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# Auction expert goes full circle as he prepares to bring chequered flag down on his career
- URL: https://lichfieldlive.co.uk/auction-expert-goes-full-circle-as-he-prepares-to-bring-chequered-flag-down-on-his-career/
- Published: 2026-10-09T07:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-09T07:29:59.000Z
- Description: Archive from former Dunlop Tyres manager among final items to be valued by Rob French.
- Author: Lichfield Live
- Tags: News

A LOCAL auction house valuer is preparing for retirement with a 'final lap' which brings his career full circle.

Rob French, ephemera specialist with Richard Winterton Auctioneers, spent more than 30 years working for Dunlop Tyres before embarking on a second career in collectables.

Taking pole position as one of his final projects is documenting a motor racing and Formula 1 archive discovered in the estate of a former Dunlop chief.

[ ](#) 

Among the collection are framed, signed autographs and memorabilia relating to some of the biggest names in 20th century motorsport, including legendary F1 racing drivers Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, Lorenzo Bandini and Sir Jack Brabham.

Many of the pieces were signed for Richard 'Dick' Jeffery, a motorsport manager for Dunlop Tyres during the 1960s.

A larger-than-life character who was highly regarded within the racing community, Jeffery had a career at the heart of motorsport and was well-regarded by racing drivers and executives alike.

His collection also includes notes and press releases relating to Donald Campbell’s historic Bluebird land-speed record attempts, Ferrari desk diaries from 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1969 believed to have been gifted by Enzo Ferrari, a boxed presentation set of Jaguar place mats featuring 1950s race cars, and period thermometers.

The archive is expected to exceed £1,000 at auction.

Not only does it offer an insight into the world of motor racing during an exciting era, the collection bridges Rob’s roots with his second act as a treasure hunter, offering an emotional and nostalgic final lap to a storied professional life.

Starting at Fort Dunlop in Birmingham in 1974 with product support and moving into sales 12 years later, Tamworth-born Rob’s career at Dunlop gave him a firsthand understanding of the brand’s profound impact on global motorsport.

He joined the team at Richard Winterton Auctioneers in 2009 and since then has helped unearth many hidden treasures.

But nothing could have prepared the 69-year-old for the contents of his final consignment.

Rob explained:

> "This collection, uncovered from the estate of high-ranking 1960s Dunlop executive Dick Jeffery, reads like a love letter to a golden age of speed.  
>  
> "Cataloguing it has been part inventory and research and partly a journey through my own past. To have one of my last ephemera valuations be an archive from a Dunlop boss, packed with the exact history I spent my youth admiring, feels almost written in the stars.  
>  
> "It’s the perfect way to cross the finish line."

The archive is due to go under the hammer in four separate lots at The Lichfield Auction Centre on 26th October.

The catalogue will go online a week before the sale at [www.richardwinterton.co.uk/auctions/auction-calendar](http://www.richardwinterton.co.uk/auctions/auction-calendar?ref=lichfieldlive.co.uk).

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