New member and a question about Jaguar dealers...

[Lottex]

Hi, my name's Pete and I'm new to the forum. I own a 63 RHD OTS requiring some restoration. I'm trying to trace the early history of my car and according to the Jaguar Heritage Certificate, the original distibutor was Henlys, London but the original "dealer" was "WV Radford " in Shepperds Bush London W12. Has anyone ever heard of WV Radford? I'd also be interested to learn if anyone knows whether Henlys ever retained some form of archive or database? Any advice greatly appreciated, Thanks.

[mgcjag]

Hi Pete..welcolm to the forum....have you looked on here http://www.xkedata.com you may find something

[Heuer]

The Jaguar Sales and Service Facilities booklet September 1963 does not list any dealer in W12. There is s Harold Radford (Coachbuilders) Ltd 122 King Street, Hammersmith W4 but they are Service only. Sales enquiries are referred to H. R. Owen Ltd.

[Lottex]

Thank you very much for that. Can only assume therefore that WV Radford was the first owner ;-perhaps just a typo on the Heritage Certificate?

[chrisvine]

Might they have been a Ford dealership in London ( wound up in '73)? Different post code though

https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/iss ... 9/data.pdf

[chrisfell]

I've tried to find information from the several dealers who've handled my car. Two still exist, but are reluctant to correspond. After 50 or more years sometimes these avenues of inquiry are dead ends. Add to that the fact that first owners are quite likely to be dead then it is frequently difficult to build a history file. Occasionally, serendipity lends a hand.

One of my car's owners was a school teacher. One of his pupils became a writer and mentioned both the teacher and his E-type in one of his books. It gave my car a little more history.

[christopher storey]

Henly's went out of business about 30 years ago, and as far as I know all their records are lost or destroyed, so that there is nothing that can come from that source . I rather think Chris Vine has the answer : the difference in the address will result from the fact that in the dissolution, it is the registered office which will be stated rather than the trading address