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JW 4606 is a family
heirloom. First registered in Wolverhampton, it was purchased new, in
1934, by the uncle of the father of the present owner.
For its age, the car has covered a very low mileage of just over 43,000 miles, having been used in its early years mostly as canine transport - to take the dog a mile or so up the road to the local common for its daily walk! With the engine barely having had time to warm up on such short trips, it's no wonder the engine's on its third rebore! An interesting adjunct is that the engine was always started 'on the handle' in order to preserve the battery; the net result that the starter ring and motor pinion show little signs of wear. Laid up during the war, the car was driven by my great uncle until around 1960, when, having attained the age of 80, the authorities revoked his driving licence on the grounds of poor eyesight. Taking the car back to the garage from where he had first purchased it, some 26 years earlier (at a cost then of £128), he was so 'disgusted' at being offered only £10 for it, he instead gave it to my father for nothing! Thus the car was collected and driven to York, where we were then living, and used as a second run-about alongside the 1939 Humber Super-Snipe. In 1961, my parents moved from York to Dorset, and hence so too did JW 4606. The journey of some 260 miles is reputed to have taken 7hrs 30mins non-stop! The car continued to be used as a second runabout for about three years, this time alongside the recently acquired Mk I Ford Consul that had by now replaced the Humber (much to my father's regret in later years - the particular 'Club' version of the Humber was one of only 100 of its type built - none are believed to have survived today). In 1963, JW4606 struck misfortune when the part of the crankcase housing the front main bearing developed a fracture, resulting in excessive crankshaft end float. Thus the car was pushed into the garage and effectively forgotten about until a few years later. During the late 1960s, when I was in my mid-teens, with some encouragement from my father, I started to take an interest in the car. This began (and more or less ended) by hand painting the all-black original coachwork with two-tone (yellow and black) Valspar! As my interest wained, the car remained laid up, until following the passing of my father the car fell into my official ownership during the early 1980s. In 1983, it was transported from where it had lain for 20 years to my home in Befordshire. Thus began a more serious (and this time more determined) period of restoration, which in all was to take 3 years to complete. Most attention was directed to mechanical refurbishment, with the bodywork requiring little more than cosmetic surgery to restore it to its original colour. From 1983 to 1993 the car was regularly taxed and MOT'd for the summer months, and used to attend many rallies and on general outings, with nearly 3,000 miles having been added to its previous mileage of 40,000 miles. However, for various reasons since then it has not been practical for me to keep the car in roadgoing order. Nevertheless it has been well cared for, with the intention that some day soon it will be put back onto the road. |
