Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Scotty]

Hi Rick,

The copy of the image (black & white) I have has OO 91 appearing on a black, oblong stick-on registration plate background, with the correct letter size, colour (white) and alpha-numeric layout that represents a registration number. The "plate" is stuck onto the front section of the sloping bonnet, so its a big part of the visual image.

And yet you raise another interesting point - why use old fashioned registration plate colours when you're trying to promote a cutting edge design? Perhaps it may very well be some kind of internal factory numbering system, but its really "in your face", not like any factory numbering system I've even encountered.

However I have learned over the years to expect the unexpected!

[Rick]

Just seen the full size pic, the number plate looks like a stick on jobbie doesn't it. Also interesting is the use of Triumph-pattern wheels, but the wide 5.5J ones as used on Formula Ford in the 1970s.

Have you seen how shallow the doors are, must be a squeeze getting in and out, especially if a skirted lady was trying to maintain her decency

Rick
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[StradaSearcher]

..notice how the doors 'almost' fit too...

the back of a TR7 and the front of a ferrari with triumph wheels...

[giggles]

A couple of ramdom comments for you here. Trident's were also made in Suffolk, well in Woodbridge and Ipswich and there are still a few of these on the road. Secondly Suffolk reg plates were DX & PV (Ipswich) and BJ, RT and GV.

Told you they were ramdom.

[PiperP2]

StradaSearcher

If you would like to contact me directly I can priovide you with some further details on the Strada 4/88

[47p2]

A couple of brochures are available for sale in America of all places. I have dealt with this company and the service is excellent

McLellan's Automobile Literature
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ROVER
One of Britain's Fine Cars

[PAUL BEAUMONT]

I do not know if it in any way relevant, but a private school close to me runs a fleet of minibusses all registered OO.....
PAUL

[JayGee]

I was Saxmundham born and bred and I can tell the person who queried if it was the one in Suffolk that there is only ONE Saxmundham in the world. Probably means it was so wonderful the inhabitants never went to other countries and named places there! Or maybe they were not very adventurous.

I've also been involved with the Sax museum (If you visit, see the windmill) and have long wanted to model the Strada for the exhibits. Potentially they could sell models too. But as others have found, info seems scarce. The best I ever found was a blurry copy of that leaflet grabbed from a completed eBay sale years ago. At least we now have one more photo.

The local newspaper does seem a chance. There must surely still be former employees living nearby?

[JayGee]

By the way, that front end is far more Clan Crusader than Ferrari.

[JayGee]

Has anyone contacted PiperP2 who said he has more info?

[Neal]

This is to really to tidy up this forum. The person who started this is aware and in contact with me. I now own the Strada numbered 002. Although it was actually the first one built and was then sent to MIRA for crash testing. It was subsequently rebuilt by Strada but had to appear as a new car, as crashed cars from MIRA are supposed to be destroyed. My brother and I were told about the possible whereabouts of a very rare car in 2016. We did not know what it was but went to an address in Norfolk where we found a chassis rotting in a hedge, and three sections of fibreglass body in a garage. The lady who owned it had had the car for ten years. She had acquired it as a non runner, but complete and as she was a body sprayer had intended to restore it. However she gave it to somebody to dismantle for restoration. Sadly this person took the car apart with a disc cutter and virtually wrecked it, and then charged the lady a lot of money for the privilage. At this point the lady lost heart and also was very busy and the car laid where it had been returned too.
So 2016 and we collect what is left and take it to our workshop, just 8 miles up the road, the to assess the situation, but luckily we also had been given the contact for one of the original owners of the company. It turned out that when Strada went into administration after 3 cars had been built, this chap had purchased all the company assets including the number three car ( built for the 1974 motor show). He has been very helpful and also had a number of spares. The show car is still in a shed at his home where it has been since 1974 but recently his son has started to dismantle it with the intention of restoring it. So back to our Strada, it has now had a full nut and bolt restoration and is due to go on the road by the end of August. We have tried to restore it as original in British racing green and the interior in original orange.
Such a shame that the company foundered as the concept was pretty good. So if anyone wishes to know more just ask the question!
Neal
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Rootes ts3

[Neal]

All
I have just been reading the posts again and there is a lot of conjecture about the number plate. The strada we have is the only one that was registered for the road and is GDX 666N. The show car was never completely finished (there was no heater for instance) and didn't get a number plate. The third car is an all round mystery as it was purported to be red but launch pictures show it as orange. Nobody has any record of it and the previous company owner is very reticent about it. There is a possibility that parts from the red car were used to complete the show car ( which incidentally carries the chassis number 003). There are some parts for car number 4 still with the show car. So if the red car was finished what chassis number did it carry as we know that ours was the first built so should have been 001 but was changed to 002 to disguise the fact that it was the MIRA car (we have photographic evidence to prove this). The show car was definitely the last car built as confirmed by the company owner. The mystery deepens. That number 00 91 was just a spoof according to the past owner.
Neal
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Rootes ts3

[Neal]

Sorry
The number 0091 is 1600 upside down, the strada is a 1600 ford Mexico engine in the back. A subtle joke apparently!
Neal
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Rootes ts3

[JohnDale]

Hi Bob(Scotty), you're working well. Just for your info, Ford Motor Co. used 00
registrations on some of their cars. One that sticks in my mind is M00 used when they supported the Milk Race - real thoughtful marketing! Can't remember what year that was but seem to recall Escorts being used.
Haven't seen your Plymouth out & about? Cheers,JD
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1958 Ford Zephyr Mk2 Convertible
1976 Ford Granada Ghia.

[Peter_L]