Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[StradaSearcher]

Please read my appeal for knowledge...

I am doing some research on an old English car manufacturer - This is all I know..

They were called "Strada cars Ltd of Saxmundham".
They exhibited at the Earlscourt Exhibition in October 1974 (stand 85).

I would like to discover if anyone knows if any of their cars survived or perhaps even to get a photo of one. This information will be used in the Saxmundham Town Museum.

Your help is appreciated.

Warren

[Scotty]

Hi Warren,

This is the entry for Strada Cars Ltd in "The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile", which also has a photograph of one of the cars in the related section -

"STRADA CARS LTD. 1974-1975

Developed by a light engineering company, the Strada 4/88 was a bold attempt at an all-new mid-engined sports car. It used a 2-tier spaceframe chassis fitted with Triumph GT6 suspension, an 88bhp Ford Escort Mexico engine and a reversed VW gearbox. The wedge-shaped 2-seater fibreglass body was designed by Specialised Design Associates to be fully removable and the car passed its full MIRA crash test as a prelude to volume plans. despite plans to make 100 cars per year, only three cars were ever completed. CR"

So I think Warren you'd be incredibly lucky to find one of these cars that still exists, although I know there's always that possibility as only recently the Argyll GT Turbo prototype has re-surfaced. Perhaps one of your Strada's is also tucked away in somebody's garage locally, just waiting to be re-discovered once again.

Hope this helps.

[StradaSearcher]

Thanks Scotty -brilliant detective work - I am based in Germany but will send it to my father, in Saxmundham, and get him to go to the library to see if they have this book.

As the book is assosiated with Lord Beaulieu I will also peruse his collection info.. 3 to look for ...but a photograph is within my grasp at least !

Thanks warren

[giggles]

Would that Saxmundham in Suffolk by any chance?

[buzzy bee]

Hi

You can be very surprised what is in peoples private collections only a few houses away!

Cheers

Dave

[Scotty]

[StradaSearcher]

Hi - for those interested, in Sax, suffolk (yes giggles just 20 mins up the road), the car workshops are still there however there is no outward sign of their busy 1970 industry. The museum is a local museum and has the remit to capture Saxmundhams history - a British car manufacturer is quite a story.. if we manage to find a car the museum, will I am sure, hold a special exhibition for it.. Thanks to Scotty - I contacted Beaulieu and the emailed through the picture - for those interested i can forward it (not sure how to display it in this forum) (a big thank you goes to a very helpful National Motor Museum, Beaulieu)

Another sidetrack...my Great Uncle used to work for Trojan - I have picks of him racing a Trojan Go Kart with King Hussein, and many Trojan souvenirs (some from the factory) and some trojan bonnet emblems (Trojan Soldier busts and also Trojan plaques)- is there a value in these objects (apart form any sentimental ones!)

[StradaSearcher]

I have altered my profile with a but rather grainy version of the pic from Beaulieu.. you can tell it was 1974 when someone designed this .. The original is a much nicer picture

Dave - are you telling me you know of a Strada 4/88 in Cheshire?

[Rick]

glad to hear the search is continuing well! I think Dave/buzzy was generalising about old cars that you might stumble across on your doorstep - at least I think so I wonder if looking through old car mags from the early 70s might turn something up, be worth searching ebay from time to time

Rick
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[Scotty]

Hi Warren,

I did a bit more digging this morning and one of the Strada's had the registration number OO 91, which I can tell you no longer is registered to that vehicle and is now currently on another unrelated car.

Now that doesn't mean the car no longer exists, however it does point towards the strong possiblity of it at least being off the road and at worst no longer with us.

[StradaSearcher]

blimey!! I wont ask how you got that info!

Thanks - I had a thought of exploring the company name to find the owners - then trying to trace them.. but my knowledge of the WWW's secrets have been exhausted with a blank..

0091 is the car in the book - I wonder if 0090, 0r 0092, 0093 could also be the others...I wonder if I am looking for the "needle in a Suffolk haystack" - or at best a "shell in a suffolk barn"....Thanks again you have been great!

Warren

[Rick]

Have you tried writing to the newspaper local to that area? perhaps some former employees are still around and have information?

PS the Trojan stuff sounds interesting

Rick
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[Scotty]

[Scotty]

One last thing - I was drinking my coffee and it suddenly struck me that the "OO" series registration number as a strange index number for a car manufactured in 1974/5 to be issued by the DVLC. "Double-Letter" (i.e. AB, FL, DC, etc) registration numbers were issued from 1904 up until the early 1930's, with a few exceptions after that, so it would be reasonable to assume OO 91 would have been issued by the early 1905/6 - enter another data-base I have access to.

It transpires that the "OO" series index was unique as it was the last "Double Letter" range issued on mainland Britain, being a short-lived register issued by Essex from September 1961 for only 8 months, the final issue being in April 1962 - OO 8094. I have to say though I have my doubts that every single number was issued because this is a huge issue from an individual county in the space of a comparatively few months, but perhaps the folks in Essex were very well-heeled and could afford motor cars.

Anyway, I would consider it highly probable that Strada Cars Ltd bought this registration number for its unique appearance, which in turn would enhance the visual (& marketing) impact of the car.
This sadly means there could be no relationship to the other two cars, unless they managed to buy the next two numbers in the series.

[Rick]

Is it possible that that 'registration number' plate was just a chassis or production number of some kind, hung on the car while press photos were being taken? or was it definitely road registered with that number?

Rick
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