PREVIOUS OWNERS

[Stevemorris]

Hi all,

OK, at risk of repeating myself here but...

I am trying to find out who the first 2 owners of my car were, to complete the history.

I know that someone, somewhere knows these details, I suspect they are on DVLA's database. I wrote to DVLA and asked if they could let me know who the first 2 owners were, but they refused to tell me stating GDPR of course...

I refuse to lie down on this one, as I mentioned, someone, somewhere knows who they were of course, and its just a matter of asking the right person right?

The GDPR thing is a joke I think, some use it as a reason to 'just not do something', which really frustrates me. The chances of the 2 owners still being alive is pretty remote, so what harm can it do? Yes, I understand the whole 'Identity theft' thing, but it's an old car and its piecing together the history of it right? surely that's a good thing??

I have tried to speak to the Heritage centre many times, and have only been able to get through to a messaging system that suggests I email, which I have, their response is to apply for a certificate.

I have also tried the JEC, who told me the same re GDPR.

I think my only hope is that someone will recognise the reg no and know who had it?

Anyway, I am going to post the same on Jag Lovers forum as well, you never know..

Looking for the first 2 owners of my car. Jaguar E Type series 1 4.2 FHC. Details as follows;

Registration Number = HPT 888C (I believe this is the original plate)
Car Number = 1E 20441

I am the 7th owner, and I have managed to trace through documents, the previous 4 owners, but have a 'gap' between 1965 and around 1980.

Can anyone help please as I would dearly love to fill in the missing pieces of the 'jigsaw'!

Many thanks,

Steve.

[mgcjag]

The first owner can sometimes be onvthe Heritage certificate..do you have one....Steve

[Gfhug]

Part of the JDC (Jaguar Drivers Club) is the “E Type Register” which in the days before internet published books of all E Types known to them and often with the owners’ details. Have a chat with them and speak to David Leck who has most of the old books to refer to.

Geoff

[Stevemorris]

The first owner can sometimes be onvthe Heritage certificate..do you have one....Steve

I dont have one as yet Steve, but now I have the Body No I will be applying for one. I had a feeling about the first owners name on the heritage certificate, but then thought I remembered someone saying something about them omitting that info in more recent years due to GDPR regs?

I am going to call them tomorrow.

Thanks Steve, Steve.

[Stevemorris]

Part of the JDC (Jaguar Drivers Club) is the “E Type Register” which in the days before internet published books of all E Types known to them and often with the owners’ details. Have a chat with them and speak to David Leck who has most of the old books to refer to.

Geoff

Hi Geoff,

That's a great shout, I'll contact them tomorrow. I dont know the name David Leck, is he a member on this forum?

Thanks again, Steve.

[Gfhug]

Steve, no David is not on this forum. Geoff

[Stevemorris]

Found him Geoff, his email is on the contacts list on the JDC site.

I have emailed him to see what he knows.

Thanks, Steve.

[Stevemorris]

OK, Bit of progress......

The last known owner in 1981 is a chap called Leeson. Was thinking today, If I could trace him, I could ask him what he knows about the car. I am really keen to know who he bought the car from and when.

Wife was helping me this afternoon and BINGO! Found the guy. Now lives in California, was from Malton North Yorkshire (address I have so it fits) is still into classic cars and is a member of one of the E Type Facebook pages.

It's definitely him, first and middle names are the same, so it simply has to be him! I have sent him a message and am eagerly awaiting his reply (08:30 am in CA now though...).

If it is him, and im sure it is, and he can tell me where he bought the car, im a step closer!

Ill keep you all posted.

Steve.

[dlgis]

Hi, I have the 1984 edition of the International E type Register’s Directory of Vehicles and Owners. It shows the owner of your car as Tom Ruddick. I have an address in York and telephone numbers i could PM to you if this is new information.

[Stevemorris]

Hi, I have the 1984 edition of the International E type Register’s Directory of Vehicles and Owners. It shows the owner of your car as Tom Ruddick. I have an address in York and telephone numbers i could PM to you if this is new information.

Hi Darryl,

That's very kind thanks, yes please! A photo of that or a copy would be nice to keep in the folder wouldn't it.

