By John Hutchinson for MailOnline

A rare car that was the first to top 100mph in the UK and bought second-hand for just £115 is now expected to sell for up to £180,000 at auction.

Murray Ferguson, 83, was shocked when he found out the 1920 Vauxhall E-type 30-98 which his brother Ian bought in June 1952 was so valuable.

There are only around 30 of the early sidevalve 30-98s known to have survived and the car is one of only two with its type of coachwork, made by Grosvenor Carriage Co.Ltd, of Kilburn, London.

Classic: The 1920 Vauxhall E-type 30-98 is set to make Murray Ferguson a huge profit when it sells

Mr Ferguson's 30-98 is now set to fetch between £150,000 and £180,000 at a Bonhams auction at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire, on September 6.

Mr Ferguson, who is a retired farmer, said: 'My brother died a few years ago now, but I bought the car from him for a couple of hundred pounds long before that, in 1962.

The Vauxhall 30-98, one of the greatest sports cars of the twentieth century was the first in the UK to top 100mph in production form.

Fitted with a 4,525cc side-valve four-cylinder engine, producing 90bhp, this Vauxhall was made in two basic types, E-type and the more powerful OE-type, built between 1923 and 1927.

The Autocar magazine went on to say: ‘Few cars have such graceful lines yet suggest unlimited strength allied to speed… and very, very few can take a corner stiffly with absolute certainty as this one can.’

Source: www.vauxhall.co.uk  

'He got it running pretty well, and I did a bit of restoration, but it is all completely original and kept just as it was.

'I put it up for sale because I thought why not? It's not quite equipped for busy modern roads as much as it used to be.

'I was surprised to hear it was worth so much. It's a great car, a very rare one, which brought me and my brother a lot of happiness."

A spokesman for Auctioneer Bonhams said: 'Although the complete history of this car is not known, it was first registered in Westmorland and it is believed that in its early days it was owned by the Lings family of Bollington, Cheshire.'

Around 1930, it was passed to a Mr Jeffreys and served the King and Country in World War Two, being used for service with the Home Guard in its native north country.

In 1952, it was bought by Ian Ferguson for £115 from a small garage in Manchester.

Since then, it has scarcely travelled outside of Happisburgh, Norfolk, where Murray Ferguson lives.

Roll up: There could well be a lot of interest when Murray Ferguson's car goes up for auction at the National Motor Museum

Published: 06:44 EDT, 31 August 2014 | Updated: 10:16 EDT, 31 August 2014

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