Powered by a 1,100cc twin-cylinder engine of 8hp and featuring the 'coal scuttle' bonnet and rear-mounted radiator that would characterise Renaults until the late 1920s, the AX arrived at a time when the motor car was beginning to gain a measure of respectability.

The unreliability of early cars had provided good cause for public scepticism but the advent of the AX, destined to become Renault's pre-WWI best seller, ushered in a new era.

Here was an easy-to-drive car of simple design, whose mechanical workings even an inexperienced layman might begin to understand.

The water-cooled twin with its mechanically operated valves was simple and robust, endearing qualities to the novice motorist, and the three-speed gearbox was easy to master.

For so small a car the AX possessed unparalleled flexibility between 5mph and 35mph in top gear, clinging to that gear on all but the steepest gradients.

This particular AX was purchased new by Sir William Rouse-Boughton of Ludlow and used on a regu...