The following has been received from Mike Sherrell:
“Read with interest about HUM 7 (cover of TTT 2 issue 11). Thought you might like to know a bit more about its stay in Western Australia. I went to the Fremantle docks with John Hunting on the day he picked up the TB Tickford, (TB 0440), as I was very interested in these rare MGs at the time.
The car was bought sight unseen from a Harry J Sibberly in the UK. John recalls it “didn’t look too bad in a nice dark blue paint job, until we got it home. Tugging at the bottom corner of the near side door, it began to peel away in a nice sheet of newly painted aluminium foil. Underneath and to our horror it began to reveal a pastiche of chook wire, concrete and newspaper. In fact, the entire car hardly existed at all, up to the door handles. Concrete running boards were a feature”. A lesser man would have been reduced to tears. As it was, it set J.H. on the road to many breathtaking Pre-War MG restorations.
John restored the car up to primer stage, but before it could be completed it was sold to Harry Pyle who did some more work on it before selling it to a buyer in the USA.”
Mike Sherrell
Ed’s Note: This photo shows the magnitude of the task faced by John Hunting.
This photo shows the new rear section of the body taking shape.
According to John Hunting, the original colour of HUM 7 was red, including visible parts of the chassis.
