Page 22 - MM_Sep Oct 2021

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q Second Oldest UK Survivor FLA11/229411 BMD 651 Mark Howard, Norfolk
321 BMT was built in December 1953 and was owned from new until 1978 by Clifford Peter. It was then sold to Anthony Coxall who used the car until it failed its MOT in 1980, after which it was placed in storage. In 1998 the car was extracted from storage and repairs carried out
to return it to roadworthy condition. It was sold to John Doble in 1999 and he further renovated the car by having the engine rebuilt and a bare metal respray. At some point during this restoration, the side wood was replaced but the original rear doors retained. We saw 321 BMT advertised in Minor Matters, arranged to travel to Poole in Dorset to view it and agreed pretty much there and then to buy it.
The first job I did was clean and feed the leather seats, they looked like they had not been cleaned for 50 years and were a horrible brown colour. The rear hardboard headlining was replaced it with a better one and the car featured in a magazine when we were invited to a Practical Classics photoshoot about classic woodies. The trailer’s donor car had a good reconditioned 1098 engine and I fitted that in place of the wheezy 803 engine along with a 1098 ribbed case gearbox that had been modified to take the 803 tail housing and spindly gear lever. I also upgraded the differential to 4.22:1 and fitted the larger 8in front drum brakes. More recently, the paint around the wings and front panel were starting to show their age so I had the front wings, front panel and wheels blasted and repainted and fitted new rear wings. The shell needed a little bit of welding at the front and rear of the sills and crossmember ends but nothing major.
ABOVE: The third oldest UK survivor. Bryan Gostling’s 1953 Traveller at
a local car club meet at Whitwell Station in Reepham, Norfolk, recently
TOP: The second oldest UK survivor. Mark Howard’s Traveller outside his home in West Norfolk
Third Oldest UK Survivor FLA11/233047 BMD771 Bryan Gostling, Norfolk
PPX 344 first came to the attention of the MMOC in the late 1980s when we were told of an abandoned Traveller in a pub car park in Littlehampton, Sussex. Apparently, the barman who owned it had emigrated to Australia and left it there to be sold. It showed as being first registered in April 1954 with a local West Sussex plate. Peter Dewarth trailered it back to Norfolk and in Peter’s barn, we checked on the chassis number and found that it was actually built in 1953 which made it the then oldest known Traveller.
It was in need of complete restoration and Peter began welding up the bodywork. By the early 1990s he had become distracted by other projects and offered PPX to me. I decided that being the then oldest known survivor it should be restored to original specification. I searched for all the correct period parts including a Goldseal 803cc engine and I trailered it down to Chichester for Steve Foreman of Woodies to make and fit the early style ash timber frame. At the same time Richard Newton was fitting a new set of leather covers to the refurbished seat frames. The rebuild was completed in my garage at home.
Over the last 25 years it has been used regularly for club events, MOT trips and journeys around the Norfolk country lanes together with being featured in several classic car magazines and books. l
WOOD IS GOOD
22 | MINOR MATTERS SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021