SOLVED: Djetset #282 - First Rochdale/Turner kit car

[Djetset]

What is this for a point please?

[Djetset]

Movin' Up.

[Djetset]

Moving' up again.

[faksta]

Well, it's from the UK 

[Djetset]

Well, yes it is (that's why the photo is that strange colour, due to the pale British sunlight!)

[neilshouse]

Tojeiro?

[Djetset]

No, not Tojeiro.

[gilescooperuk]

I have removed the colour cast on the photo - if you want I can post a corrected version (doesn't help me with identifying the car though).

Send me an email if you want it giles at gilescooper dot co dot uk

[pnegyesi]

Is there a Jaguar lurking underneath?

[Tom_I]

It's often minor details that give the best clues, and when I saw this picture, I knew I'd seen the wheels before. The penny finally dropped today when I was looking for something else.

These are cast aluminium wheels used on some early Turner sports and racing cars from the 1950s. So pursuing that, I came across a picture, on the left below, of a Turner, thought to be chassis number 005,  with the same registration number as the puzzle car, though looking quite different. However, the web page said that the car had been rebodied in 1956 in a style similar to that of the car known as chassis 004a. So I am guessing that the puzzle car is the rebodied version.

I can't find much detail about these early Turners, though this one is likely to have had a Vauxhall or Lea Francis engine. The pictures below show chassis 005 on the left, and for comparison, chassis 004a, which does look quite like the puzzle car.

It is thought this car was Chassis No. 005, Originally owned by Mr Ron Hill of Hills Fibreglass Developments Limited who would go on to supply Jack Turner with the first Turner 803 Body Shells.  The car is not thought to survive today , However it is known that this car was rebodied around 1956 in a similar style to that of Chassis 004a. Registration Number 439 DRE is pictured here at Shelsley Walsh in June 1955.

[woodinsight]

I think Tom_I is correct. The chassis no. of this early Turner is still unknown and the body would appear to have been on a different chassis at one time or the car was re-registered.

[Djetset]

Tom I's answer is so well researched and compelling that I'm tempted to award a point.  I can't, however, it's not the answer I have.  There is a Turner connection though, as the registration number was originally assigned to a Turner, but as you rightly say, this car was rechassis'd and rebodied more than once.

I'm going to lock it to Tom I for 24 hours, as you are in the right territory with your Turner answer, although this one is not a Turner!

[Tom_I]

Thanks, but I don't think I'm going to be able to get any further with this, so if anyone else can solve it, please feel free to grab the point.

[Djetset]

That's very admirable Tom I, thank you.  As you were getting so close, I think you should take a wild guess anyway, as you might just hit on the right answer!

[woodinsight]

Okay - one last try for tonight - Kieft?

[Djetset]

No, not a Kieft, but arguably from a less prestigious marque.

[woodinsight]

Fairthorpe?

[Djetset]

On the right lines, but not a Fairthorpe.

[woodinsight]

Buckler then?

[Djetset]

Ta Da!  You got it, as this is indeed the very first Rochdale model, with a GRPbody that was also used in other forms by other marques.  Well done.

[Allemano]

The Rochdale Owners Clup page reports that the first Rochdale with GRP body was the MK VI which looks quite different...

Quote:
When GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) came on the scene a range of bodyshells was produced to fit any chassis. The first was the Mark VI, followed by the type 'F' and type 'C', then the ST (Sports Tourer).

[Allemano]

My mistake, apologize!
You meant the first shell of course not that of the particular puzzle car.

[Carnut]

And just to add to the puzzle surrounding this car, I spoke to the guy manning the Turner stand at the NEC Classic Car Show this weekend about this picture that was displayed on the board of the Turner cars.

He insisted it was in fact one of the first 3 Turners.  He said it was a Turner chassis, and they just stuck any body on that they could lay their hands on that would fit.  He reckoned this body was also used by both Buckler and Rochdale, but that the car in the puzzle picture was definitely a Turner!

[Djetset]

This one is very complex, ans I have also seen this same car/photo captioned as a Buckler, as well as the first Rochdale and Turner.  It seems all three marques used this same body, with Buckler supplying the spaceframe chassic.  And there was me thinking that life was meant to be simple in the 1950s!

[Tom_I]

Interesting, but as I mentioned, it was actually the wheels that first made me suggest it was a Turner, rather than the bodywork. Those cast alloys with detachable rims were Turner's own design. Of course it's not impossible that they could have been used on other cars - I think some early Tojeiros had them.