Recommissioning the 1909 Rover 15

One of the oldest vehicles in the Museum collection, the 1909 Rover 15, has been in the workshop for some serious attention over the past couple of months.  Whilst this beautiful vehicle is much admired by visitors to the Museum, and even occasionally goes out to shows such as the Festival of Motoring and the NEC Classic Motor Show, it has been hiding some dark secrets.

The Rover was acquired by the Museum in 2004, having undergone an expensive restoration by its previous owner, but hasn’t been run since its arrival.  Earlier this year, the decision was made to recommission the vehicle to running condition, and in July, Museum Technician Chris Strawbridge set to work.

The first job of course was to change all the fluids, and here’s where Chris discovered the first problem – at some point one of the seals had shrunk, meaning that all of the radiator cooling water had ended up in the oil in the bottom of the engine – and since the oil had been emulsified by the water, it looked likely that this had happened when the engine last ran.

As you can imagine, this water had caused severe engine damage, the worst of which was corrosion on the oil pump drive gears, to the point where there were barely any teeth remaining – Chris is currently having new gears made at a local engineering firm to completely replace the ruined parts.

Next up, when Chris took the sump off, he discovered more play in the big end bearings than you would expect of an engine that has been rebuilt, and his initial suspicion was that this was another casualty of the water leak.  On closer inspection however, he found that the engine had not been assembled properly when it was rebuilt before arriving at the Museum – in particular, parts of the big end bearings had been left with metal burrs attached, meaning that Chris had to strip the lot to get the big ends functioning correctly.

Chris is currently awaiting the arrival of the new gears to replace the corroded ones, and is none-committal about how long the rest of the work will take once these parts arrive, since he can’t be sure what other secrets may be lurking as the work continues.  

Whilst Chris has many years’ experience of working on all kinds of different vehicles, it is the first time he has worked on a vehicle of this age and he is learning a huge amount about it as he progresses with the work.  Chris feels that it’s vitally important to carry out this kind of work and try to keep older vehicles running – otherwise how else will skills and understanding about how they were built and how to look after them be passed on for the future?

If Chris succeeds in getting the Rover running there will be another interesting challenge to overcome in order to put it on the road – the car carries acetylene lamps, and if it is to pass an MOT the lamps must be in working order.   

Calcium carbide powder will have to be placed inside the lamps, onto which water is dripped, producing acetylene gas though a jet, which is then lit to form a sort of candlelight to light up the headlamps.

If and when the lamp-lighting day arrives it will be wonderful to see, and will be a testament to a lot of hard work and patience by a skilled technician – we will keep you informed of Chris’s progress with the Rover over the coming weeks and months.

Object of the Fortnight - 1958 Beauty Parade Article

The days of Coventry being a city brimming with rival motor companies are sadly long gone. The rivalry back then however did not simply stop at car manufacture, but extended in so many other ways, particularly in competitive sports including football, cricket, rugby and so much more. Even the odd beauty parade occurred from time to time it would seem, as testified by this Coventry Telegraph news story from 1958 concerning a Premium Bonds draw held at Coventry’s landmark store, Owen & Owen in the town centre.

Nine girls working at Coventry motor firms would ultimately be chosen to participate, yet at the time this story broke, only eight had so far been confirmed and featured– representing the well-known companies of Alvis, Armstrong-Siddeley, Daimler, Hillman, Humber, Standard, Sunbeam, and Triumph.

Jaguar it would seem were keeping their cards close to their chest, and stated that they would announce their female representative at a later time.

The article which would announce the outcome of the parade, is one that we would not appear to have, so if anyone knows the result, or even took part, then we’d love to hear from you - you can leave your memories of this event on the Coventry Memories website.

If you click on the picture you will be able to see a bigger version, but the text of the article reads as follows:

Beauty Parade in Cars Will Herald Premium Draw

Most of Coventry's major car companies have already chosen a pretty girl to represent them in the Premium Bond parade through the city next week.

Chosen for their good looks, poise, and personality, the nine girls will be driven in style in the latest of the company's cars from the city boundary to the city centre.

At Owen Owen's store Mike Hawthorn, the racing driver, will drive a vintage car across the first floor to the button he will press to start the October Premium Bond draw by "Ernie" at Lytham St. Annes.

The girls will be Miss Alvis, Miss Armstrong Siddeley, Miss Daimler, Miss Hillman, Miss Humber, Miss Jaguar, Miss Standard, Miss Sunbeam and Miss Triumph.

On the platform during rhe ceremony, the publicity girls will have a special job to do. Each will walk on carrying the letter or number making up the first winning number - worth £1000. The Lord Mayor of Coventry Alderman H. H. K. Winslow, will accompany Mike Hawthorn as he heads the big parade from Ryton in a Jaguar sports car. With him also will be actor Hubert Gregg and his wife, Pat Kirkwood.

