The Nash Metropolitan has been painted. The colour chosen was the original Nash colour Berkshire Green over Frost White. 8 litres of 2k was ordered and expertly applied by our very own Ian Goodwright. Inside and out received a coat of GN08 Berkshire Green before getting masked off for the WT1 Frost white two-tone.
We’ve been making steady progress on the Nash Metropolitan race car. Almost all of the welding is complete, the roll cage is fitted and the doors, bonnet and boot lid are on for checking the gaps. The right side of the car has no door gaps and after some exploration Graham discovered that the bottom of the ‘b’ post was almost completely un-attached for the sills. They were only held together by 2 very small spot welds. After pulling the shell straight we welded the ‘b’ post and sill together and repeated the procedure on the other side. We are currently working on the pedals which should be the last major job before Ian takes over and starts prepping for paint next week.
This lovely Standard Vanguard is coming to stay at CCK. There are a few tweaks to be made before we go testing and get it dialled in. We will be looking after this car for next years HRDC Touring Greats Season. More to follow.
The Lenham Le Mans hire car is under construction. The basis for the car was our old Austin-Healey Sprite Racer which Tim Rhodes drove to win the MGOC Midget Challenge in 2005. The rear skins were cut from the car leaving just the boot floor and rear wheel arches. Ian has welded up a bar to stiffen the rear of the car between the two arches and has repaired the edges of the boot floor. Meanwhile I have been constructing a Lenham bonnet and Le Mans rear out of fibreglass. The body is now ready to meet the chassis. This car will recieve our full preparation service and be ready to hire next season for the HRDC Grand Touring Greats.
I’ve been researching the history of our Volvo PV544. We knew it was a race car from new and came from the states but we new little more than that. So far I have found out that the car competed as a hill climber in Pennsylvania for most of its life. The earliest sticker on the dash is from the 1964 Hershey Hill Climb. I know that it was driven by John Flannery in the early days and later by Craig Danks. Still trying to find out what it was up to from 1958-1964. The rear bulkhead was signed by Bill Rutan who raced a PV544 in many endurance races in the late 50’s and early 60’s with famous Volvo racer Art Riley. I will keep you posted. Thanks to the Pennsylvania Hill Climb Association for all their help.
For next years HRDC Touring Greats season and hopefully an invite to the St. Mary’s Trophy at the Goodwood Revival we have acquired an amazing little Nash Metropolitan. The shell is in remarkable condition with virtually no rust. It has been fitted for a roll cage and is currently waiting to be seam welded, prepped, primed and painted. Can’t wait to see this.
