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Is This Your Motor?

The overtaking car still looks a bit like a Morris 10 or 12 to me. I used to be able to recognise them, from childhood, and can still sort of visualise them. It's the face - the relationship of headlights to radiator and bumper- which rings bells for me. The clincher would be the radiator grill and whether there are vertical decorative strips on it which we can't see on these images. Have to say I don't see "Rover" there, Pete, but who knows?

(I DO have the back-end of a likely Rover though, parked a few yards further on from the Austin and photographed on the same occasion - below. There's also the rear of a Standard Flying 12 - of the type which which I recall travelling in on several occasions - but the image quality is really grim and so I won't post that one).

Chris

Departures1.jpg
 
Thanks for your interest in this. This is the last one in the series taken at the same time. The convertible behind the little boy. My immediate thought was a Ford Prefect convertible - I have seen one or two and remember them well. That was because of the chromium-plated boot hinges and the boot lid itself which look right and also the apparent headlamp position. But the mudwings are wrong - not continously rounded; and the wheels may be wrong as well - they might even be wire. It's the distinctive mudwings which is the main identifying feature, I think. Haven't found anything online which fits the bill, so far.

Should really appreciate any thoughts. Thanks

Chris

CarrSonw750.jpg
 
Thanks for your interest in this. This is the last one in the series taken at the same time. The convertible behind the little boy. My immediate thought was a Ford Prefect convertible - I have seen one or two and remember them well. That was because of the chromium-plated boot hinges and the boot lid itself which look right and also the apparent headlamp position. But the mudwings are wrong - not continously rounded; and the wheels may be wrong as well - they might even be wire. It's the distinctive mudwings which is the main identifying feature, I think. Haven't found anything online which fits the bill, so far.

Should really appreciate any thoughts. Thanks

Chris

View attachment 177098
You are almost absolutely right. This is a prewar Ford Prefect E93A Drophead Coupé, on the long wheelbase chassis which was introduced in 1937 to replace the slightly smaller barrel shaped Ten Model C. There were two types of open 10hp Fords built between 1937 and 1939, the Tourer, which had a curved top to the doors and windows in the hood behind the front seats, and this one, of which only 667 were built. The prewar cars were known as “Ten” and not Prefect until the introduction of the E93A models in late 1938, the distinguishing factor being the grille with horizontal louvres, and the one piece rear hinged bonnet. The previous 7W Ten had three vertical louvres, and a two piece centre hinged bonnet. The headlamps, as shown, were still separate, the larger front wings with integrated headlamps did not appear until 1949. There were no postwar ragtops, only four door saloons on this chassis.

The 7W Ten, 1937. http://www.simoncars.co.uk/ford/prefect07w.html

The car in question.
Picture taken from here: - https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_732065-Ford-Prefect-Drophead-Coupe-E93A-1938.html
1673708318051.jpeg
 
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Thanks for that, John and Pete.. You sound pretty convinced, John, and I am too (well, up to about 98 percent!) The only slight reservation I have is the design of the mud wings. That range of Fords seem always to have had perfectly rounded wings, rather than the ones possessed by this coupe where their contour, front and rear, includes a sharpish angle. I haven't been able to replicate the latter for definite in any coupe images I've seen. And it certainly wasn't on the Prefect saloon of the time. (I have several photos of our own, a 1939 model photographed here in 1943 or 1944 with me perched on the running board, and they all confirm that roundness). Nevertheless, I'm sure you are right.

(I have been trying to refine these identifications as part of an online article I have written about the Parish Hall in Streetly. Thanks to your help and that of one or two others, I'll now amend that to provide identifications and to acknowledge the assistance generously given by members of this knowledgeable Forum!)

Chris

FordPrefectrearend.jpg
 
UP IN SMOKE


in 1980 my sister moved to sturmer to be in charge of a care home. we went to visit her one weekend, all around the home was out buldings be being nosy had to have a look inside them. in one i saw through a window was about 6 -1950s ford pops and loads of spare parts wheels tyres rads seats wings doors and more covered in straw and hay i was gob smacked, out side the doors was a tree it had grown blocking the way in , so no one had been in there for years. i asked around, no one knew any thing about them all they knew was the sheds belonged to the home. 3 months later i went down to see sis again,and was horified the shed had been burned down by something or someone. every thing had gone up in flames all gone except for a chassis of one of the cars and a load scrap.:sob:
 
I think also that it is the Ford coupe , the rear bumper is typical Ford and the 'pram hood' with the fittings that are on the exterior are pretty rare on cars from that era, I only know of Lagonda and AC that had that and their body lines are entirely different. I think the crease look on the wings is maybe just shadow.
 
