One of the first 4½ Litre Invicta models ever built
The only surviving example of the first 4½ Litre model
Owned by Heidi Hetzer for many years
Extensively documented history
Technically overhauled by an expert
Mille Miglia participant in 2004

When the first cars bearing the name Invicta came onto the market in England in 1925, the automotive world was in a state of upheaval. The war was only a few years behind them, and economic crises and technical innovations dominated the scene. The British had their big brands – Rolls-Royce as the epitome of nobility, Bentley as the sporty challenger – but there was a gap in between: a car that was equally robust, powerful and made for long journeys. It was the ambitious entrepreneur Noel Macklin, together with financier Oliver Lyle, heir to the sugar dynasty, who wanted to fill this gap. Their company, Invicta, founded in Cobham, Surrey, was to combine British craftsmanship with sporty performance.

Even the early models were characterised by powerful six-cylinder engines and solid chassis, as SC (short chassis with a 2.84-metre wheelbase) and LC (long chassis with a 3-metre wheelbase). The two-and-a-half-litre engine was followed by a three-litre in 1926 and finally a four-and-a-half-litre in 1928. With it came the car that would write the name Invicta into the history books to this day. It was the car that embodied Macklin's credo of "sturdy, fast and reliable" in its purest form.

At its heart was the powerful six-cylinder engine from Meadows, a renowned supplier from Wolverhampton. With a displacement of 4 ½ litres, it delivered between 95 and over 100 hp, depending on the tuning – figures that were among the best in the world at the end of the 1920s. The engine was designed less for revving and more for sheer power: an endlessly elastic drive that made it possible to drive from walking pace to top speeds in the highest gear. No constant gear changes, no jerking, just gentlemanly composure.

The chassis was equally remarkable. With its high-rise chassis – hence the name "High Chassis" – and robust rigid axles on semi-elliptical leaf springs, the Invicta appeared rather cumbersome at first glance. But the design was carefully balanced. The frame profiles were solid but cleverly designed, achieving astonishing rigidity and durability. This was to be impressively proven in numerous reliability trials and rallies in the years to come.

The bodies were usually supplied by the Carbodies or Vanden Plas workshops, but many chassis also went to specialist coachbuilders. The Tourer, the open-top version, was the most popular model. Elongated, with wide-opening doors and a simple, almost utilitarian design, it was less a style icon than an instrument – built for travelling thousands of kilometres in all weathers and on all surfaces.

The High Chassis became famous for its successes in the Reliability Trials organised by British automobile clubs. In 1929 and 1930, Invicta teams won medal after medal under the most difficult conditions, and no competitor was able to achieve this balance between speed and durability. The Scottish Reliability Trial of 1930 in particular is still considered a moment of glory today: not only did an Invicta complete all stages without a single defect, it also set the fastest times on the mountain stages. The name Invicta suddenly became synonymous with "invincibility", just as the Latin word meant.

But as robust and successful as the car was, it was also expensive. A High Chassis Tourer cost almost twice as much as a comparable Bentley 3 Litre – a luxury that few could afford. Accordingly, production numbers remained low: only a few hundred units were built between 1928 and 1931. It is precisely this exclusivity that makes the car a sought-after rarity today.

In 1930, Invicta introduced a lower-slung version, the "Low Chassis", which would become famous as the "S-Type". But the High Chassis Invicta remains the archetype: the car that marked Invicta's real breakthrough.

According to a historical Invicta register, chassis LC135 was one of the first Invictas with the new, large 4.5-litre engine in 1928. According to the latest findings, LC135 is likely to be the only survivor of this series of 10 to 15 vehicles.

After the Second World War, LC135 reappeared in 1970 when the Invicta was sold to Sir Noel Hutton and Teddy Hutton as a restoration project. Father and son got the mighty Invicta running again and registered it with the number plate 937VWL. However, they sold it again a few years later due to the father's illness. Until the turn of the millennium, the Invicta remained with several owners in Great Britain, then came to France for a year and subsequently to Germany.

In 2001, Berlin scene celebrity Heidi Hetzer acquired the Invicta and took part in the Mille Miglia with it in 2004. Until then, however, the engine needed a lot of work, as evidenced by a folder full of invoices. In 2012, the current owners purchased the mighty Invicta. They entrusted the 4½-litre engine to an absolute expert, who once again took care of the engine and transmission and put them in good working order, as can still be seen ten years later. The Invicta always starts at the first push of a button and fascinates with its smooth running and pulling power. The car moves with astonishing ease for its size.

Today, almost a century later, the High Chassis Tourer still fascinates with its combination of power, composure and historical significance. It embodies an era in which automobiles were not just a means of transport, but character studies – built for people who saw their journeys as adventures. And in this sense, this 1928 Invicta High Chassis Tourer is nothing less than a rolling manifesto of British engineering with an extraordinary history to boot.