TC0777 – EWD 36
Brad Purvis in the US has recently bought TC0777. It was advertised on the following website: http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1946-mg-tc/
The car was restored in the UK in the 1980s and exported to the US, possibly by a dealer.
Brad is keen to learn of the car’s history (it was originally registered in Warwickshire).
To this end, I wrote to DVLA as follows:
“This car was exported to the USA sometime back.
You may not be aware of this because it still comes up with a vehicle enquiry.
The current owner in the USA is keen to learn of the car’s history (previous owners). If I forward his e-mail address to you, are you willing to release information to him?
Alternatively, if he sends me an e-mail authorising me to ask you to provide the information to me, are you willing to release the information, please?”
I received the following reply:
“Thank you for your email.
Perhaps I should first explain that the register held at DVLA is not a public record. Whilst Regulation 27 of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002, permits the release of certain information, the DVLA may only do so in a limited range of circumstances. In addition, DVLA is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 and has a duty to protect the privacy of individuals when releasing personal data.
Currently, we cannot release data outside of the UK as we are unable to obtain the necessary assurances as to the identity of the requester and that the enquiries are genuine.
Also, I must advise that we do not release to UK address if we have knowledge that you intend to pass the information to the USA.
I can understand your reasons for wanting the information but under the circumstances you describe I am unable to provide it.
I regret that you may be disappointed with this reply, however I am unable to be of any further assistance on this occasion.”
I really do despair at the attitude of the DVLA in these circumstances. Brad tells me that he is a frequent traveller (he was in Dublin when the car was delivered) and is minded to present himself in person at Swansea to gather the information.
For the benefit of DVLA here is a picture of Brad, sitting in his new purchase. I certify this is not a cardboard cut-out and that Brad is a real person.
Please contact the Editor [email protected] with any leads you may have.
TA3076 – DTF 654
DTF 654 is shown on the DVLA website as “Tax due 1st December 1988”.
Martin Endsor martin.endsor(at)gmail.com {Please substitute @ for (at)} is hoping that his old TA is still alive and well and that somebody out there might be able to help him track down the car.
Martin paid £5 (yes, that’s correct, £5!) back in 1964,
or thereabouts. The radiator needed re-coring and the bill – 4 pounds10 shillings) was almost as much as the car. The TA ran for a time on its original engine, but it was very worn. A Wolseley 4/44 engine was obtained and fitted and the gearbox, propshaft and mountings were fitted from a local TC that had been ‘T-boned’ and was at that time beyond economic repair.
Martin cleaned up the head, re-profiled the support pillars, had the cam shaft re-profiled and increased the compression ratio. The car performed very well but tickover was lumpy, (back then he had not discovered the need to alter the timing). All this was done when he was 19 or 20.
Martin last saw the car near Redditch where he was then living and the pictures shown were taken around 1985. Soon after, he relocated to Cornwall (near Falmouth) where he still is.
The then owner had had the TA restored. He sold it on, not being happy with the wandering steering. Sometime later, he was killed while out riding his push bike. Martin made contact with one of his sons through a Redditch company of which his father had been a director. Unfortunately, neither he or his mother have any records or recollection of where the car went. Pictures of the car, taken around 1985 show that it was untaxed.
TA???? – DKJ 233
Nick Manton has e-mailed to enquire if this TA is still around. It is recorded as not known on the DVLA website.
Nick spotted a photo of the car in Bob Ogley’s book Kent: A Chronicle of the Century Vol.2: 1925-1949.
I’m unable to share the photo due to copyright, but the caption is interesting. It records the ending of a 3-week bus strike over pay and conditions in the county of Kent with a return to work by thousands of busmen on 14th May 1937. It goes on to say that a few bus drivers who crossed the picket line and went to work needed a police escort. To illustrate this, there is a photo of the TA with two policemen aboard following the only bus in the Rochester, Chatham and Gillingham district as it went through Chatham on 22nd April.
When (if!) I have a bit more time I’ll see if I can get permission to print the photo. In the meantime, if anybody has any past knowledge of DKJ 233 I’d be grateful if they would contact the editor.
TD4194 – LXK 284
Towards the end of April, I received an e-mail from Karen Harrison on behalf of her mother Sheila. Sheila, now an octogenarian, has been trying to locate the whereabouts of this TD (and what has become of it) since her husband’s death. Her late husband, Denis, was a motor mechanic at Appleyards in Leeds. Appleyards were MG main dealers since the 1930s and most have sold and serviced hundreds, if not thousands, of MGs. They are even on record as having serviced the socialite, Lady Docker’s gold-plated Daimler!
Denis and Sheila owned the TD for about 5 years but Denis reluctantly had to sell his pride and joy in order to raise the deposit for his and Sheila’s first home.
Sheila’s daughter tracked down LXK 284 through the Internet, which led them to Issue 19 of Totally T-Type, which I edited in a previous life.
With help from Graham Parnell, I put them in touch with Tony Short, the current owner, who was both amazed and delighted that someone who owned his car 60 years ago should contact him.
Tony told Sheila that he bought LXK 284 in 1978 and tried without success to contact some of the previous owners. He has the 2nd original buff log book which goes from 1979 (owner no 8) until 1964 (owner no 13). No. 8 was Audrey Redman who may have bought the car from Denis and Sheila. All the owners lived in Leeds but didn’t keep the car long; on average one year each.
The car was in a sorry state, mainly in pieces, when Tony bought it from a Pontefract night club owner. He restored it over a 9-year period in his spare time and put it back on the road in 1987. It’s still going strong and is regularly used to go to the local MGCC ‘natter’.
LXK 284 – then and now.
A happy ending indeed to ‘LOST AND FOUND!’
