Another mystery car

[thegreenhell]

threespires said:

TSP3 said:

and the line drawing is superimposed on a drawing of a Ashley Sportiva.





I think the original photo in Oxford Street is an Ashley based prototype with a Williams & Pritchard made alloy body that did not make production.

Rochdale Olympic History Archive.

You could be right. Any more info?

Wasn't it just that the guy who made the 3d model was using other similar cars as reference for scale (wheel diameter, wheelbase, engine/bonnet height, steering wheel position etc.), if I remember correctly. There was that whole episode where the two guys who were doing some very clever photo analysis and modelling fell out and deleted a whole load of very detailed and interesting posts from the middle of this thread, sadly.

[swisstoni]

I didn’t realise all that stuff had been deleted.
It was quite enjoyable.

This recent suggestion seems an interesting candidate (I don’t know if it has come up before.
Shortening a chassis for a rebody shouldn’t have been that hard I suppose.

[uk66fastback]

I don’t know what to say, really.

[Pantechnicon]

I’m ordering my popcorn in advance.

[jules_s]

I must confess I (like im sure others) spent an hour or two googling possibilities

Quite why anybody would go to this sort of level though?

[Pantechnicon]

The sad truth is unless someone finds the car or some period mention of it, anything else is pure bunkum

[Doofus]

jules_s said:

Quite why anybody would go to this sort of level though?

Everybody needs a hobby.

This one seems more pointless than most, though.

[swisstoni]

Doofus said:

jules_s said:

Quite why anybody would go to this sort of level though?

Everybody needs a hobby.

This one seems more pointless than most, though.

People like puzzles. And why not.
You should see the missing parts of this thread where someone 3D modelled it in amazing detail.

[Doofus]

swisstoni said:

Doofus said:

jules_s said:

Quite why anybody would go to this sort of level though?

Everybody needs a hobby.

This one seems more pointless than most, though.

People like puzzles. And why not.
You should see the missing parts of this thread where someone 3D modelled it in amazing detail.

I agree. Except in this case, it won't suddenly (or even gradually) reveal the answer.

[uk66fastback]

From memory no-one is still the wiser whether it was a special body hand beaten in aluminium in a W&P-type factory, the possible next model of a major manufacturer flown in incognito from the continent or driven down the M1, or some glassfibre creation made in a guy’s back garden. And so it shall remain, as there are no other pics or record of manufacture anywhere else other than one pic in a 50+ year-old book.

The Loch Ness Monster.
The Bermuda Triangle.
The Mystery Car.

[nicanary]

uk66fastback said:

From memory no-one is still the wiser whether it was a special body hand beaten in aluminium in a W&P-type factory, the possible next model of a major manufacturer flown in incognito from the continent or driven down the M1, or some glassfibre creation made in a guy’s back garden. And so it shall remain, as there are no other pics or record of manufacture anywhere else other than one pic in a 50+ year-old book.

The Loch Ness Monster.
The Bermuda Triangle.
The Mystery Car.

This. Why would someone go to all that trouble to rebody a knackered old 30s Morris Minor when more modern chassis were available? It's too small to be a rebodied Alpine unless the guy sitting in it was a giant freak from the nearby circus.

We shall probably never know the answer.

[thegreenhell]

I still believe that the actual car is yet to be built, and will only be done so as a direct result of this thread. It will then be the recipient of the first working flux capacitor, and travel back in time to be photographed for the book. However, the disturbance in the space-time continuum this will cause will suck the car into a wormhole to another universe, which is why the car and its creator have never been heard from since. Until now...

[restoman]

If you like puzzles, rearrange the following words into a well known phrase or saying . . .

Hand
Out
Getting
Of

[Doofus]

nicanary said:

unless the guy sitting in it was a giant freak from the nearby circus.

Bertram Mills were at Olympia around the same time, but whilst one of the attractions was Schaeffer's Thirty Midgets, I don't think he had any giants.

Maybe somebody should build a Lego model of the big top, and see if that gives us any clues...

[The Don of Croy]

PH delivers. Again.

[jules_s]

swisstoni said:

Doofus said:

jules_s said:

Quite why anybody would go to this sort of level though?

Everybody needs a hobby.

This one seems more pointless than most, though.

People like puzzles. And why not.
You should see the missing parts of this thread where someone 3D modelled it in amazing detail.

Indeed - proper sleuthing - I was referring to the arguing!

[TonyRPH]

Come on guys, don't derail a great thread with pettiness.

I've followed this pretty much from the day it was posted, and the thread has always remained quite civil.

I hope we can keep it this way.

I'm not a mod by the way - just a very interested follower of the thread.

[CanAm]

swisstoni said:

People like puzzles. And why not.
You should see the missing parts of this thread where someone 3D modelled it in amazing detail.

And it looks like some more recent parts have just been deleted too.

[Dr G]

Agreed, followed from the start and lost many hours diving down rabbit holes of obscure automobilia.

It’s a bit like “the game” if you will. Nobody ever actually wins but it’s fun to play anyway.

[dandarez]

TonyRPH said:

Come on guys, don't derail a great thread with pettiness.

I've followed this pretty much from the day it was posted, and the thread has always remained quite civil.

I hope we can keep it this way.

I'm not a mod by the way - just a very interested follower of the thread.

I've not been back on this thread for ages, I looked yesterday but didn't comment - I looked again about 20 or so mins ago and Binary12 had posted another load of graphics which I'd intended to reply to - made a cuppa coffee, returned, and the post had disappeared!

One showed the door/gullwing arrangement with both doors open - the front screen surround looked mad to me - little support either side and the roof gullwing support seemingly holding it - how could you enter the car without the screen lower corners causing you aggro/pain entering should you touch them? Mind you I only had a brief glance. Still looked to me, but then there were some mad cars/specials etc back then (I remember them!).
Anyhow, taken down now for some reason.

I can see Binary12's reasoning for the Sunbeam Alpine 'look' but tell me, why on earth if it was a 'Sunbeam' would they use over-riders that I am convinced are/were Triumph ones. Many used others makers parts bins then, but they were specialists, not mainstream makers. The only link I know of Sunbeam and Triumph is the GTR4 Dove built by Thomas Harrington Ltd, even all this is hazy.

I might come back in a while to peruse again. Or in 21 (or is that now 20?) days time.

PS Slight detour for the detective types on here.
Anyone know a Dick Voss of Leeds (or at least that was where he was in the 1980s) - another 'mystery' but for me personally (and some others). I'd like to trace him if possible - so far it's not been fruitful, perhaps PH can help?
He built this Ashley Special that appeared in Practical Motorist around that time.