John Rummery, owner of No.1425, reports that he met up with Roger Giles during the summer when he visited his brother in New Zealand.
John says, it was good to chat and we have promised each other that next summer when he comes he will make time to come up and have a drive in John’s recently restored Doretti.The tonneau cover for the car has been completed so now John I can say it is actually "finished".
While at a car show last year John was quite impressed when a guy approached his car from the rear (where there is no identification) and heard him say, "That's a Swallow Doretti, I didn't ever think I'd see one of those". Most people of course have to look at the badge to recognise the marque. A subsequent conversation revealed that he had found a copy of the original Autocar road test of the Doretti and it had made an impression that stuck.. Over the years he had kept his interest and collected a few more articles, including the one of No.1425 in NZ Classic Car last year.
Martin Taylor-Wilde hopes to have NPH 348 (Chassis No.1212) back on the road by 2011 ready to do an Italian Lakes tour to celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary. The car has been laid up for many years but is now subject to a full restoration. Steve Hall of TR Enterprises is doing the engine for him and it will be the same spec as the engine he built for George Nibblett.
An e-mail received from John Wark about VAE 504, (Chassis No.1199) said that he is so pleased to learn from the Doretti website that the car he used to own is still in existence, albeit in bits. When John got married in 1967 he sold the car to Patrick White. In 1972 Mike Lambert bought No.1199 which was now painted primrose, rather than the red John remembered. The vehicle was dismantled and stored until acquired by me in 2002.
Tom Householder, a frequent correspondent, contacted me recently seeking information about Chassis No.1227. The car was imported into the USA 1986 and re-built as a racecar with a 2.2 litre,185hp engine fitted with 45DOE Weber carbs. It is reported to have run in the Mexican La Carrera America race in 1993. According to Tom, the car came from South Africa and carried Rhodesian registration plates, RSH 7337. If anyone has any information at all about No.1227 please let me know. Information is also needed about the following vehicles, especially the chassis numbers: 717 CRE, KSK 500, TKA 323, DHU 486, PXW 475, LNV 389, MMW 335 and RUP 216.
Chassis No.1037, the green Doretti that was recently reported at the Essen show, is the time-warp Doretti which was discovered in a Berkeley, California garage. Michael Vogel found No.1037 in the back of the garage after a tip-off from a friend of his brother, and finally acquired the car after negotiating, for over a year, with the daughter of the owner. I still do not have any details of who bought the car. If anyone has information, please let me know.
Trevor Davies, owner of RLL 276, is one of the organizers of the Festival of Black Country Vehicles and has already sent out a request for Doretti owners to attend the 2009 event for cars, commercial vehicles, motor cycles and bicycles made in the area. The date of the event is Sunday 26th July 2009 and the location will be the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley. Contact Peter Lockley for more details and an entry form.