Now here is an interesting car:
You might not think so, but if you can name the make and the company (named after its two owners) that made this version, you may understand why I do.
British green?
Is this the Zora Arkus Duntov Allard, based on an Allard J2X?
Quote from: grobmotorix on May 15, 2007, 01:41:38 AM
Is this the Zora Arkus Duntov Allard, based on an Allard J2X?
No it's not
Lea Francis ? :)
Quote from: D-type on May 15, 2007, 03:57:44 PM
Lea Francis ? :)
Yes it is.
Now for the rest of the solution . . . ;)
The car looks too low to be prewar and the postwar cars generally had an all enveloping body. So I will guess that it was a one-off car rebodied as a cycle winged 'one-and-a-half seater' sports/racer
Quote from: D-type on May 16, 2007, 05:24:06 PM
The car looks too low to be prewar and the postwar cars generally had an all enveloping body. So I will guess that it was a one-off car rebodied as a cycle winged 'one-and-a-half seater' sports/racer
Your analysis of pre-war vs. post-war is correct so far as it goes.
This was offered by a specialist company and although limited in numbers at least one other survives. The builders and the car were written up in
The Autocar at the time.
Body by Williams and Pritchard?
Quote from: D-type on May 17, 2007, 05:16:13 PM
Body by Williams and Pritchard?
W&P were rather later I think
is it a rebodied 12.9?
Quote from: GRAYWOLF on May 18, 2007, 12:12:05 AM
is it a rebodied 12.9?
not a 12.9 and rather more than just rebodied
Someone solve it!
One of the partners in the firm that made it raced an Alta when he was young and wrote a biography when she was a bit older.
Lea Francis - Spécial Sport, circa 1946. More than that, I do not know.
Quote from: Allan L on July 14, 2007, 07:22:19 AM
One of the partners in the firm that made it raced an Alta when he was young and wrote a biography when she was a bit older.
Sounds like Robert/Roberta Cowell, but I'm no nearer with the car
Lea-Francis 14HP i.f.s with torsion bar suspension, late 1949?
Or is it a Connaught L1, which was a Lea-Francis 14HP with body by Leacroft?
I think we'll call that solved: the car is a Lea-Francis special sports made by (Bob) Cowell and (Gordon) Watson in 1946 or 1947 on a shortened chassis which was of the beam front axle type then current for the saloons. The story is that the body shape was designed by Denis Jenkinson.
If you are wondering where is this car today, I do not know, but yesterday was in Padova:
Must have been a nice event! :)
It was a nice one, but I drove 500km to get there and 400 to get back in the same day and it wasn't Geneve or Essen....
I'll post some pics shortly...
Thanks for the photos: it once had hubcaps and mudguards, so was it pretending to be a racing car?
Also, is the colour really like the photos now - it was a really green version of British racing Green when I last saw it (around 25 years ago).
Quote from: Allan L on October 27, 2009, 04:53:03 PM
Thanks for the photos: it once had hubcaps and mudguards, so was it pretending to be a racing car?
Also, is the colour really like the photos now - it was a really green version of British racing Green when I last was it (around 25 years ago).
The colour is still the same, but the lights were not the best for my camera (as usual!)
Quote from: Paul Jaray on October 29, 2009, 07:11:47 PM
Quote from: Allan L on October 27, 2009, 04:53:03 PM
Thanks for the photos: it once had hubcaps and mudguards, so was it pretending to be a racing car?
Also, is the colour really like the photos now - it was a really green version of British racing Green when I last saw it (around 25 years ago).
The colour is still the same, but the lights were not the best for my camera (as usual!)
Oh, good, but it would still look better with its mudguards and hubcaps on!
Quote from: Allan L on July 30, 2007, 09:57:33 AM
I think we'll call that solved: the car is a Lea-Francis special sports made by (Bob) Cowell and (Gordon) Watson in 1946 or 1947 on a shortened chassis which was of the beam front axle type then current for the saloons. The story is that the body shape was designed by Denis Jenkinson.
This was chassis No. C442 and I've read that it was actually built by Leacroft Sheet Metal Works of Egham for Cowell and Watson; they were of course partners in the that company! The article also says the body was designed by Dennis (sic) Jenkinson.
Yes, according to our records it is chassis 442 and the other one we know of is 1618 - i.e. 588 cars later because chassis only used even numbers. Chassis numbers have no "C" despite what you can find online.
As I wrote, DSJ was credited with the body shape. I had an article from "Motor" or "Autocar" about C&W and the car which I can't easily find but must be somewhere.