I do have quite a lot of information regarding Tom Ruddick, but the info you have may be different. I did search for Tom extensively as he had the car restored, over a 2 year period. It seems Tom passed away sadly around 2020. I have tried to make contact with his children and sister who were mentioned in the obituary, but have heard nothing.

Thanks, Steve.

[Stevemorris]

OK, a typical case of 'one step forward, two steps back' now sadly...

The last know owner in the documentation I have is as mentioned a Mr Leeson.

I found said chap, and he is now 67, and living in California alive and well! Had a long email exchange last night with him, and it is indeed him. He remembered the car very well, it was his first E Type. He bought it in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire in 1981 for £2400. He remembered the car was red, but knew its original colour was blue. He wanted a red E Type (who didn't back then!) and so bought it! He remembered it was fairly rusty, like it had been kept in a field, and that the bonnet was fibreglass!

It wouldn't start when he got it and he had a new starter motor fitted, and the header tank was leaking (no surprise there then!). I actually have the receipts for the parts he had fitted, tank was £30! He had the car for 11 months, then sold it for the same amount to a farmer in Pocklington (who it turns out is Tom Ruddick, the man who fully restored the car) to fund a Maserati 3500 GTi!

Sadly, and this is the step back, he doesn't remember who he bought it from, only that the chap was a very nice 'well to do' fellow, and lived on a quite nice housing estate in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire. So, although I have made contact with another of the previous owners, I am no further forward.. But....

One thing he was able to tell me was how he came by it. It was an advertisement in the classifieds in the Yorkshire Post. A quick bit of research in the Leeds Central Library online last night revealed that there is a fair amount of info on some of the ads, i.e. I saw one ad for a Rover which had something like 'Contact Bill Smith, 2 High Street, York' so it was maybe the done thing to add your name and address to an ad back then, after all I guess early 80's not everyone had a phone right??

I searched extensively for the month before Mr Leeson bought the car, hoping to find the ad, but the year/month I am after (October 1981) isn't available online currently. Undeterred, I rang them this morning to see if I could access It anywhere online, failing that it's a trip to Leeds......

Ill keep you posted..

Steve.

[Stevemorris]

OK, A morning in the library was not at all fruitful.......But, I didn't have to go to Leeds, as I found out I could access the info I needed in my local library after all!

I looked up The Yorkshire Post and The Yorkshire Evening Post as that was where I was told this chap saw it advertised and bought it.

After 2 hours I admitted defeat, the 'window' I was looking for was around October 1981 being as this is when he purchased the car. The records/documents scanned in went up to 1980, then stopped. The next list of scanned records began 1983. I spoke to the 'Yorkshire Post' office and was told that they moved offices around that time and that a whole load of back issues/documents were simply thrown away.......

Undeterred (again), I decided a different approach was called for.

I dont like Facebook but it has its uses from time to time...

The facts I knew were, It was purchased in Sherburn In Elmet, North Yorkshire, from a gentleman, on a newish housing estate, in October 1981. So, I looked up the village, and they have a Facebook page/group. I have joined the group and posted a thread regarding the car, and if anyone has any recollection of the car or person who owned it. I am quietly confident this will get a response, after all, it's a small North Yorkshire village, and the man who owned a red E Type would be remembered right???

Ill keep you all posted...

Steve.

[TurboScab]

PT was a Durham registration, I think. You may (possibly) be able to get pre-DVLA registration information from the County Archives, if they retained old registration records. Similarly, if it was owned by a resident of North Yorkshire, that County's Archives might also be available.

[Stevemorris]

PT was a Durham registration, I think. You may (possibly) be able to get pre-DVLA registration information from the County Archives, if they retained old registration records. Similarly, if it was owned by a resident of North Yorkshire, that County's Archives might also be available.

Great shout, thanks I will give that a try also. PT is indeed a Durham Reg No. I have tried to search Jaguar Dealers in Durham in the 1960's. Steve.

[Series1 Stu]

I hope your searches are successful. I grew up in the Durham area in the sixties and seventies and my dad had a few cars with the PT registration.
You might need to cast your net a little wider because PT is a County Durham registration. You could try researching the Northern Echo archives, if they exist. Their classifieds were jammed with used car sales, especially in the Saturday editions.

It's funny, but thinking back, I can't remember where the Jaguar dealers will have been but I was very young around the time they were merged into BL.

Good luck.

Regards