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Around
this time a fellow worker informed me he has an old car in his Yard
that he wants to dispose of and it is available for 15 quid.
It wasn’t going & had a few bits missing, so I asked him.
“What make of car is it?"
He replied “It’s an English Swallow of about 1936 vintage.”
I had never heard of this make of car so after work that night went
to inspect it.
It
sat in his back yard in St Albans, out in the open and looked like
it had done so for some years. Everything on it had rusted. The
gear lever had been cut off and roughly welded back together. There
were no mudguards, running boards, ect at all. There was no body
on it to speak off. It was also missing the radiator or radiator
shell and some engine parts.
There
was nothing to indicate what color it had been, beside rust colored,
or even what type of body it had originally possesed. It was just
a rolling chassis and running gear. Except it wasnt rolling anywhere
these days. The wire wheels where half burried in the dirt and of
course rusted.
To my young eyes, it was just a heap of junk! I wasn’t interested.
It was to be quite a few years before I would learn that it was
an SS 100 JAGUAR that anyone involved with motor vehicles
even then would have realized that this was a special car. However
even had I known it at that stage with my knowledge, capabilities&
bank balance, I couldn’t have done anything with it anyway. It was
sold a week later to someone who knew what it was. There were still
a few cars of this type around at this time.
I was to latter buy a Morris 8/40,
that suplanted my needs for wheels with a bit of sporting potential
Later when I was married I and went to live at East Keilor, but
as I still didn’t have much money or experience I was to walk away
from more like finds.
One
was the remains of a 29 Caddy for $600. The other I recall
I went to inspect was a sports car for a sum of $300 and Boy Racer
could see himself in a real sports car at last. In my then
still young eyes It was an ugly looking car with dented and bent,
aluminum panels, with some hanging off and a twisted grill.
It was also fitted with a great heavy V/8 motor. I thought
at this stage, Oh hell it’s been hot-rodded.
Again
I was not impressed and walked away. This was in Essendon and I
was to learn at a later date that it was a J2 Allard and that V/8
motor was a standard fitting. OH DEAR! It now lives on this side
of town and is a very much alive and loved car. |
