Yes, the dark bits are rust!

So this a “Standard” interior!

I corresponded with the previous owner by e-mail over a period of about four months before deciding to buy the car.  He told me that it was a 1951 model that it was last on the road in 1956.  As a friend of the family, he had purchased the car in 1999 from the widow of the original owner, with intention of restoring it. Subsequently he decided that he didn’t have time to undertake a restoration and so was looking for someone who might be interested in it.  He told me that the engine and gearbox were out of the car and that the engine was dismantled.   There were quite a few spares (although he hadn’t taken an inventory of them), and the original workshop manual and parts list were there.  Since the price was nominal and he offered to rent a trailer and transport it to me from Montreal (a distance of about 500 km) for an additional $500, I decided to purchase it “sight unseen”. I took delivery on September 15, 2000.

So what what was delivered?  It turned out to be a standard model which had a 1958 licence plate on it.  The serial number is EOPBL 9678 and the “PB” establishes it as a 1950 model.  Eden Lindsay, the Javelin registrar subsequently informed me that the car was shipped from the UK on July 21st 1950 and was one of 433 Javelins shipped to Canada during the production run.  There were indeed quite a few spare parts that came with the car, but many of them have proven to not be for the Javelin! However, some critical spares such as a replacement piston, con rod and cylinder liner were included. The major missing items were the radiator  grille and front bumper (see the accompanying picture).  A subsequent request to see if they can be found did not yield anything.  The good news however, was that the odometer reports a mere 12,928 miles. I have found no evidence to suggest that this mileage is not genuine.     

The crankcase and some other parts.

The Second Car -- Javelin S/N 11358

The second car at its previous home at the time of my initial inspection.

The second car at its new home following the removal of the wings, bonnet and engine.

In the summer of 2002, having made my decision not to attempt to restore the body of the first car I contacted the owner of the only other Javelin that I was aware of in Eastern Canada.  I thought that perhaps he might be interested in parts of my car, or alternatively he may be interested in selling his. He immediately indicated that he was now planning to dispose of his car.  When I inspected the car I found that bodily it was in a much better state than my original one, and so I expressed an interest in purchasing it.  For various reasons, the negotiations to purchase it were somewhat prolonged, so it wasn’t until March 2003 that the sale was agreed on.

The previous owner had owned this car for about 15 years; but it had not been running throughout his ownership. It was kept in a garage, but not much work had been done on it for many years. He couldn’t tell me much about its previous history.

I arranged to transport it the 180 km from Toronto with the local owner of a flatbed truck.  He was also able to remove and dispose of the body of the first car.  Total cost for both services was $280, which I considered to be very reasonable.

The second car is also a “Standard” model; but as the serial number indicates, its somewhat younger than the other one. I deem it to be a 1951 model.  Eden Lindsay reported that the car was shipped from the factory on 30th October 1950 to Wells Motor Sales in Toronto. The only significant specification difference is that this car has fully hydraulic brakes, whereas the other one was hydraulic at the front only. The odometer on this car shows only 7,624 miles, and judging from the condition of the car in general, I’m reasonably confident that it’s genuine.  It had a 1965 licence plate attached indicating when it was last on the road.

The car came with quite a few desirable additional items which included a complete stainless steel exhaust system, an unused replacement fuel tank, a spare steering wheel in excellent condition some upholstery fabric and old but apparently unused carpeting.