A vintage car which rusted away for more than 60 years in the stable of a Lawford farm is expected to sell for thousands of pounds at a sale of classic cars later this month.

Henry Poole, of Dale Hall, Cox's Hill, bought the clapped-out 1904 Talbot two-seater with every intention of restoring it to its former glory.

But it was one of those jobs that kept getting put off.

He got as far as stripping her down and even taking delivery of boxes of spare parts and for more than 60 years Talbot Model CT2K gathered rust in a former stable at the Poole family's Elizabethan farmhouse.

Over the years the chassis was removed to be used as a farm gate and the axles taken off and used as fencing to keep in the cows.

By the time Mr Poole died in 1964, the once-proud vintage car with the distinctive "coal scuttle" bonnet was little more than a pile of junk.

His son, Robert, vowed to fulfil his late father's dream but daunted by the extent of the project, he, too, put it off.

Finally, in 1984, he transported the rust-bucket car to specialists at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, handed over cardboard boxes full of 1919 vintage spares and persuaded them to undertake one of their most complex restoration projects.

Seven years and tens of thousands of pounds of Mr Poole's money later, the job was complete - and in 1991 the car was in running order for the First time in 72 years.

Mr Poole was even able to triumphantly complete the London to Brighton run in it later the following year.

Now, following his death at 81 last year, Mr Poole's Dutch-born widow, Jeltje, 75, is selling the historic dark-green Talbot. It is expected to fetch up to £35,000 at a Christie's classic car sale in London on March 27.

Mrs Poole explained in 1920 her father-in-law had been too busy running a farm and a chemical factory to have time for the Talbot.

"When my husband eventually took it to Beaulieu all those years later it was in a terrible state," said Mrs Poole, adding it had cost her husband a fortune, more than she expected to get back for it now.

Mrs Poole is also selling a restored 1914 Indian 3.5hp motorcycle and sidecar, in which her father-in-law used to drive his wife and child around the countryside in the days just after the First World War.

Mrs Poole said: "The bike didn't need so much restoring. It's in pristine condition."

It is expected to realise up to £10,000.

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