Archive photos – Car Club runs on days gone by

1939 Armstrong Siddeley 16, 1936 Lanchester 10 Mulliner FHC body and a 1926 3 litre Bentley.The Siddeley featured in a recent edition of the “Antiques Roadshow” as it has been bought back by the son of the owner when this photo was taken and the episode was filmed at “Cragside” in Northumberland which was Baron Armstrong’s home. The Lanchester is now in Wales.

 

1935 Rover 14/6 owned by Mr. Waugh of Edinburgh. A regular attender on the Open Run for many years.

 

1947 Riley RMB, one of the early “round dash” models.

 

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Hillman Aero Minx, and a local car too!

 

A Series 1 Morris 8 , current whereabouts unknown unless you know differently!

 

Austin Ruby, formerly owned by Mr. J. McKay of Kippford who restored the car after it had been stored in a garage in Castle Douglas. Still in the possession of his family.

 

Vauxhall DX14/6. This car was bought by a Club member who had a particular interest in Vauxhalls and was delivered to him by rail from London.

Triumph Gloria, 1937, formerly owned by a local enthusiast but probably exported in 1989. Do you know its whereabouts now?

 

MG TD, again a regular attender for many years on the annual Open Run

1937 Wolseley 12/48, the 12 being the RAC horsepower and the 48 being the actual bhp. These duo toned colour schemes set off the bodywork which the cars shared with the equivalent Morris models, although the Wolseley benefitted from overhead valves.

 

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A 1927 Delage which made many appearances on Club runs.

1937 Austin 10 tourer, a familiar sight around Dumfries and Castle Douglas in the 1980s. This bodywork was unusual for an Austin of the time as the door handles didn’t meet in the middle, the rear doors being hinged on the centre pillar. An exceptionally reliable model, although the writer remembers the need to keep a hold on the hood in strong winds on a similar car !

 

Another Austin 10 tourer from 1933, although this time the previous “chrome rad” model with the door handles in the middle. The Series 2 Morris 8 2 seat tourer in the background was owned by a very longstanding Club member still restoring and driving and a car which the writer almost (and probably should have) bought.

 

1928 Vauxhall owned at one time by a previous club stalwart. Locally registered in Wigtownshire, the car was repainted red shortly after this photo was taken. Vauxhall had made some exceedingly high quality cars before they were bought by General Motors in 1925 and some of the previous designs continued on for a time until the much cheaper and mass market models appeared.

The owner (at the time) of this 1935 Austin 10 is now a leading light in the Scottish Car Club scene and the writer and he sometimes travelled round the area in their Austins looking for cars of interest. This particular day turned up the 1927 Austin 7 further down the list, shown in “before and after” condition.

1950 Jaguar XK120

 

A Galloway, Arrol-Johnson and Arrol Aster at their former “home”, the now sadly derelict Heathhall factory. The Galloway would actually have been built at the similar but smaller factory at Tongland near Kirkcudbright , run by Dorothee Pullinger, daughter of the Heathhall factory manager and staffed mainly by women.

This Rolls Royce 20 , always distinguishable by the horizontal radiator slats, was formerly owned by the Club member with the Vauxhall 14/6 shown further up this list.

In the late 1980s, a Morris 8 tourer was high on the list of “most wanted” pre war cars, particularly these Series 1 tourers. Owned locally by an expert restorer, this type of 8 offered reliable economical pre war motoring. Possibly the 3 speed gearbox was their only down side, although this could be overcome by fitting a Series E 4 speed unit.

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A later XK Jaguar pictured at Kirkcudbright at one of the first Kirkcudbright Festival days.

Owned by a family from Biggar well known for their mechanical abilities, this Triumph was a regular attender at many shows and rallies. This model has Triumph’s own engine rather than the Coventry Climax engine used in the earlier models and with plenty of power plus hydraulic brakes, they were a very desirable car to own with Triumph’s catchphrase at the time being “The smartest cars in the land”.

The photo above is the first of three showing the same car. The writer first saw this Austin 7 in a shed near Auchencairn around 1988. This shows the car after restoration by a former Club member, now no longer with us. Keep reading……..

The two pictures above show the car as it was around 1988. The restorer had indeed made an excellent job of taking such a long abandoned car and restoring it, particularly as he restored the original body rather than discarding it in favour of a much easier but much less interesting “Special” body.

Another shot of OS2225, the 1927 Vauxhall.

Hillman Aero Minx, Dumfries registered. The writer almost bought a Tickford bodied version of this model, an exceptionally attractive car. The car in the picture is owned by Frank Gourlay, a “weel kent” local figure and more about him can be found here : Dumfries and Galloway businessman Frank Gourlay continues his tale in Galloway people – Daily Record

1922 Bentley 3 litre. WO Bentley started making aero engines as he was appalled by the loss of life due to the poor quality engines being fitted to 1st World War aeroplanes. Although many were built originally with saloon bodies, most have been rebuilt with open bodywork although there has been a welcome resurgence of interest in original closed bodywork.

1954 Austin Somerset drophead. These were built by Carbodies in lieu of the previous A40 Sports model built by Jensen. Most were exported but this one had found its way to the sunshine of Kirkcudbright.

Two Austin 7s , an LWB box saloon of 1933/34, recognised from the earlier SWB model by the doorline continuing straight down rather than curving round the wheel arch, and a 1936 Ruby. These earlier models had “half panelled doors” with the window frame attached as a separate component whereas the Mk 2 Ruby had fully panelled doors and three bearing engines.

A Morris 10 tourer of 1933. Morris cars of this time were of excellent quality in relation to their price. Thanks to one of our current members, we now know that this car has been under renovation for a long time but is likely to make a welcome and imminent return to the road. The owner is/used to be a well known Morris afficianado based in Cumbria and it is good to know this car is still in existence and relatively local to us.

Another car which has disappeared from our roads, maybe abroad? This is a 1933 Rolls Royce 20/25. The problem Rolls Royce faced in the 1930s was a common one, namely the need to introduce a smaller model which then had to continually grow to meet owner demands for more bodywork and more features. By the end of the 30s, the small Rolls had grown to be the 25/30 and Wraith.

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A Club run from about 1990. Of particular interest is the one and only Jones car which escaped briefly from Kansas. The Morris 1000 convertible was recently for sale by the Grampian Car Museum having been an exhibit there for a few years, an Austin 8 then owned by the writer and a Series 1 Morris 8.

The owner of this Bentley lived in Penrith and travelled up the M6, apparently often in the 3rd lane, to Dumfries for the Open Run. There wasn’t much that would be able to pass a Bentley of this calibre. In the background you’ll see Bob Grant, renowned Bentley and early aeroplane expert. He’s the Bob Grant that two of our Club trophies are named after.