1938 H.R.G. Airline Coupe
Only one factory-built coupe emerged from H.R.G. Engineering Company’s Tolworth workshops, creating immediate controversy that would split the firm’s founding partners.
Major E.A. Halford commissioned this hybrid in 1938, combining a widened Halford Special racing chassis with a 91-cubic-inch (1.5-liter) Triumph Gloria overhead-valve inline-four engine developing about 55 horsepower through a four-speed manual transmission.
The bodywork merged practicality with sporting elegance by grafting A. Crofts front sheetmetal (featuring exceptionally long open fenders and free-standing headlamps) onto the rear section of an MG PA Airline coupe.
H.R.G.’s partners Guy Robins and Henry Ronald Godfrey built their reputation on purposeful, bare-bones sports-racing cars that competed successfully at Le Mans and throughout Europe.
Halford’s enclosed coupe contradicted this philosophy so dramatically that he departed the company later that year. The prototype sold immediately to a private owner who used it as daily transportation for 23 years.
Between 1935 and 1956, H.R.G. produced just 241 hand-built automobiles total, making this singular departure from their open sports car formula exceptionally rare.
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