Afterwards, it is expected that the cars taking place in the parade will be on show in the nearby car park. A tour of inspection by the Lord Mayor and his party is being arranged. All but one of the companies have made their choice. Jaguars say they will announce their publicity girl on Monday.

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MISS ALVIS: Judged to hold the title out of a line-up of 17 girls was Miss Catherine Mary Kelly, aged 20. A newcomer to the firm - Miss Kelly joined two months ago - she works in the aero section of the production control department. Her home is at 74, Winsford Avenue, Coventry.

**

MISS DAIMLER: The 22 years old wife of a former Daimler apprentice, Mrs Rita Hollingworth, of 124 Paynes Lane, Coventry, has been with the firm for five years. She works as the secretary of the Chief Inspector, Mr. S Brown, and was chosen from 13 applicants for the title.

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MISS ARMSTRONG SIDDELEY: Chosen this year is Miss Judy Clinch, the 19 years old assistant to the chief photographer. Miss Clinch, who lives at 39, Walsgrave Road, Coventry, has been with the company four years.

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MISS STANDARD: Holding the title is Miss Cynthia Gray, of 8 Charter Avenue, Canley, Coventry. Aged 22, Mrs Gray is a comptometer operator.

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MISS TRIUMPH: Seventeen years old Miss Pauline Cranford, of the postal department, was chosen. She lives at 108, Prior Deram Walk, Canley, Coventry.

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MISS HILLMAN: Riding in the Hillman car will be Miss Hazel Butcher, of 464 Binley Road, Coventry. She works in the production department.

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MISS HUMBER: A girl on the secretarial side, Miss Audrey Moore, of 101 Fir Tree Aveneue, Broad Lane, Coventry, will wear the 'Miss Humber' title.

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MISS SUNBEAM: Miss Jane Curtis, employed in the Sunbeam sales department, lives at Leamington Road, Long Itchington.

Coventry Memories Website

Coventry Memories is a joint project between Coventry Transport Museum and the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, and aims to be a unique website where you will be able to browse through hundreds of stories and photographs of real Coventrians through the ages, as well as adding your own memories of anything relating to Coventry.

Craig Joy, Head of IT at Coventry Transport Museum said:

“Coventry has a wonderfully rich and varied history, and we recognise that the story of our great City is made up of millions of personal stories and histories, which are in danger of being lost as time moves on. We wanted to create a place where those individual tales can be told and preserved, so we came up with the idea of the Coventry Memories website.

As we approach the commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the Coventry Blitz, we have collected a series of memories from Blitz survivors, and these will form an important part of the website. But as well as landmark events from our City’s past, we’re also fascinated by the smaller events that have been important in peoples’ lives.

Whether your favourite Coventry memory is watching the Sky Blues winning the FA Cup in a local pub, learning to ride a bike at the War Memorial Park, enjoying the Godiva Festival in the sunshine or meeting a future husband or wife ‘under the elephant’, we want to read it.”

Morris Engines - Handover of Standard to CTM

At lunchtime today over 20 standard bearers came to the museum to officially hand over a Morris Engines standard (or flag). The museum was contacted a few months ago by the Vice Chairman of Coventry Branch No.1 of The Royal British Legion as they believed that Coventry Transport Museum would be a good permanent home for the standard.

Local press and our in–house photographer were there to capture the handover, as were quite a few visitors to the museum. We don’t have a definite date for the standard yet but as I type research is being undertaken by members of the organization to try and find it out. Soon the standard will go on display in the museum – a new home has been allocated in our Boomtown gallery, on the wall above a Morris engine already on display.

Lizzie Hazlehurst
Curator - Archive & Small Objects

Coventry Transport Museum is always looking to improve its collection with significant vehicles built in Coventry. The following is a list of items the museum would like to acquire to make the collection even more representative of vehicles built in and around the city.

• Daimler SP 250 (Dart)
• Triumph TR3
• Triumph TR4
• Triumph TR5
• Pre WW2 Triumph Dolomite

Please contact the Museum via email collection@transport-museum.co.uk if you have information on the list above.

Classic archive images to view & buy

CTM are proud to lauch a new online facility - www.ctmimages.co.uk

This site demonstrates images from our huge archive, also allowing you to purchase the items as Prints, Canvases or Gifts. The store will continue to grow as we demonstrate the huge array of items from Coventry's long heritage in the transport history.

The site also offers links to our archive enquiry service - here you can make enquiries on various aspects on the archive and collection to our experienced team.