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George Eagle
United Kingdom
3228 Posts |
 Posted - 28/11/2021 : 12:42:51
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I have been going through the late Bob Clare's "where are they now" files for the PBs and have come across JUR 630.
There has been no contact with an owner since 2004. The car is claimed to have a Lester body but sadly there is no sign of a chassis stamping. The engine and gearbox are said to be PB. Also Bob noted the car was listed by Mike Hawke as being PB based.
There is the attached photo which states Prescott 1948 - George Phillips driving. The second is noted as B Harper at Davidstow 1952.
Does anyone know of the car or it;s present whereabouts? It was in Launceston, Cornwall.
George
Registrar F/L/N types and PBs.
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Edited by - George Eagle on 28/11/2021 12:45:31 |
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chris Wallis
United Kingdom
138 Posts |
Posted - 28/11/2021 : 22:25:56
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I am sure that this car was owned by Sid Broad who owned a garage business in Launceston,sadly Sid passed away in October 2018.I kept in touch with Sid from 1990 when he saw my TC on the Octagon stand at the NEC and told me that he owned the car from 1949 and that he used to race it at Davidstow,we became very good friends meeting up at MG Silverstone and whenever he came up to the Midlands.During one of our phone conversations he told me that he had a Lester MG but it was in poor state,one of the photos i have shows the TC and the Lester on grid at Davidstow so it all sort of fits.I have tried to contact his daughter today to ask her if she new who the car was sold to but i only got the answer phone so i will try again in the week,i do recall speaking to someone 4 or 5 years ago who i think said they had bought but i cannot remember who it was.If any more info comes to light i will post i do hope it has survived. Chris.
C L Wallis |
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Colin Butchers
United Kingdom
1481 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2021 : 11:18:49
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Stewart Penfound (of the T Register) has done a lot of research into Harry Lester and his cars, and has published a splendid book on the subject. He confirms that the car is based on a PB chassis supplied by the Works but carrying no number. He devotes two pages to the car and quotes competition history for thirteen events between June 1947 and June 1954 in the hands of George Phillips, Harry Fuller, and Brian Harper. The car (by then fitted with a fibreglass body) came into Sid Broad's garage in Launceston around 1960 for some work to be done but the owner never came back to pay the bill so Sid kept the car. Over the years, the fibreglass body has been discarded but the rest of the car is complete. Apparently Sid's son intends to restore the car one day.
There was an excellent article on George Phillips and his cars which appeared in "Safety Fast" (in three separate monthly episodes) only a few months ago. The feature concentrated on the special bodied T Type which the Works built for George and to his various excursions to Le Mans in the early 50s. I enjoyed reading the articles but I don't recall any mention of a PB, and unfortunately I did not keep the magazine, so I cannot check.
Colin B. |
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John James
United Kingdom
960 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2021 : 11:20:07
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This car was built by Harry Lester for George Phillips on an unstamped PB chassis that had been lying idle at Abingdon since PB production ceased. The engine came from PB0717. A supercharger was fitted.
There is lots more info in Stewart Penfound's book.
JOHN JAMES (J3656 - NJ 2037) [and TF1500]. |
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mike.g
United Kingdom
85 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2021 : 14:14:42
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Nigel watts in Camborne ????????????????????????????????????
m.j.gooch |
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leafrancis14
United Kingdom
323 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2021 : 14:32:45
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My car has a PB chassis that was stamped as a PA 
Barny Creaser
(Wellingborough) |
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DickMorbey
United Kingdom
3672 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2021 : 14:55:06
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Hi Barny. A PB chassis? Really, 'cos surely PA and PB chassis were (virtually) identical and indistinguisable one from the other until stamped?
All PAs were knuckle stamped with a 'P' (never a 'PA') other than the early PAs up to c.PA0500 where the knuckles bore a 'P1' stamp with the numerals posititioned below that..
Dick Morbey, Register Secretary
PA-PB 0743
Frieth, Oxon, UK
secretary@triple-mregister.org |
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leafrancis14
United Kingdom
323 Posts |
Posted - 29/11/2021 : 16:18:19
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Sorry Dick.....my reply was tongue in cheek exactly as you say because any unstamped chassis hanging around at the factory was simply P type. So the above car is really 'PB Spec'.
I wonder how many other unstamped chassis were liberated from the factory? I suppose they may have stocked them as spares. Does anyone know if there was a legal requirement for the factory to stamp a chassis before it was released?
Barny Creaser
(Wellingborough) |
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George Eagle
United Kingdom
3228 Posts |
Posted - 30/11/2021 : 10:41:37
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Thanks for the information Chris, Colin and James. I will add these to the file for the car.
The file notes the Registration number was issued in 1948 and as such fits with the car being built on a new chassis.
George
Registrar F/L/N types and PBs. |
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leafrancis14
United Kingdom
323 Posts |
Posted - 30/11/2021 : 14:46:47
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For some reason (maybe being stuck indoors with a dodgy knee) this question of chassis numbering aroused my inner nerd. For this car, how would you go about registering it for the road without a chassis number? I browsed the various acts but I couldn't actually find anything that required a chassis to be numbered (until relatively recently). But you would have thought the requirement to register a car (from the 1903 act) would mean that there would need to be some ID to link the registration number to, otherwise you'd have the possibility of swapping the local authority number between cars?
As for MG, does anyone know at what point in the production line the number was stamped onto the chassis? Was it when the chassis was received or when it was retrieved from the stores for use (I would guess the latter)?
Barny Creaser
(Wellingborough) |
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DickMorbey
United Kingdom
3672 Posts |
Posted - 30/11/2021 : 15:26:02
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Not many years ago our esteemed President Mike Allison told us that the chassis knuckles were made by the James Motor Cycle company for MG from forged, not cast, steel.
They were rivetted into the chassis frames by the MG Car Co at the commencement of erection of the frames. They may well have been stamped with a model type letter at that stage, but no number.
The number would have been stamped at a later stage as the car progressed down the line and acquired a distinct identity.
At least that is what Mike said - others may know better, but as I was -12 in 1934, who am I to say?
Dick Morbey, Register Secretary
PA-PB 0743
Frieth, Oxon, UK
secretary@triple-mregister.org |
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mike.g
United Kingdom
85 Posts |
Posted - 30/11/2021 : 18:54:54
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Dick, I must say you do not look 99 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best regards
Mike G.
m.j.gooch |
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DickMorbey
United Kingdom
3672 Posts |
Posted - 01/12/2021 : 10:07:23
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Thanks Mike - that was -12 (minus 12!)
Dick Morbey, Register Secretary
PA-PB 0743
Frieth, Oxon, UK
secretary@triple-mregister.org |
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George Eagle
United Kingdom
3228 Posts |
Posted - 01/12/2021 : 12:57:24
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Chris Wallis has been trying to find out more as to the fate of this car.
He has been in touch with a former employee of S Broad who mentioned the car had been submerged for a while after flooding and that it was in very poor condition.
The hope it might survive does not look too promising!
George
Registrar F/L/N types and PBs. |
Edited by - George Eagle on 01/12/2021 12:59:00 |
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