invicta S-Type Low Chassis (1929) with starting number 147 at the Arosa ClassicCar 2011

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Gaisbergrennen 2011 - Invicta S-Type Low Chassis (1931) - at the start

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Gaisbergrennen 2011 - Invicta S-Type Low Chassis (1932) - on the Salzburgring

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Summary

Among connoisseurs of pre-war English sports cars, the Invicta 4.5 S Low Chassis is considered a special gem, not because it was particularly easy to control, but because it could be surprisingly fast in the right hands thanks to its high performance and low center of gravity, and it also looked good. At the same time, it remained rare and, with 77 examples produced, a sought-after rarity. This report describes the history of the Invicta company, its successes and its problems right up to the end, supplemented by current and historical images.

This article contains the following chapters

From racing driver to sports car designer
Several attempts
Six-cylinder instead of four-cylinder
More displacement and power
Lower and flatter - low chassis
Loss of the partner
Decline despite laurels
Not easy to control driving behavior
The little brother 12/45 HP
Performance explosion at the end
More attempts

Estimated reading time: 9min

Preview (beginning of the article)

If an enthusiast of classic British sports cars were faced with the task of reducing the field of vehicles in this category to an ideal type that embodies "the" car of the early 1930s, they would probably come up with the 4.5-liter S-Type Invicta. A car that makes the hearts of connoisseurs beat faster at the mention of it, today as it did fifty years ago. Noel Macklin, an amateur racing driver before the First World War, tried to set up his own business as an automobile designer around 1920, but he was a businessman without fortune. He gave up twice until he finally met the sugar manufacturer Oliver Lyle and, with his financial support, set up a successful company - Invicta Cars in Cobham, Surrey.

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