Classic & Sports Car - December 2015 UK

WhenLeeBuglerwent to view an

earlyDaimlerSovereign2.8 in

Bournemouth,he wasasked if he

would alsobe interestedin a much

oldercar. Thatturnedoutto be a

’38 Alvis12/70dropheadthathad

beenin storagesincebeingtaken

off the roadfor repairsin 1964.

Bugler’s fa therDerekwasabout

to retireandwaslookingfor a

project.He admitsthathe knew

nothingaboutthemarque,let

alonethismodel,but,after

discussionswithRobinGilbert

andothermembersof the AlvisOwnerClub,he decidedto purchaseit.

Buglerowns BARRecovery in Southampton,so transportwasnota

problembutgettingthe Alvisoutwas,becausespacewasvery confined

andit wason flattyres.In the end,Derekpulledit outwithhis Land-Rover.

Interestingly,several neighboursappearedas the 12/70wasbeing

extricatedandwere amazedto seeit – nonehadanyideait wasthere!

Clubrecordsshow thatERU 385 wasbodiedby Mullinersandsupplied

in January 1939 by GeorgeHartwell of

Bournemouthto a Mr RA Perceval.It was

laterownedby a Mr R Dibbenandis believed

to have beenin the sameareaits entirelife.

As for the Daimlerthatstartedthisstory,

Buglerdid buythe car butit wastoofa r gone

to restore,so he broke it for spares.

JackandJoanGoodacrebought

their’52 AustinAtlanticin 1955,

priorto whichit wasownedby a

GilbertLayzellof Chailey anda

Walterde GrootfromDatchet.

Livingnext doorat the time

wasa youngJohnNesbit,who

remembersthe car beingtaken

off the roadin the ’70s. TheA90

remainedin the garageunder

stacksof gardenequipmentand,

whenGoodacredied,his widow

offeredit to her old neighbour.

“Jackwasa hoarderandit

camewithbills,notes,a manual

andtax discsgoingbackto the

’50s,” saidNesbit.“It had48,000

mileson the clockbut his records

revealedthisto be 148k.” Thanks

to theAustinCountiesCarClub,

restorationis now progressing.

Alvishasleftthebuilding

Longbridge

rarity saved

Pint-sizedmiddiewasaminiDino

30 Classic& SportsCarDecember 2015

LOST&FOUND

Mystery Car Competition

Winyour choiceof WorkshopManualworth £25fromHaynes’brilliantrange

of aircraft andautomotive titles.Seewhat’s availableat http://www.haynes.co.uk

SEPTEMBER’SWINNER

We againfindourselves in a positionwherewe have decidednotto reward

herocollectorCorradoLoprestofor spottinghis own car – in thiscasethe

SibiloLancia.The 1978 Bertoneconceptwastoutedas a Stratossuccessor

andwasbasedon the

sameplatform,but

stretchedby several

inchesandpainted

very brown.Well done

to ourwinner, Timothy

Edwardsof South

Carolina,USA.

A greatcoachbuilderanda Frenchcar maker betterknown for its later, less

grandiosebuzzboxes androtboxes combinedto show thissveltetwo-door

at the ParisSalonin ’49.

So whocantell us most

aboutit? Entriesby 1

Januaryto MysteryCar

Competition(December

2015)at the addresson

p10or e-mailjames.

[email protected]

with‘MysteryCar–

December2015’as the

subject.Pleaseinclude

your full postaladdress.

nge

its later, less

LastmonthI gavean accountof
thePeelVikingSportthatJohn
Fisherhadfoundon a Yo rkshire
farm.In thesamelocation,stored
in a brickbarn,therewasanother
Mini-basedkit, a CoxGTM.
TheGrandTo uringMiniwas
first offered in 1966 by Cox and
Hoster, andwaspossiblythefirst
evermid-enginedkit car, inspired,
somesay, by the FerrariDino206S.
Productionstoppedafter50 had
beenbuilt,at whichpointHoward
Heereytookovertheproject,
makinganother 170 kitsby 1971.

A90spentdecadesburiedingarage

JohnFisher’s car wasboughtin

196 8 by a J Aldredof Bolton , and

useda ’61850ccMinivanas a

donor. Thelogbooklaterrecords

the engineas being1120cc,andit’s

thoughtthatthisunitwasequipped

witha Shorrockblower.

A namementionedin thedocu-

mentationis N Greenhalgh,whois

believedto havebeeninvolvedin

hillclimbing.Thecarhasbeen

loweredandfittedwitha custom

petroltankandtwinfuelpumps.It

currentlysportsa 1-litreengine

withtwincarburettors.

TheCoxappearsto havebeen

usedon the roadin the Boltonarea

until1978,andthenagainin 1987.

In 1993it wasin Wales andthe

donor’s orginalnumber, 854UTJ,

wasre-issuedby theDVLA.The

GTMwasdrivento Yo rkshirein

1995 andwasto havebeensoldto

Japanbutthe dealfell through.

Fisherreportsthat,as found,the

brakesandcarburettorswereseized

andtheinteriorhadbeenhometo

rodents.Themotorhasnowbeen

runningusinga gravity-fedfuel

supply, andworkis progressing.

FordCortinarearlightsapeLolaMk6GT

NeatprofileofCoxGTMconcealsBMCrunninggear,butwiththeA-seriesmid-mounted Interiorhasbeendamagedbynestingmice

in

Bournemouth

later

30 Classic & Sports Car December

12/70today,andinitsprime(below)