Ian Berg of Australia

1923 Cheetham & Borwick Tourer GF14

History
‘Off Test’ at Derby on 19th October 1923, GF14 was built to order and sold for £1,100 on 27th October to Dalgety & Co for their customer, Thomas Baker, c/o Kodak Ltd, Abbotsford, Melbourne. The chassis was shipped to Melbourne on 5th October 1923 via S/S Themistocles. The tourer body was built by Cheetham & Borwick, a Melbourne coachbuilder. The car, presently undergoing restoration, retains the original coachwork.

Baker was an importer and manufacturer of photographic equipment, and together with his business partner JJ Rouse, in 1908, amalgamated with Kodak London to form Kodak Australasia. With Rouse, Baker was joint Managing Director. He was a great philanthropist, his main legacy being the Baker Institute, the research arm of the Alfred hospital in Melbourne. Thomas Baker died in 1928.

GF14 was one of several Rolls-Royces he owned at various times. He sold the car in 1927, and it had a succession of owners until it was purchased by in 1963 by Helmut Hagedorn. Hagedorn used it as his everyday car until a breakdown in the late 1970s necessitated an engine rebuild. The car was then dismantled for restoration, but it was never completed. It remained in this state for the next 40 years until purchased by Ian Berg in 2017 who is proceeding with a full restoration.

In early 2022 the bodywork is nearing completion, it is a 7 seater with jump seats in the rear compartment. The coachwork is of aluminium over a timber frame.