Vanguard 3 info

[Tinawalker]

Can anyone tell me when my V3 was built? Or any of it's history? Its Chassis No is V327738DL, Its history is very vague. All I know about it is, it was sold at auction in 1995 at St Austell in Cornwall and was said to be in a derelict state, after having 'spent 25-30 years in a museum which had closed down. Some indications seem to lead me to believe it may have been a Police car in its working life, or even a military one retired to a museum', but that is not certain. (Not many private cars that get worn out in service end up in museums). It has I believe an Essex registration now (-2637HK), but must have been re registered as the only entry on the log sheet states, it was first registered in 1995, and 'declared to have been bult in 1957'. It's black with original type of spotlights, so may have been Police or Military, as they used many Black V3s and it is known that the Devon and Cornwall police used V3s as patrol cars. It didn't originally have an O/D gearbox, but does now. If any one remembers it years ago, probably at 'Automobilia' at St Austell which shut in the mid 1990s or can shed any further light on its past history then squeak up - oops sorry I mean speak up. I am interested to know where its past misdeeds may have been performed. Regards Tina Walker

[Ian Leggett]

Now this is strange. According to the build records the last Vanguard 3 was chassis V322587 in October 1957.
from then on they were Vignale. Anyone else got more info.
Ian Leggett.

[Tinawalker]

Oh, As the number I have taken was off my current MOT cert it is possible that the tester read it wrong so I will go and look on the cars VIN plate and see if it is the right one.

[Tinawalker]

Hi Ian, I have looked on the cars VIN plate, and the number - V327738DL is correct as on the car! Could this have been a batch of numbers set aside for either military or Police cars? I do suspect this car was one of such when new.
Tina

[Ian Leggett]

Hi Tina. This is a mystery, perhaps web master has more info as he often comes up with the definitive answer. I have spotted one possibility. The final chassis October 1957 was V322587 but the first Vignale chassis was October 1958 V350001. So we so have a gap of one year. Over to you webmaster. Regards Ian.

[Leonard Barr]

I have consulted the Factory Build Records (Off which the Standard Register has a set) on this car. It tells us that the car was built on Wednesday 24th July 1957, at some time after 3 pm on that day.

It is shown as having left the factory with black paintwork and red/beige vinyl trim. It was then despatched to Standard Main Agents: Lambs Ltd, Southend Road, Woodford Green, Essex. (This would tie in with an Essex Registration Number) but it seems to rule out that it was a Military Order or even Police for that matter.

I hope that this is of interest.

Len Barr

[Tinawalker]

Thanks for that info. It seems strange that this car had ended up in a Cornish Motor Museum for about 30 years if it lived in Essex. What gave me the impression of where it might have been, was that the rear bumper had in the past had 2 holes drilled in it about 18 inches apart, which would have been about right for those old "Police Stop" signs they used to have on them. (or Royal Navy, eg) and when I got it the holes had been welded up and the welds ground down flat again. Also the switches had been switched about a bit. I guess a normal owner with a wourn out car would have just scrapped it, and not spent time welding the holes in the bumper before retiring it to a museum in Cornwall! The Devon and Cornwall Police are known to have used V3s. All the DVLA could say about it was that it was registered in the UK in 1995 and declared built in 1957, with no further details. However unless anyone else can shed some light on its mysterious past and let me know, it may be difficult to trace its past deeds! The car is still black with the same spec interior as stated, apart that is from the replaced engine and the O/D gearbox

[RhylBM2877]

Hi Tina

Just a bit more information on your Phase 3. This car was NOT at Automobilia which was located near St Austell, Cornwall.

I have just got back from a Sunday Lunch meeting for another Car Club of which I am a member,
Mr and Mrs Vincent, who use to run Automobilia were also there. Yes they use to have a Vanguard in their collection, but it was a 1949 Phase 1 Saloon. (They still own this car and the majority of the cars from the Museum, although the Museum is no longer open to the public.)

However, they told me that there use to be two other Motor Museum's in Cornwall at the same time. One of which was run by a chap who has since died. They believe that his Museum use to have a black Phase 3.

I hope that this is of interest.

Best wishes

Len Barr

[Tinawalker]

Thankyou for that info. Automobilia was only a guess as to where it might have been as Automobilia had closed, and as this car had been sold at an an auction there in 1995. I wonder which other museum it may have been at and how it got there! Thank-you anyway and anyone else got anytning more to tell about it?
Tina

[ndt2000]

Commission number coments are interesting, I think the missing numbers ended up in Australia as utility or pickups as I have a 1958 or 59 ute Commission number V336346CC has small windscreen like the early phase 3's. front mudguards are also V3 as is steering wheel.

[Ian Leggett]

Now thats an interesting item. Just as the British Government sent all those people to Australia out of the way in the 1700s and 1800s seems Standard may have done the same with these Vanguards in the 1900s.
Does anyone else have any more information on these "lost" commission numbers. I bet Len Barr has.
Many thanks to the previous website visitor for this info.
No offence intended to our friends in Australia.
Regards Ian.

[Tina Walker]

Ho Humm! It seems harder than expected to trace the nefarious past of my V3. I did try to look up the Essex firm it was despatched to in 1957, but drew a blank on that. No e-mail listed, and it is not even shown on the BT 118-500 number list, so they must have either closed down some time ago, or been taken over by some other agency with a different name.
I guess after all this time even if such a place still existed they would not still have kept any records anyway as to where it had gone to originally. Is there anyone living in Essex anywhere near that address is who can say if the place is still there, even as a motor dealership, or is it a factory or shopping centre now?
All the DVLA could say was that the car was "first registered in the UK in 1995" with a non transferrable number. Although it is an Essex series number, this does not necessarily seem to say it was in any way the original number, and just might have been an issue of an age related number that was spare at the time it was being reinstated. The current Essex number may just have been a co-incidence, or not as the case may have been at the time. Obviously I would like to be proved wrong on this theory, and find someone who would come to light and say "My dad or Grandad bought that car new and we went to school in it", and still have a folder in the attic with all the original paperwork to back it up! One can always live in hope! For now though the trail seems to have gone cold.
Tina

[peter]

Hi Tina,

Lambs Ltd got buried under the north circular/A12 in the late 70's. Full address is in J R Davy's book !

[tinawalker]

:-/Thanks Peter, I looked on the map and see that Southend road seems to be virtually under the M11 so I doubt if this will go much further in the tracing records, but will have to keep looking anyway. Anyone else got any further ideas on this one 2637HK?
Tina