Stories from the rear view mirror

Y 2866

Terry Ciantar

Link to Ys on Parade

And now

From 1949

and another ...

and another.

I have recently had the good fortune of making contact with the two surviving granddaughters of Reginald Richardson, the original owner of my Y type. Both were extremely excited and pleased to receive news of their Grandpa's car. Both ladies have fond memories of the Y. Learning to drive and getting their drivers licence in it, driving it into town to impress the boys. I have stories about fox and rabbit shooting, one driving and the other standing up thru the sunroof  blazing away. A disaster narrowly avoided when a bush fire on New Years Day 1975  just four weeks before the marriage of one of the girls, burnt thru the family property and their mother escaping with  the MG loaded with a wedding dress, two bridesmaid dresses, the family dog and two valuable paintings.

 Contact with the family was made thru a Mr George Brooks who has been a close family friend of the Richardson's for many years, George (in his eighties) is an avid motoring enthusiast/historian, and in addition to putting me in contact with the family, George also gave me 3 x 35mm negatives of photographs of the MG which he took in 1949 when the Richardson's took delivery of the new car. I have double checked with George about the date of the photographs, and he is positive that the pictures were taken in 1949 as he has all his films catalogued and indexed.

Purchased in 1949 by Reginald Filgate Richardson from "White River" near Port Lincoln, South Australia.  The vehicle was purchased as the family car. When Reginald died, he passed the car onto his son Hugh. During this time it was externally repainted in original colours. No other restoration was carried out since, other than general maintenance. In 1988 it was sold to Sandra Johnson of Port Lincoln where it was stored and maintained (unregistered) and used for car club events on permits. In 2001 "Emmie" was transported to Airlie Beach, Queensland where she was stored until 1st June 2003 when we acquired her.

Terry Ciantar

YT 4619

David Pelham

Link to Ys on Parade

And now

YT 4619 was imported into Switzerland by J.H. Keller AG  of Zurich, the official MG Importers and allocated the Swiss Government Registration Code of M 013 B (M = Military). All motor vehicles were registered in this way in case they were required by the military at a later date.

 In the UK a number plate is allocated to a car, whereas in Switzerland a number plate (Kontrollschild) is allocated to the owner. This has certain advantages where it is possible to run two cars using the same plates. Can you imagine this in the UK?

 YT had nine owners prior to my acquisition in October 1998. Whilst I have the full details, they are abbreviated below: 

First Owner - Hans-Jörg Morel.  Zurich.   Registered 2^nd June 1950   Kontrollschild  (ZH 5792).

 Second Owner - Hans Rudolf Behrli.  Gerlafingen. Soloturn.  Registered 4^th April 1954 Kontrollschild (SO 8508).

Third Owner - Jeanette Bettenmann, Aarau, Aargau.  Registered 4^th May 1955 Kontrollschild (AG 5817).

Fourth Owner - Karl Hollenstein, Aarau, Aargau.  Registered 4 July 1959 Kontrollschild  (AG 24233).

Fifth Owner - Walter Glauser, Zauggenried, Bern.  Registered 1^st January 1960 Kontrollschild (BE 91597).

Sixth Owner - Transport Geb.W., Bern.  Registered 3^rd July 1960 Kontrollschild (BE 51479).

Seventh  Owner - Dr Hans Sanften,  Bern.  Registered 30^th March 1962 – Kontrollschild (BE 71873).

In March 1962 Total Kilometres recorded as 49,373.

In December 1966 Total Kilometres recorded as 114,858.

Dr Hans Sanften & family in the early 1960s.

Eighth Owner - Rolf Kohler, Rohr, Aargau. Registered 24^th May 1973 – Kontrollschild (AG 112690).

Ninth Owner - Max Stoop, Langnau am Albis, Zurich.  Purchased  late 1975 – Total Kilometres 131,000.

Max Stoop’s new toy before restoration 1976.

Registered 24^th April 1977 – Kontrollschild (ZH 200761).

Tenth Owner - David Pelham, East Grinstead, Sussex.  Purchased  9^th October 1998 , Total Kilometres recorded as 144,126.

 Registered 3^rd December 1998 Registration (TSJ 946)

Regency Run 1999.

‘You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs!

Undergoing restoration for the second time in November 2000.

YT4619 has been restored twice, once by Max Stoop in the 1970s, more recently by myself almost 30 years later and completed in 2003.

David Pelham

Y 5270

Paul Barrow

Link to Ys on Parade

And now

From the 1960s

As it was when I bought it -1997.

I do not know anything of the car's history other than it was first registered in Manchester on 8 June 1950, and remained in the area until I bought it at Silverstone, in the Jubilee year, 1997.  The first photograph was sent to me recently by David Mullen and (according to the back of the photograph) was owned by a Maurice Jones of Bolton, who also owned an MG ZB (registration RUX 106).  From the colours of the photograph, I believe this would have been sometime in the late 1960s.

The middle photograph was given to me by the previous owner to myself, Rev. John Kershaw and was taken shortly after he restored it in the early 1990s. The last photograph was taken by me outside the church in Awbridge, Hampshire UK, shortly after it current restoration to the body's original in 2003 just before I moved to the US ... with the Y naturally!

Paul Barrow