Page 21 - MM_Sep Oct 2021

Oldest LHD Traveller FLB41/229793 BMD678
Larry Kling, Pennsylvania, USA
The ’54 Traveller was purchased, by the family I purchased it from, in 1963 off a used car lot as a second car for the owner’s wife to drive. He paid $65 dollars for the car. Several weeks later the brakes failed, his wife refused to drive the car, and into the garage it went. In the late ‘80s the son took an interest in the car and had it back on the road for a number of years. The son did a front disc brake conversion and installed a 1098 engine from England. Again, after a few years, the Traveller went back into the garage. There it sat until I came to look it over. It kind of ran, no brakes, interior was gone, headliner was ripped, wiring was interesting, fuel tank would need replacing, front bumper had taken a hit but the body and frame had little rust, the car had original paint in great shape and the wood was in amazing shape.
My Traveller had pockets for trafficators with metal blanking plates over the pockets. All of the US imports had to have regular turn signals. I ordered trafficators from a website in the UK and wired them into a separate switch. This is a real novelty over here as the US never had trafficators. The blanking plates left marks in the exterior paint so I made trafficator covers out of Ash wood and stained them to match the other ash wood pieces. I also made ash covers for the bottom portion of the B-pillar.
It didn’t seem correct to me to have the bottom portion just painted. My Traveller had remnants of the original rubber mats, mostly under the seats. There was nothing in the back footwells. I discarded what was left of them and put in carpeting. I found it interesting that it never dawned on me that I had a really early car. I didn’t know I had anything special until Bryan contacted me. Beginner’s luck, I guess!
ABOVE: The
oldest known survivor. Bryan Gostling’s Traveller displaying its original Maltese registration plate on the MMOC stand at the NEC in November 2018
TOP LEFT: This
is a very early Traveller with chassis number FLB21/216915 and body number BMD 513. This makes
it the 13th off the production line. The early-style wheel arch and front pillar wood are still fitted and probably original
LEFT: Oldest LHD Traveller. Larry Kling’s Traveller at his home in Pennsylvania
Oldest Known Survivor FLB21/216915 BMD513 Bryan Gostling, Norfolk
This is a very early Traveller with chassis number FLB21/216915 and body number BMD 513. This makes it the 13th off the production line. The early-style wheel arch and front pillar wood are still fitted and probably original. It was built on November 18, 1953 and despatched from the factory to Nuffield Exports on December 2. It has
an interesting and varied history; it was believed by the previous owner to have been originally owned by a vicar on Isle of Man (it actually turned out to be Malta) before being shipped to Canada. Later it belonged to a Minister in Pennsylvania. Rick Kaplan, who then lived in Maryland, USA bought it in 1988 from the Minister’s widow after it had been stored for a while (believed since 1960s). When they moved over to the UK in 2004, they brought the Traveller with them. Rick knew it was something special but did not realise how rare it was until he spoke to fellow MMOC members and when he could no longer garage it asked if I would like to buy it. At the time of my purchase the speedo read 50444 miles that is believed to be genuine. A closer examination of the bodywork revealed no signs of welding underneath with all panel work looking original. Even the front wings looked to be original. Some wood had been replaced, possibly the back pillars as they have twin lights and indentations for later size reflectors. Early style wheel arch and front pillar wood sections were still fitted so they are probably original. Front seats recovered but back seat is original with deluxe in chalk under base.
It had been fitted with twin Smiths Bakelite faced heater units and a mid-50s Minor indicator switch is mounted on the steering column although trafficators are still in place and working. Also fitted was the relay box under bonnet which was fitted to early 50s export models for indicators to work via the side/rear lights although this is probably
a retro fitting as it is not wired into the original loom. Colour is birch grey and was resprayed in 1990/91. A UK historic registration number was issued in February 2005 and while waiting to take delivery I started to search for
an appropriate period number. Amazingly I found for sale the number originally on my first January 1954 Traveller which I owned in the 1980s so now PPO 924 is back on an early Traveller after 20 years on a Porsche 924.
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