HISTORY

In 1945 Rover had no new designs so the prewar saloon models were revived to fill the gap while new designs were created. There were severe materials shortages, so Government legislation was used to restrict the numbers of cars built. The economic conditions also required manufacturers to export up to 75% of production.

In spite of the conditions Rover introduced an open Tourer on the 12hp  chassis early in 1947. They had lost most of their records and drawings during the war, so they repurchased a 1934 Sports Tourer to use as a pattern.  This car still exists today - click here for more information about it.

The 1947 tourers were intended for export only, but all 200  were fitted to right hand drive chassis, so inevitably some found their way onto the home market, including my own,  number 77.  It was first registered with Oxfordshire County Council on 27th January 1948, and given the registration number CUD 958 which it still carries today.  The first owner was a Mr C.W. Batt of Milton-under-Wychwood in Oxfordshire.

Body construction was carried out by A.P.Aircraft Ltd of Coventry. By this time Rover had moved to Solihull from their Coventry factory which had been destroyed by bombing in 1940. APA at this time were also making car bodies for other manufacturers. The picture shows the APA works making bodies for Lea Francis.

The next information that I have is nearly 18 years later 16th  November 1965.  The continuation registration book shown below which starts at that date, shows the owner at that time to be a Mr Humphris of Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire. It is possible that Mr Humphris was the second owner since it is still an Oxfordshire address.

Click on image to enlarge to full size

Then in 1967 the car changed hands again and moved around the country to various different locations.  It seems to have been laid up in 1977, because  I have records which show the same mileage between 1977 and 1991 . At around this time it was restored and I became the owner in January 2000.  If anyone has any information about the history of the car I would be very pleased to hear from you.

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