I think also that it is the Ford coupe , the rear bumper is typical Ford and the 'pram hood' with the fittings that are on the exterior are pretty rare on cars from that era, I only know of Lagonda and AC that had that and their body lines are entirely different. I think the crease look on the wings is maybe just shadow.
Having taken a further look, I was of the same opinion. Another point of identification is the pressed crease in the body starting just under the lower fixing for the landau iron, and running down to the boot lid. It seems to be a feature of the Ford Coupés and would have to have been incorporated in the press tooling for that panel. I remain steadfast in the opinion that the car is a Ford Prefect Drophead Coupé.

Shown below is the only (I think) similarly sized and price bracketed Brit coupé, a Phase 1 Hillman Minx, which is quite different enough that it can’t be the subject vehicle. The rear hinged door on the Hillman clinches it. The 1948+ Phase 2 Minx coupé with integral headlights still retains the suicide doors.
 

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Nice! But, not the Drophead Coupé. That had straight tops to the doors and a different configuration of the hood.


From the above: - In addition to saloon and drop-head coupe versions of the Prefect, Ford offered a "sports tourer", also a two-door soft-top but with cutaway top edges to the doors, a chrome windscreen surround, and sidescreens rather than the framed wind-up windows found in the car shown above. The tourer only had a simple folding hood, whereas the drop-head coupe had a smart three-position roof, similar to that on the Austin 10/4 Cabriolet. Buyers in Australia had their own version of the tourer.

Hence I am still convinced that the picture on Page 17 is a Prefect Drophead Coupé. Only 667 of these were built.
 
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"Is this your motor?".....A bit unlikely a question, this, as the image isn't good enough to show the numberplate! And it's probably as far back as winter 1941 or 1942 as well. Foley Road, Streetly. A fairly bog-standard car but I can't remember its make. Any suggestions please?

There's another car overtaking, perhaps a Morris of some sort?

Thanks.

Chris

View attachment 177001
"Is this your motor?".....A bit unlikely a question, this, as the image isn't good enough to show the numberplate! And it's probably as far back as winter 1941 or 1942 as well. Foley Road, Streetly. A fairly bog-standard car but I can't remember its make. Any suggestions please?

There's another car overtaking, perhaps a Morris of some sort?

Thanks.

Chris

View attachment 177001
Chris have you any idea where in Foley Road this photo was taken? I lived in Foley Road West from 1982 to 2016, 5 houses down from Wood Lane towards the Chester Road. From the lie of the land I can almost convince myself that the two gentlemen are standing on the pavement outside my house.
 
Sorry to disappoint you, Bill, but the scene is definitely what is now called Foley Road East. It is just about on the brow of the hill, short of the Church, and outside a building which used to stand there – the Parish Hall. So we are looking down the hill towards the junction with the Chester Road.

(I have a number of associated images which prove this beyond doubt – let me know if you want me to point you towards them).

Chris

(The original image:

CarsSnapShot(30).jpg
 
A 2020s view.

The car would have been parked somewhere around the halt line at the current junction. (Things change a bit over 80 years, don't they - although the old picture is more recognisable to me than the new one!)

Chris

FoleyRoadtoWestcropw735.jpg
 
Chris, thank you for the rapid response. My initial thought, with the road dropping away, suggested near the church, towards the Chester Road. However, the road from my house also dropped away towards Wood Lane so I just had to ask.
The Streetview scene you have uploaded, looks spot on for the 1941 scene.
Have you any idea when Foley Road was designated East and West? The house numbers have always remained consecutive over the two roads.
 
Back in late 1978 I ordered a new Ford Escort 1600 Sport from Mottershed & Smith, Soho Road Handsworth . That was the performance Escort below the RS2000. No sooner had I placed the order, the Ford workforce went on one of their longest ever strikes. After a 6 months delay I cancelled the order and bought an Alfa Romeo Alfasud 1.5 from Hawthorn Garage in Streetly.
The 1970’s the decade of strikes.
 
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