Does anyone have any info. on the current whereabouts of DV 6642, chassis 116405, which was part of Derek Preece's collection. Unfortunately, I know that Derek passed away last year. I last saw this fabric saloon 30 years ago when Derek lived in Cornwall before moving to Trawden, Lancs.
The other fabric saloon I am trying to trace is HX 7379, chassis 120646 which was being restored by Harry Currell in Caterham twenty years ago. I have since discovered that Harry emigrated to New Zealand about 15 years ago.
And finally, does anyone have a contact for Paul Lawrence from Norfolk, who owned
USJ 817, chassis 136330 about ten years ago.

Many thanks
Dave Martin

The DVLA have ........

DV 6642 as 'Not taxed for on road use' - Black Austin 7, first registered 05.09.1930.

HX 7379 as 'Vehicle details could not be found'

USJ 817 as 'Taxed' 'Tax due 1st February 2016 - Maroon Austin 7, first registered 14.10.1998, year of manufacture 1931.

The first two were last recorded on the chassis register in the year 2000.

The last is owned by a member of the 750 MC.

Jeff.

Location: Almost but not quite, the far North East of England

Dave, I can probably shed some light on what happened to to HX7379, but I am afraid that it is not entirely good news. The car does still exist of sorts, but Harry dismantled it I believe the chassis is now sitting under a Type B Coupe body, and bare body frame still exists. Some years back Harry gave me a chassis that I now I believe came from the Coupe, I tried to contact Harry recently to make sense of just what happened to the cars whilst he still owned them, but it would appear that he has moved. I will make renewed efforts to trace his whereabouts and have contact details for the current owners of the cars.

Location: NZ

Thanks for the info on HX 7379, Ian. I would be interested to hear what happened to the car and if any of it still exists. Did Harry take it to New Zealand?

Yes Dave, Harry did bring it to NZ, together with his ex Mac Bonar RK Saloon that I mentioned in an earlier thread. As I said above the car was dismantled but most of it still survives in one form or another, Harry used much of it to recreate the Type B Coupe.

May I ask why you are interested in this car?

Location: NZ

Thanks Ian
I met Harry about 20 years ago at Beaulieu A7 Rally (I think it was) and he was very keen on restoring his RG fabric saloon HX 7379. He gave me all the details of this car as I also had an RG fabric saloon at that time. I am trying to find out if all the RG fabric saloons I saw or had details of still survive. I am sorry to hear that HX 7379 is dismantled and may never be rebuilt as an RG fabric saloon.
There were 2 RG fabric saloons in New Zealand that I knew of.
Chassis 115206, belonging to M. Kirkwood and
Chassis 115785, belonging to Ron Upchurch.
Both these cars have gone off the radar and I would be interested to know if they survive.
From a total of 11 RG fabric saloons known worldwide thirty years ago, it seems like the number of definate survivors has dropped to about 6.
I would still like to trace DV 6642, chassis 116405, that was owned by the late Derek Preece of Lancashire.
There was also Chassis 117796, belonging to B.Cooper in Australia that has also gone to ground.
It seems a shame that a rare model of Austin 7 is now even more rare!!
Dave

Hi Dave,

There was the unrestored NZ car recently advertised in car and classic, I know of another unrestored car that came onto the market about 4 years ago, now in Christchurch I believe. There is a fully (read over) restored car that was for sale recently, a friend looked at purchasing it but it appeared to be a bit of a parts confection, Chassis, Body and Engine numbers not correlating. The chassis register can be misleading due to owners not recording the details correctly, but there were around six cars on the NZ register described as fabric saloons none of which were down asRF or RG, ether being recorded as RK or RL. I would suggest that you contact to our VAR and put an appeal into the club magazine for information on known survivors.

Location: NZ

Have you seen the RG fabric saloon currently for sale on Carandclassic? It looks a very good example. The number plate is visible.

Thanks for the extra details, Ian. I had seen a photo of the unrestored RG fabric saloon in N.Z. on this Friends site. Unfortunately with no chassis no. or any other details. The Christchurch car is not known to me.
I only know of the 2 cars I mentioned earlier.(chassis 115206, RG 978, which was exported new to N.Z. and was owned by M. Kirkwood, and chassis 115785, RG 1217, which was also exported to N.Z. as new and belonged to Ron Upchurch.
Perhaps the unrestored cars you mention are these, or even better, additional RG fabrics.Any details would be welcome as there are so few survivors.

