Classic & Sports Car UK – September 2019

Pre-WW2,somelarge,powerful

oldcarshadbecomevirtually

unsaleablesowereconverted

intobreakdownlorries.When

foundtoday,they’renearly

alwaysrebuilttooriginalform,

withreproductioncoachwork.

This 1929 Packard 645

straight-eighttowtruckwas

recentlyofferedforsaleinthe

USA.It’sassumedthecarwas

convertedinlate’30sorearly

’40sanditissignwrittenfor

CenterportAutoServiceof

LongIsland.Theseconversions

areincreasinglyrare,soitwould

begoodtoseeitrestored.

Restoration-

ripePackard

42 Classic & Sports Car September 2019

PeterCampbellworksforBristol

specialistSpencerLane-Jonesin

Westbury.Whilelookingfora

projecthecouldworkonat home,

hespotteda RochdaleGToneBay

thatstillhadanoriginalRochdale

round-tubechassis.“Itseemedto

befairlyclosetocompletion,”says

Campbell,“butwhatI discovered

duringmyownershipwasthat

nothingcouldbetakenforgranted

andabsolutelyeverythinghadto

comeapart,beinspected,then

reconditionedandrebuiltproperly.

I suspectthata consistentlackof

fundsovertheyearshadcontrib-

utedtothepoorstateof thecar.”

TheRochdaleOwners’Clubwas

abletosupplya copyofthefactory

ordersheets.Thecarwasordered

newbya MrB AppletonofEpsom,

whotookdeliveryin April1960.By

September,thekithadbeenbuilt

andthecarregisteredinSurreyas

71 SPA.Campbellthinkstheorigi-

nalbuildwasgood,yetjusttwo

Completed Rochdale GT awaits plate reunion

that he would record all the details

so when it was ready for the road

they would re-issue 71 SPA,” says

McKay. The following owner left

the car in a field for 15 years and

parted with the spares, before

Roger Dyer bought it and began

work, passing on the baton to

Campbell in 2013. The restoration

has now been completed, but the

DVLA has so far refused to re-issue

its original number so for now it

wears an age-related plate.

LOST & FOUND

years later it was advertised for sale.

There is then a gap in its history

until C&SC contributor Malcolm

McKay bought the car – by then off

the road for some time – in 1987

from a Mr Cook of Bridgwater.

McKay did little work on the

Rochdale, although he did obtain

many useful spares including an

engine and gearbox, and had the car

inspected by the Vehicle Licensing

Office in Southampton. “The

officer checked it over and stated

Redemption for abandoned Austin

While working for a lady at Corn-

wall College in 2014, enthusiast

Andy Ibbotson received a surprise

offer: “She asked if I would like a

free Austin A35 saloon. It belonged

to a friend who had stored it in the

garden for seven years and had

finally admitted he was never going

to do anything with the car.” The

previous keeper had owned it for 25

years, and it was thought to be last

on the road in 1992. It was regis-

tered 934 CHW in July 1958.

“It does not have much going for

it,” says Ibbotson. “The sills are

rotten, the floor is full of holes, the

headlining is ripped, the seats are

damaged and chewed by rodents,

the petrol tank is holed, the rear

bumper has rusted away and there

are no brakes. The bonnet is rusted

through and there are massive

holes in the bulkhead and inner

wings. Anyone else would scrap it,

but I don’t see cars like that – it has

survived since 1958, so deserves

saving.” He is now planning a

sympathetic restoration, having

recently completed a Morris Minor

van (Lost & found, August).

GT’s state when bought by C&SC’s McKay

Ready to be enjoyed once more, but at present the DVLA hasn’t re-issued the original plate Part way through the restoration process

Stripped to reveal the round-tube chassis

Campbell toiled from 2013 to finish the car

Clockwise from main:

27 years outside haven’t

been kind; damp-ravaged

interior; the rust looks to

be more than skin deep