5 replies to this topic

[simonlewisbooks]

R7B, the famous Arthur Dobson car was offered for sale by Ken Hutchison in 1951 and according to David Weguelin's book didn't find a recorded new owner until J Bond in 1957.

A few years ago on my bookstall at Prescott I regularly chatted with a chap called Ron, a friend of Terry Grainger, Douglas Bate & Howard Stockley. Ron, who died two or three years back, ran SPOT MOTORS somewhere in the Birmingham area and he was always grumbling that Weg' had not included him in the book among R7Bs list of owners. Apparently he bought the car in 1954 and entered it at Davidtow and Prescott (maybe elsewhere but unlikely) .
The records of Davidstow are flimsy for 1954, even Tuthill's book comments that three ERAs appeared in a libre race and no record seemed to exist of which they were. One it seems was Ron in R7B. However the car was very tired by this point and needed a total rebuilt. As a car dealer I'm sure Ron had picked it up for a song, but quickly found it would not run properly and so after a troubled run at Davidstow and an unhappy time at Prescott he sold it on.

I cannot recall Ron's surname , but I'm sure TNF can help with that (Chris ?) And as he didn't own the car long it also must have had another owner prior to Bond in 1957. Can anyone fill in the gaps?

One extra little R7B story - In the 70s, the car's then-owner Dudley Geoghan was apparently subjected to an 'Anglo-Saxon' rant from an elderly, penniless Dobson (then reduced to living in something like a Salvation Army home I'm told) about the fact he'd dared to paint the car red instead of white!

[Tim Murray]

This is from the ERA Club’s chassis ownership list:

R7B

A C Dobson 1936 to 1945
H L Brooke 1945 to 1948
K N Hutchison 1948 to 1950
Unknown 1950 to 1954
R Linley 1954 to 1956
Unknown 1956 to 1957
J A Bond 1957 to 1960
D H Gahagan 1960 to 2002
P Mullins 2002 to date

I'm guessing therefore that Simon's friend was Ron Linley.

[simonlewisbooks]

Bingo! Ron Linley - that's the chap. Many thanks Tim.

This is from the ERA Club’s chassis ownership list:

R7B

A C Dobson 1936 to 1945
H L Brooke 1945 to 1948
K N Hutchison 1948 to 1950
Unknown 1950 to 1954
R Linley 1954 to 1956
Unknown 1956 to 1957
J A Bond 1957 to 1960
D H Gahagan 1960 to 2002
P Mullins 2002 to date

I'm guessing therefore that Simon's friend was Ron Linley.

[green-blood]

Wow, tnf to the rescue again.

Its 32 years now since "Weg's " book, time for part 2.

[Salsin]

Only just spotted this, so my apologies for being 9 years "late", but for the sake of historical accuracy, the garage was SPOT GRAGE (Northfield) LTD. They were Triumph dealers on the Bristol Road South in Northfield, opposite what was then called Kalamazoo where I was working at the time (now Reynolds & Reynolds). Ron also owned (or had an interest in) the Austin dealership Tessall Garage a little further south along the Bristol Road South. That changed to a Renault franchise and the building was eventually knocked down and rebuilt as the local Jobcentre.

I know about Spot Garage because I bought a Triumph Vitesse from them in 1969.

Mike Dodman

[Doug Nye]

Wonderful - TNF at its best.  I am drawing Weg's attention to this...

 

DCN