When Fred Astaire and his older sister, Adele, took to the London stage in the 1920s, one critic declared: “There hasn’t been anything like it since Noah’s Flood.”
But it wasn’t young Fred’s sublime footwork that captivated the West End, but Adele, the girl who “breathed new life into the world of dance” as she “danced like a lilac flame.”
Her wicked improvisations were notorious, as was her courage: on the night of the boat race, when a raucous, elegant man in the front row threw a chocolate at her, she marched into the footlights and threw it straight back at him, splashing it down the front of his shirt.
Invited to St James’s Palace to meet royalty, she danced with the Prince of Wales, but it was Bertie, the future George VI, who really caught her eye.
“He is an innocent and unsuspecting young man,” she wrote home, “and I could easily take advantage of him… ahem!”
Paul Mathewson, Derek Mathewson and Dave Mathewson from the show
A screenshot from episode one of season nine of Bangers & Cash
Such sensational success paid off. In 1926, Fred treated himself to his first Rolls-Royce, which boasted 20 horsepower and a top speed of almost 60 mph.
He liked the car so much that he took it to Hollywood, where he had a new body built, in the style of a “Playboy Roadster”, to give it the look of an American millionaire, before selling it to a rum smuggler who smuggled alcohol during the Prohibition years.
A century later, the Roller appeared at auction in the Yorkshire village of Thornton-le-Dale when Bangers & Cash returned.
And, surprisingly, it failed to reach its £50,000 reserve price, despite the best efforts of auctioneer and showbiz star Derek Mathewson.
Even more surprising, half the showroom staff had no idea who Fred Astaire was.
One woman ventured: “I’ve heard of Freddie Starr…” The stories behind the cars are the special ingredient that keeps this series, now in its fifth year, on the road.
Brian, an 85-year-old former racehorse trainer, had two for sale: a Subaru Impreza and a 1973 Jaguar E-Type V12.
Although the Jag was the obvious classic, Brian’s heart was with the Impreza. “It’s a villain,” he smiled.
“The kind of excitement you can’t buy, you have to drive it. But it’s time to move on… Well, the problem is I’m not getting any younger.”
Derek Mathewson with a gavel at a Mathewsons auction in an episode
Derek Mathewson, auctioneer and star of Bangers & Cash
The octogenarian racer has no plans to stop driving, however. With the $15,000 he received for the Subaru and the £36,600 (minus the auctioneers’ commission) for the E-Type, Brian plans to buy an electric vehicle.
Derek’s son Dave was heading to Northern Ireland in a green Ford Escort and a red face.
Two of the 1970s Mexico models, with their rally car styling, arrived at Mathewson within days of each other and were duly sold, one to a buyer in Wales and the other across the Irish Sea.
Unfortunately, they sent them the wrong way… When a mix-up like that happens, it’s never a local thing.
That’s Murphy’s Law, although we were not told whether the disgruntled motoring enthusiast was actually a Mr Murphy.