Vintage Minor Register

Trying to add the odd photo from flickr but struggling:

James,

If no luck - e-mail them to me and I will post them for you.

Ian

04_21_23 by My on screen name, on Flickr

My Rover in 1922 by My on screen name, on Flickr


My Rover by My on screen name, on Flickr

This my restoration project! It is very very weathered. Top photo show the car soon after collection on axle stands just prior to unseizing the backaxle which somehow had rocks in it. The boot was full of rats nests (it had been stored in a Barn on the Isle of Man) and the timber frame was full woodworm.

The old black and white pictures came from the previous owner and are thought to be the car when in its early life.

I have started the restoration of the car with the aim of conserving as much of the car as possible with minimal restoration. I will upload photos as things progress.

Rover 8s must have been one of the most common cars on the road in the early 1920s as they built nealy 18,000 between 1919 and 1925 but now there are very few examples on the road. Gn thought they were the future and their last car called the 'steiner' was a close copy of the Rover but with a v-twin. Archie Frazer Nash left the company as he thought they should have stuck with the more sporting designs. Archie Frazer Nash actually marketed ohv. conversions for the Rover 8. Most owners of rovers 8s tell me that they are terrifying at 30 mph. so any tuning mod might not be advisable.

The car previously belonged to David Hughes who was an old friend of Ian's when he worked at RAF St. Mawgan in Cornwall (Ian will correct me!). He explained that he had originally purchased the car from Mr Prouse in Penzance many years ago. On purchasing the car, Mr Prouse gave him a spade and pointed to the ground saying 'there's a spare engine down there'. This explains the corroded lump of metal that came with the car!
David lent the car to a friend on the Isle of Man who was going to restore it. A new rad shell was made (and possibly the bonnet) but the car eventually returned to Cornwall in a worst state than when it left. The first owner in the 1930 continuation log book is a Mr William Donald Behenna of 37 Chapel Street Penzance. The history of this Georgian house is well researched on the internet. Donald Behenna rented the house from 1929 and appears to have been assistant organist at Truro Cathedral. The owners of the car since have all lived in Cornwall; I was therefore pleased to keep it in its home county.

James - some project!!! I have posted a period photo of an early Rover 8 to you today with some snaps of some of my early cars. Alister (Highlander)

James,

This should make a wonderful mount for LCES events. Beginning to wish I hadn't passed on it now!