27
R
are British classics, including a
one-off Jaguar and a French-
bodied Rolls-Royce roadster
were among the highlights
of the Practical Classics
Restoration Show at the NEC,
which drew in a record 28,846 visitors
and expanded into yet more halls.Phantom I Roadster
‘This is the first time this car has been
seen in public, probably since the
Fifties,’ said Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’
Club treasurer Jane Pedler of the
of the imposing 1925 Phantom I
Roadster dominating its stand.
‘The chassis was delivered when
new to James Radley, Rolls-Royce’s
Paris agent, in December 1925, and
bought by the Sultan of Morocco. We
know the coachwork was originally
by the Parisian carrosserie Gallé, but
no photos of it have been found yet.‘The car was found by RREC
member Michael Forrest in 1981. It
had been fitted with a Perkins diesel
engine, and it looked like it had been
used like that in the Fifties, but there
was very little else left of the car,so
he took it upon himself to rebuildit.
Sadly it never reached the road –he
gave up the restoration to nursehis
wife when she became terminallyill,
and then passed away himself.
‘And this is what we found in his
garage. The Gallé bodywork has been
copied from a Delage or Hispano-
Suiza of the same year, judging by the
drawings on the walls of his garage.
It has a proper Rolls-Royce engine
now, but Forrest fabricated his own
cylinder block. It came with three
sets of pistons, but none of them are
in the car yet! It’s for sale now, and
will come with a huge inventory of
parts to complete it.’LotusEsprit
This 1977 Espritappearedat theshow
havingbeenrestoredfroma farm-
find basketcase injust fourweeks.‘It
was on a pig farm in Worcester, sat in
a shack with duvets on top of it,’ said
restorer Matthew Oxley. ‘The farmer
asked if I could get it going – it was in
pretty bad share – so I cleared a four-
week window in my schedule!
‘All I do is Lotus, so I know Esprits
inside and out and knew what
to target and in what order. The
impregnated gel-coat finish of the
early cars helped – restoration is all in
the polish, rather than a repaint.’Buckler 90
‘It’s just moved under its own power
for the first time since 1964!’ said
David Montgomery, registrar of the
Buckler Register, of his one-off 1961
example. ‘It was built by Buckler
works racing driver Maurice Gomm
for Brian Wills, reusing wooden
styling bucks from the 1958 Tojeiro-
Climax and AC Le Mans racers.
‘Back in the Sixties, I was into Ford
specials, had £25, and found out a
colleague had one. He wasn’t going
to sell it, but it had been off the road
seven years so he was prepared to
think about it. Not for £25 though.‘Ayearlater,in1971,I had£100
savedupandbought it. I never had
anywhereto storeit andit started to
deteriorate, so I stripped it down to
a bare chassis and slowly built it back
up. Now it’s finally taxed and insured!’Ford Fordson Tug
This unusual three-wheeled 1935
Fordson appeared on the Ford
Sidevalve Owners’ Club stand after a
lengthy lay-up, a reminder of a time
when the Ford empire took on the
likes of BSA and Reliant – and lost.
‘It’s one of just 111 made, and one
of four known to survive,’ said Steve
McKenna. ‘I’ve only had it a few
months. I’m not sure of its very early
history, and can’t make out a livery- they were all finished in the same
shade of green, but it seems to have
had red paint applied at some point.
‘Ford intended it to compete with
another three-wheeler called the
Scammel Mechanical Horse, but it
didn’t take off. They were intended
to replace horses and carts in places
like factories, dockyards, railway
yards and for refuse collection. One
of the survivors, which Ford has in
its Dagenham collection, came from
the Cadbury’s factory. I now plan to
restore this one with a trailer.’
Best of British in pieces at the NEC
Oddities wow a record crowd at the Practical Classics Classic Car & Restoration ShowEarly
EspritFord sidevalve-
engined Buckler
had special bodyFordson
project