(Continued from part four)
In 1939 came the second world war. Jimmy was very busy taking workers to AP (Lockeed), Flavel’s, Tachbrook Aero, Ford’s and other factories. One day, two gunners came ...
(Continued from part three)
Life came back to normal in the village after the war. But men who had seen Gay Paree found it hard to settle down. Bishop’s never had a ...
(Continued from part two)
When the war broke out in 1914, Jim was in a reserved job, farm worker, at first (he wore an armband to show that the was in ...
(Continued from part one)
The family were chapel goers. They all went to the Wesley Chapel at Bishops Itchington. Years ago there were three chapels as well as the church, but there ...
Here are some pictures of the track in the 1970s. I took these during the holiday fortnight, when me and a friend went into the building when it was empty ...
Frank Whittle was born in Earlsdon, Coventry, in 1907. His family moved to Leamington Spa where he attended Milverton School and then Leamington College for Boys. He worked in his ...
Healey considered several names for the car, such as Invicta, Railton, and Vindex, but after advice from Victor Riley he decided to use his own name. The Donald Healey Motor ...
During his visits to the USA Healey had spotted a gap in the market for a lighter, smaller British sports car. He was aware that Austin’s A90 Atlantic engine was ...
Part of the reason the company ended its boat building venture was that the company moved from the Cape to a former cinema at Coton End in Warwick and the ...
Towards the end of 1960, big changes came about; the Rally-Racing Department at the Allesley Service Division was closed down, and Ken Richardson and a small number of people were ...
In the early 1970s a new department was set up within the service department for press cars. We worked under Mike Brooks, who was also with Austin-Morris Press Cars in ...
My earliest memory of Rootes was the annual visit to the pantomime at the Coventry Hippodrome with the other kids of Rootes workers. We all got a Christmas stocking of ...
When I first went there I went from GEC, and I arrived there in my Volkswagen Beetle, and the security man wouldn’t let me take it in there! He said ...
The Austin-Healey Sprite was announced to the press in Monte Carlo by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) on 20 May 1958, just before that year’s Monaco Grand Prix. It was ...
The Regent Mews were originally built as stabling for the guests of John William’s Bedford Hotel – purposefully built opposite, rather than next to, the hotel. The mews provided stabling ...
The 1950s brought about some changes for the burgeoning Regent Garage business in Leamington. More space was needed to accommodate both cars for sale and for repair and maintenance. The ...
In October 1965, the garage opened a showroom on the Parade, the first model on show being the newly launched Wolseley 1100. The showroom had space for six to eight ...
A 500-mile cycling and walking network is being set up in the West Midlands and named the ‘Starley network’. This prompted me to investigate further: there’s a Starley statue I ...
Interviews with John Gardner on preparing engines for a record breaker, Bill Price on working in the BMC competitions department, Paul Stanforth on conditions in the Le Mans pit, John ...
Interviews with Gordon Barton on the acoustics at the Coten End site, Paul Stanforth on the conditions in the experimental building and modifying a Healey 3000 to form the Healey ...
Interviews with John Gardner, Gordon Barton, Geoffrey Shepherd and Terry Westwood. They talk about working at the Cape Works site, the hardships of metalworking and visits from American airmen.
John Gardner ...
Interviews with John Gardner on the designs for the Healey 100, Geoffrey Shepherd on getting the order for the big Healeys and David Unitt on driving a big Healey.
John Gardner ...