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They Were Caught In Our Old Street Pics...

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I had forgotten the term 'Shooting Brake' for an estate car.

Like a lot of our language, it seems to have been superseded by the American term, in this case “Woody”.

My particular dislike is “train station”. I know “railway station” is slightly odd, but that’s what they were called in this country years ago, and that’s what they shall stay for me.
 
I was trying to find my vintage Rolls I'd sold to a man in San-Francisco, showed the photos to an attendant at the Petersen motor museum in LA, "He said oh my god, I've never seen a Rolls woody."
 
I’ve just spotted thread #93, Page 5, Snow Hill Passenger entrance.

The car is a late forties/early fifties Lea Francis Fourteen (or slightly cheaper Twelve), quite a rarity as Lea Francis Cars struggled at that time and didn’t exactly break any sales records. Their factory was in Coventry and the cars were expensive, aimed as a sort of a cross between a Jaguar and a Rover. The big problem for these cars and similar types was that the purchase tax on more expensive models doubled from 33,33% to 66.67% when the list price passed £1,000. If you were buying a Royce or Bentley they were well over those figures, but for Lea F it was about the last straw.

Rover and Jag were in a bigger way of mass production and could scrape an introductory model under the price barrier iirc. Also Rover’s had a card up its sleeve with sales from the Land Rover, of course.
 
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One of the links on this page took me back to a post I made back in 2013 when I gave the definition of 'shooting brake'. I had forgotten that, which must have been that last time I saw that term. Even then it must have been the first time in many years I had used the term.
 
I’ve just spotted thread #93, Page 5, Snow Hill Passenger entrance.

The car is a late forties/early fifties Lea Francis Fourteen (or slightly cheaper Twelve), quite a rarity as Lea Francis Cars struggled at that time and didn’t exactly break any sales records. Their factory was in Coventry and the cars were expensive, aimed as a sort of a cross between a Jaguar and a Rover. The big problem for these cars and similar types was that the purchase tax on more expensive models doubled from 33,33% to 66.67% when the list price passed £1,000. If you were buying a Royce or Bentley they were well over those figures, but for Lea F it was about the last straw.

Rover and Jag were in a bigger way of mass production and could scrape an introductory model under the price barrier iirc. Also Rover’s had a card up its sleeve with sales from the Land Rover, of course.
Dad worked for Rolls Royce as did mum she also worked for all those companies mentioned except for Rover. All in Coventry. Lea Francis were very good employers she said but they all were. We had a Morris Traveller, a Morris Minor. Good King Wenclesas looked out in a mini Minor, bumped into a trolley bus landed up in China. With the Austin Sevrn he landed up in heaven. The Traveller had a grey tartan soft roof which leaked and plastic triangular uncleanable windows.Almost unopenable windows. We had a little red parking light with a wire out of the window.We had well they were all mum's a mini estate not sure of the name. Red with wood at the back. Why were they called shooting brakes anyway?
 
“Shakespeare Mk1.”

You might be right!

The difficulty presented here is an almost total lack of information. We can’t see the detail of the radiator, usually the most recognisable feature of any make. It is a quite small car, built in the 1910 to 1920 period, right in the fashion for cycle cars, it appears to have the gearbox/final drive assembly on the back axle, and no visible brakes within its wheels. The braking was probably by a single drum brake on the propellor shaft, or small inboard drums close. There are no drive chains or sprockets visible either, so reinforcing the theory about shaft drive to the rear mounted gears and differential. We can’t even say for sure that it is water cooled as some air cooled cycle cars had dummy radiators to fool the unknowing.

Sorry, I will keep looking.
 
A “brake” or “break” was a sort of horse drawn people carrier, and a “shooting brake” was to take you up to the grouse moor from t’big ‘ouse.
 
I still haven’t got anywhere with the Shakespeare special.

It seemed like a good plan to look up cyclecar manufacturers in the approximate area, but there were many. Also some now defunct larger car builders, but still. One possibility might be the “New British”, a friction drive cyclecar built by Charles Willetts Jnr Ltd, of Cradley Heath from 1921. Their sales outlet was New British Motors of Corporation Street B’ham.

Another possibility might be that the bodywork was made at Calthorpe’s in Bordesley Green, or Mulliner’s.
 
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