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lear
Original Poster
286 posts
77 months
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 Found this amongst my grandfather's diaries. He died in the early 1980s - born in 1910. I was trying to work out what all the cars are but don't recognise some of the makes. Also, when did personal registrations come in? I assume CD 2222 and UUF 404/UUF 808 were personal plates. I guess the Vauxhall 14 and Ford 8's were soon after the war. The only thing I'm reasonably certain of is that most of the cars would have been bought new; is it possible to tell anything from the registrations themselves? The makes I can't work out are NJ9370, the second CD2222, TCD644, AP164, 3904PO, DUC276 (Lancaster?) and 450ECD (Cooper?)
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McClure
1,258 posts
16 months
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Doing a number plate check on the autotrader iphone app 450ECD is a Morris Mini Cooper (Blue & White; 1071cc).
The other registrations don't have any records. Well, one is on a 1.8 Vectra these days but anyway.
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McClure
1,258 posts
16 months
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I think TCD644 is a Consul;
DUC276 is Lanchester.
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47p2
369 posts
31 months
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Pre war cars Jaguar SS1  Standard 10  Morris 12  Velocette 250  BSA 500  Ford 30hp 
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lear
Original Poster
286 posts
77 months
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That is a great photo spread 47p2! Thank you for posting.
Off to search classifieds for SS1....
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47p2
369 posts
31 months
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lear said: Off to search classifieds for SS1.... You won't find many of them for sale
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McClure
1,258 posts
16 months
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47p2
369 posts
31 months
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Good find, I've never seen one in the flesh
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lowdrag
5,659 posts
83 months
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Looks as though he lived in the Brighton area from the registrations. CD & UF are both Brighton issues. Personal plates as such are really just old numbers which became a market in themselves as the years went by and the suffix (1963), then prefix (1983) and then the new system came in.
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A9XXC
541 posts
19 months
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Lovely thread. All I know of my grandfathers vehicles is - approx 1920 AJS V twin with side car, followed by a 1919 Fiat in 1923 (when my father, son no4 came along) then a Humber in the early 1930s. Only have a pic of the AJS 
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pingu393
630 posts
75 months
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McClure said: Doing a number plate check on the autotrader iphone app 450ECD is a Morris Mini Cooper (Blue & White; 1071cc).
The other registrations don't have any records. Well, one is on a 1.8 Vectra these days but anyway. If the OP is interested, is there any way the OP can contact these current owners? I know a £5 to police funds is not the way to do it nowadays  .
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lear
Original Poster
286 posts
77 months
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lowdrag said: Looks as though he lived in the Brighton area from the registrations. CD & UF are both Brighton issues. Personal plates as such are really just old numbers which became a market in themselves as the years went by and the suffix (1963), then prefix (1983) and then the new system came in. Spot on! We're a Brighton family. After the war he was given control of a Brighton based family firm by my great great uncle which he ran until he died. I guess most of the large saloons would have been company cars. I'm pretty sure the mini cooper was bought for my grandmother and I know the other mini was bought for his beloved Doberman who used to sleep and be taken for walks in it! I'd love to find any of the cars.
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srob
6,659 posts
108 months
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The 500 BSA could be anything from a 19-teens 500 sidevalve right through to something like that posted above. Lots of pre-war (late 20s to early 30s) BSA's were 'slopers' so the single cylinder leans forwards in the frame. Like this one:  They're probably the most 'common' pre-war BSA, as the ones as posted were quite a sporty, and expensive mount. The slopers came in either overhead or side valve configuration, with the OHV ones being the sportier, expensive ones! The 250 Velocette could either be a GTP (as shown in the pic above) which is a twin-port two stroke single, or an MOV, which is an overhead valve single like this:  
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47p2
369 posts
31 months
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My father used to have a BSA 500 Road Racer with interchangeable gearbox
Apparently it was a bit of a beast in its day
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lear
Original Poster
286 posts
77 months
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lowdrag
5,659 posts
83 months
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47p2 said: My father used to have a BSA 500 Road Racer with interchangeable gearbox
Apparently it was a bit of a beast in its day Ah, the Gold Star with the RRT2 gearbox circa 1955 I expect. I had one, but it was set up for racing and the rear sprocket was geared to about 30mph in first when you released the clutch fully. I changed the sprocket for lower gearing, but it wasn't a very good road bike. Clip-ons and set back footrests made the riding position too uncomfortable. I sold it for, IIRC, £40 and bought a Triumph Trophy.
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tonys
640 posts
93 months
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V8 FOU
759 posts
17 months
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lowdrag said: Ah, the Gold Star with the RRT2 gearbox circa 1955 I expect. I had one, but it was set up for racing and the rear sprocket was geared to about 30mph in first when you released the clutch fully. I changed the sprocket for lower gearing, but it wasn't a very good road bike. Clip-ons and set back footrests made the riding position too uncomfortable. I sold it for, IIRC, £40 and bought a Triumph Trophy. The trick with an RRT2 is to change the internals for A10 ratios. Did that a few times for people.... These days you just buy a 5 or 6 speed 'box...
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A9XXC
541 posts
19 months
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With the RRT2 box my mates Gold Star used to fire about once every lamppost in top!
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srob
6,659 posts
108 months
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I never really had a problem with the RRT2 box in the Rocket Goldie. It's a long first, and needs the clutch slipping but that isn't a biggy. The problem with the RGS was starting the feckin' thing when it was cold! I'm not light (about 15 stone) and with all my weight on the kickstart I couldn't get it past compression. A single Goldie would be better, as it's more about technique, not brute force like the twin! The first gear on the KTT is far longer than the first in the RRT2
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