Issue 50 (October 2018)

Front Cover

Posted on by admin

(The Editor with Derry Dickson’s TC5405)

I spent an enjoyable couple of hours down in Sherborne, Dorset in July in the company of Derry and Carol Dickson. The Dicksons moved down to Dorset a few years ago from their home in an idyllic location in Cove, Argyll and Bute to be a lot nearer to their children and grandchildren.

Photograph taken just after the restoration – it appeared in the Helensburgh journal.

I had always intended to visit Derry and Carol, who are about 50 miles south of Keynsham, but somehow it never worked out.

As the front cover and the pictures on this page show, Derry has a very fine TC that goes rather well and can still show a clean pair of heals to some ‘moderns’ when driven enthusiastically by its 88 years young driver!

JYC 860 is chassis number TC5405, built on 5th May, 1948 and fitted with engine number XPAG 6152, which it still has. Exported to Kenya from new, the car has had only three owners prior to Derry’s ownership.

Finished in Nightfire Red with beige upholstery, following a chassis up restoration in 2000, the car has an impressive number of modifications and extras, which are listed below:

  • 1350cc engine rebuild
  • Stage 2 cylinder head
  • New steel crankshaft
  • ‘Incontinence’ cured by meticulous attention to the rear crank seal
  • Alfin type front brake drums
  • Twin leading shoe front brakes
  • New stub axles
  • Taper roller bearings in front hubs
  • Two fuel lines with an SU pump on each
  • Tow bar
  • Rear fog light – manual
  • Reversing light – manual
  • Bluemels Brooklands steering wheel
  • Woodhead Monroe telescopic front shock absorbers
  • Water temperature gauge
  • Spares compartmentalised tray over the back axle (holds a lot!)
  • Nearside wing mirror
  • Twin pan air filters
  • Hydraulic brake light switch
  • Higher ratio diff (37/8)
  • Original Jaeger instruments – black dials
  • Original clock – circuit board digital mod. (courtesy of Clocks 4 Classics)
  • Bishops modified steering box
  • Replacement steel drop-arm
  • Stainless steel luggage rack – incorporates eye-level LED strip brake light
  • Stainless steel exhaust system with “Fish-tail” end-piece
  • New mohair tonneau, hood and side screens
  • Walnut veneer dashboard
  • Amber indicator lights front and rear – LEDs
  • LEDs in front side lights
  • LEDs in brake lights

I really must make the effort to get back down to Sherborne and have a ride in this car!

A couple more photos follow:

Above: a roadside stop for a cup of tea and no doubt, the opportunity for the dog to stretch its legs. Below: this picture lives in the sitting room in a frame. The event was a recent Rotary meeting in Sherborne and was taken by a local photographer.