Veloce's Sleeping Beauties: Beauty from West Sussex

Tuesday 19 January 2010

Beauty from West Sussex

'What a find!' says Steve Pennington after rescuing this Daimler SP250 (Dart) from 10 years of neglect. She's one of only 2640 built at Coventry between 1959 and 1964 with the original Edward Turner designed 2.5 litre V8 engine and gearbox - SP250s were the only Daimlers built with a fibreglass body

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Veloce Publishing21 January 2010 at 09:28
Mark Cuthbert-Brown comments...

That last sentence is not quite true: the final 3 of the the DJ254 model (Conquest New Drophead) were also built in fibreglass. It looks to me very much as if Daimler was proving the technology with development of the SP250 in mind.
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Beauty for the Bailiff

An Austin A7 (please click image) with an interesting background story ... I recently met John Hibbert from Chapel-en-le Frith who runs a successful wedding hire business with Rolls-Royce and American cars. At the back of his garage I spotted a 1933 Austin 7 that looked as if it had been there for quite some time. John told me it had belonged to a wonderful local character called Dora Oliver. I will let John take up the story. “In the 1960’s Dora Oliver was the water bailiff in Beresford Dale near Hartington in Derbyshire. She was employed by local land owners and her main duties were to prevent poaching along several miles of the River Dove. Other duties were to maintain dry stone walls and prevent the pollution of the river. She was a large lady and a very formidable character. You can imagine my joy as a school boy being allowed to walk alongside the river to meet Dora in her 1933 Austin 7 which was just small enough to drive along the footpath beside the water. She would carry walling and fencing tools, fishing equipment (some confiscated from poachers) and eggs that were for sale. To make room for all of this the front seat was removed. Dora had been a staff car driver during the war and so was able to maintain the Austin herself. In 1970 I visited her and found that the Austin was laid up due to crown wheel and pinion failure and the car had been replaced by an Austin 7 Ruby she inherited from an Uncle. The Austin was covered in surface rust which my son Robert and I painted over with old engine oil to preserve it. I tried to buy the car, but it was not until 1977 that she relented and sold it me for £85, we gave her £100. My son and I rebuilt the back axle and had the car driving in the 1980’s but it has not been on the road since Dora owned it.” Words by Michael E Ware, courtesy of Classic and Sports Car Magazine

A VW expert on your iPhone!

Veloce Publishing has been providing books of the highest quality in terms of content, accuracy, presentation, subject range and reader satisfaction to discerning automotive enthusiasts around the world for nearly twenty years. Now, the same level of quality can be found in the form of an App on your iPhone or iPod. Please click on image above for a demonstration video. This new VW Bus App gives author Richard Copping the unique opportunity to share his VW Bus expertise directly with you on your iPhone or iPod. It includes 18 sections, ranging from cost considerations to common problems. Included are three videos – model range, 15 minute evaluation, and paint problems – each featuring an informative voice-over by the author.

Tuesday 19 January 2010

Beauty from West Sussex

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