Railton Eight Sports

Railton was a short-lived marque which arose from a joint venture between Noel Macklin and the US car company Hudson. Macklin’s plan was to import the powerful Hudson engines and chassis but add distinctive new body designs and create stylish, lightweight, fast cars.

The Railton Eight was the second model produced, based on the Hudson 4068cc, straight-eight engine of 113hp and available in several body styles, the lightest reportedly achieving a 0-60 mph time of only 8.8 seconds. In all, nearly 1,400 Railton Eights were made. Two other smaller models were also introduced but in 1939, Macklin sold his share in the venture to Hudson who attempted to re-start production post-WWII, but it ceased operations in 1950.

The brand was actually named after Reid Railton who had been responsible for creating a succession of record breaking vehicles for John Cobb and Donald Campbell, but his involvement in the project was thought to be minimal.

About this vehicle

Richard Shuttleworth had a direct interest in the Railton venture, acquiring a 1/3 share in Macklin’s holding company, Fairmile, becoming its Chairman in 1933.

He acquired the Collection’s Railton in 1934 as a bare engine and chassis and planned to have a two-seater sports body built but this was unfinished when he died in 1940. His mother, Dorothy, had the work completed and the car was officially registered as JNM700 with Bedford Council in 1950. It was subsequently sold and had several owners before it was purchased in 1975 by Richard Shuttleworth’s niece, then Princess Charlotte Hohenlohe von Langenberg, who had it repainted in ‘Shuttleworth blue’. It was eventually repatriated it to the Shuttleworth Collection in 1998.