Two old racing car transporters - my part in their story

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In 1946 an amateur racing driver called Dennis Poore found himself in possession of an ex-Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo 8C35. He was a financier, and the car had been security for a loan he had made to the previous owner. Poore extensively raced and sprinted this car for the next few years, until it was no longer competitive and he retired from the racing scene. To transport the car around the tracks of the UK, he used an old ex-Royal Air Force Dodge crew bus, painted the same shade of green as his Alfa.

After his retirement, the two vehicles were stored on his property, and when he died they were put up for auction. As you can imagine, the Alfa was highly sought-after and went to a new home in the US, where it has been restored in pre-war Ferrari colours, although for some odd reason the car still retains the white flying Pegasus badge of Poore. The Dodge was bought by someone in the UK who spent some time restoring it back to its period appearance. The result is stunning - a very sympathetic piece of work, more a labour of love. He has even replicated the advertising decals which had been on the car in the 1940s.

Now I am also a frequent visitor to other motoring-related websites, and one such forum has a thread where members post images of classic cars which have been left to rot. In 2012 someone provided several photos of cars on his father's farm, mainly 1960s family saloons, but he mentioned that one of the vehicles was his father's old race car transporter, a Commer Superpoise, which he said had been used to carry an Allard and a Jaguar C-type. Luckily for me, the member had not used a nickname, but his actual surname, and it was easy enough to realise that these cars had been raced by Brian Croot, a well-known amateur in the 50s and 60s. The Allard was in fact non other than the ex-Tommy Sopwith Sphinx, an Allard chassis which was fitted with an Armstrong-Siddeley engine, which Croot replaced with a Jaguar unit. This car has been a puzzle on AP.

I contacted Croot by PM, advising him that the transporter may well be wanted by someone. Forward to July 2014, and Croot Jnr, contacted me to ask if I wanted to buy it. I passed the information on to a couple of motorsport websites, and heard back from someone requesting contact details for Max Croot. In due course the Commer was inspected and purchased by this person, and I heard from them in September last year that the truck had been removed from its resting place, and restoration would begin in due course. Indeed an internet site has been set up to show photos of the work as it progresses.

The buyer? The very same man who restored the Dodge. If he does a similar job, it'll be brilliant. He hopes that at some time in the next few years, it will be present at a Goodwood Revival, and reunited with the Sphinx, which is owned by someone in France. It's not an important truck, not like an ex-Ferrari Fiat Bartoletti, or even the ex-Ecosse Commer TS3. But it pleases me greatly to know that someone cares enough to save it, and I feel a degree of satisfaction that I had a small part in this story.

I'll find some images and post them later.

[nicanary]

Here are some images. The first one shows the Alfa and Dodge with trophies won, then the Dodge before and after restoration. The Commer is shown "as found" and there is a photo of the Sphinx it used to carry.

[nicanary]

This is a better photo of the standard of restoration of the Dodge. No doubt the Commer will be just as good.