I've seen the RG fabric saloon in Cars and Classics. It is one of 4 definate survivors in the UK and a very nice example. (RG 449; the second earliest survivor).
I am still trying to trace DV 6642, chassis 116405, engine 115678, RG 1311, which was unrestored when I saw it at Derek Preece's home in Cornwall about 30 years ago.
I know that Derek had moved to Trawden in Lancashire and contributed to the Friends forum. That is where I discovered that he passed away last year.
If anyone has any contact details for his family, please let me know, as I would like to find out if DV 6642 still exists. It would increase the UK number of RG fabric saloons to 5!

Dave, I wasn't sure whether you are interested in all fabric saloons, or just RGs. My brother Stephen owns TE 7633, a 1929 RK that we originally bought, already restored, in 1975 or '76, sold in about '79 and which he re-purchased in 2012. Despite numerous shoves, he hasn't yet put it on the Register.

For a long time this car was something of a mystery, as above the waistline it's fabric covered and apparantly original, while below it has aluminium panelling, rather like the contemporary Coupe.



Steve has recently tracked down some photos of the unrestored car from the 1960s which prove that it was originally an all-fabric saloon.

I don't have the car's details to hand, but I can put you in touch with Steve if you're interested.

Location: Herefordshire, with an E not a T

I am interested in all fabric saloons and used to run the Fabric Saloon Register before I passed it on to David Mawby a few years ago.
I would be interested in the details of this car.
But I am particularly interested in the RG type fabric saloons and would love to track down Derek Preece's old car to confirm that it still exists.
Interesting photo. I have heard of other fabrics being rebodied in ali.

Found this on the web - it would appear that Derek's son is now restoring his A7 Arrow and lives in the Callington area. Brian Murrish would seem to know more - Brian used to be a Forum contributor, but I haven't seen him post for some time. Key Brian's name into the search box under 'by user' and there may be an email address for him.



P.S. I've just checked, Brian's email address is at the bottom of one of his posts.

Jeff.

Location: Almost but not quite, the far North East of England

Thanks Jeff
But I still can't find Brian's email address! Do you mind posting it?
Dave

Have sent you an email with Brian's email address.

Jeff.

Location: Almost but not quite, the far North East of England

Martin,

it is likely that your brother's car is on one the Gaydon held factory ledgers, two of our cars are and the information is very interesting and would certainly tell you if it left as a fabric bodied car.

As an aside, I presume that everyone on this thread has sought permission to name the owner of the car and link this to the chassis number and registration number before making it public on here?

After a bit of detective work I traced an RK saloon from Dec. 1928, PN 5510. The car is in the Netherlands but sadly converted in a kind of pickup special. The front of de body is still there but the rear is converted in loading space by the owners own taste. It has a Reliant engine and hydraulic brakes and used regularly. The owner is not sure or the body and the chassis belonged together.

Location: below sealevel

Hi
I just wonder if anyone has the contact details for Derek Preece son. I bought a TR2 from the estate, which I know was used by Derek. However, i have such limited history on the car, I thought i would email his son for any help.

Many thanks Mark

Location: sussex

Just a passing piece of information but a Devon registered fabric saloon was sold on Ebay from the Callington area over the Christmas period. Sorry, no further information but I hope this helps.

Location: Truro(ish)

actually i have just found that advert and i have emailed the seller. It may be David Preece and therefore, i have my fingers crossed.
Many thanks Mark

Location: sussex

Location: North Yorkshire

Out of interest anyone know how authentic/well done the fabric is on this car? - it looked a bit iffy particularly at the seams to me, but I'm not a fabric saloon expert.
Steve V.

Location: Polegate, East Sussex, United Kingdom

30 years ago, when I was restoring an RG fabric saloon, I went to see Derek Preece in Callington and he was extremely helpful and loaned me a piece of metal trim from his RG that was missing from mine so I could make a pattern. At that time, I think DV 6642 had not had any work done on it.
I found out just after Christmas that DV 6642 had been sold on Ebay. If the current owner would like any information about how to restore this rare car they are welcome to contact me. I have lots of information about how to recover the fabric. (Which has to be done in a particular order to keep the car watertight!). This includes all the original fabric covering and trim from my old RG. Plus photos and drawings of all the details of an original RG.

Hello,

I owned saloon HX 7379 in about 1976. I bought it from a chap on the Lower Wokingham Road, Crowthorne, UK.

I often wonder where it ended up. I still have a 1944 tax disc from this car and would love to know the current owner - if it is still in one piece. I can be contacted at vintageminor at gmail dot com.

Ian Grace

Location: Seattle, USA

The HX registration RG Body has been advertised in Auckland for sale this week by a member of the VAR and is stated as being framework complete. I have most of the metalwork,scuttle,dash and Hinges for a 1929 Fabric here also .The body numbers are on the hinges as usual. Can put you in touch if interested.
Cheers Steve Hainsworth

Thanks Steven, yes I would appreciate contact details.

Ian

Location: Seattle, USA