Old photo of Chassis 1062 delights owner!

 

"Blimey, that’s a surprise! You’ve shown a photo’ of my car which I’ve not seen before. (Newsletter - June 2018)

 

 

Firstly, I’ll explain that the photo has to be 1938 or later. That’s because you can see the registration is CWO 121, which is a Monmouthshire number issued at that time. John Chaston, or his father who owned Chaston’s garage in Blackwood, South Wales, had re-registered the car from its originally issued London number in 1925. They bought the car in late 1937 or 1938 from the first owner, Brian Kelly.

 

I have been to the end of the world and back to discover that original registration. It does not appear anywhere in factory or VDP records, and I have scoured the country trying to find it, or early photographs from when Brian owned the car.

 

In 1938 the Chastons employed a coachbuilder, ‘Mr Butler’, who remodelled the car’s rear end to make it a bit sportier than the original VDP tub style, however, the body remained largely original elsewhere. John Chaston explained all this to me a few years ago, and that when he went off with his regiment in the War, he thinks his father sold the car to Mr Chamberlain from Weston Super Mare.

 

After the War, my car was owned by Stanley Coldham, a well known Cooper 500 racing driver. It appeared at a very early BDC meeting and has been in the club ever since."

 

 

"The car is shown above in racing trim on 19 inch Dunlops -- I use it for VSCC and BDC competition."