Those of you that know me will know i have a real 'Passion' for Sunbeams. Not the early Marston bikes, but the later BSA/AMC ones. I already have a 1949 S8 and a 1950 S7 Deluxe, but Mr BSA/AMC made 3, the only one i didn't have was the early S7.
Well, that's changed now, glad to say I've been chasing a mate who had one, and i wore him down and he eventually sold me it!
I collected it Wednesday, and am really happy with it. It needs finishing off, its been restored sympathetically, but needs to be finished off.
Now, the story, and I may, no, do need some help here!!
It began life in Dublin, registered in Kilkenny. It was despatched from the factory to 'Huet Brothers, Dublin' on 22nd October 1948. I have no records of who owned it in Ireland, or how long it was there, but it ended up in London. The next piece of the jigsaw is in December 1964, in the shape of a tax disc, issued in East Ham, London. There are a few other tax discs with the paperwork, the last one being a December 1967 one issued in Barkingside.
Then there is a huge void.
The next owner i can see (We'll call him owner A), which seems to be from looking at parts invoices i have in around 2008, started to restore the bike, but according to the next owner (a chap in Gravesend who i spoke to yesterday and bought the bike in around 2012, we'll call him owner B) owner A has since passed on.
Owner B, (the chap in Gravesend), told me a story about the bike, as he knew owner A, story as follows, "In around 2008, he (owner A) visited a bike shop in East London. It was apparently from memory a typical old style bike shop, just a shop front with living accommodation above, on the corner of a street. The proprietor showed him a couple of old Sunbeams in the cellar, lots of spares included, and absolutely covered in dust"
Now the date i don't know as owner B didn't know either, and the whereabouts of the shop is a mystery, infact it may not even still be there? He went on to say, "The chap (owner A) bought both of the bikes with a view to making one good bike out of both and all the spares. It turned out they were different models though, one was an S8, and the other an S7. I think the chap sold the S8 on, and concentrated on restoring the S7"
The S7 in question is the one i have now.
So, I am desperate to fill in the gaps obviously, as this is quite a rare bike (only 2100 made and of them only 300 stayed in the UK), and it really interests me of course.
First stop was DVLA. The bikes V5C states registered in 2014, declared manufactured in 1948. So, whilst in the cellar of the bike shop in East London, the bike clearly dropped off the DVLA's radar during the switch over to digital and owner B had to apply for the original registration mark. This was successful and i have correspondence to prove this. Apart from that they have no knowledge of the bike at all other than it was first registered in Kilkenny in 1948 (IP is a Kilkenny reg number so this proves it was the first number issued to the bike).
I am going to call the Irish equivalent of the DVLA next week, and the Dublin records office to see if they can shed any light on it. So, the questions i need to get answers to are as follows;
1. Who owned it in Ireland and when did it come to England?
2. What/where is the bike shop in East London, are they still there?
3. It was taxed in London from December 1964-December 1967 (I have the original tax discs). How do i find out who owned it and how long for?
Hopefully someone can shed some light on this or make a suggestion?
Thanks in advance..
Steve.
Well, that's changed now, glad to say I've been chasing a mate who had one, and i wore him down and he eventually sold me it!
I collected it Wednesday, and am really happy with it. It needs finishing off, its been restored sympathetically, but needs to be finished off.
Now, the story, and I may, no, do need some help here!!
It began life in Dublin, registered in Kilkenny. It was despatched from the factory to 'Huet Brothers, Dublin' on 22nd October 1948. I have no records of who owned it in Ireland, or how long it was there, but it ended up in London. The next piece of the jigsaw is in December 1964, in the shape of a tax disc, issued in East Ham, London. There are a few other tax discs with the paperwork, the last one being a December 1967 one issued in Barkingside.
Then there is a huge void.
The next owner i can see (We'll call him owner A), which seems to be from looking at parts invoices i have in around 2008, started to restore the bike, but according to the next owner (a chap in Gravesend who i spoke to yesterday and bought the bike in around 2012, we'll call him owner B) owner A has since passed on.
Owner B, (the chap in Gravesend), told me a story about the bike, as he knew owner A, story as follows, "In around 2008, he (owner A) visited a bike shop in East London. It was apparently from memory a typical old style bike shop, just a shop front with living accommodation above, on the corner of a street. The proprietor showed him a couple of old Sunbeams in the cellar, lots of spares included, and absolutely covered in dust"
Now the date i don't know as owner B didn't know either, and the whereabouts of the shop is a mystery, infact it may not even still be there? He went on to say, "The chap (owner A) bought both of the bikes with a view to making one good bike out of both and all the spares. It turned out they were different models though, one was an S8, and the other an S7. I think the chap sold the S8 on, and concentrated on restoring the S7"
The S7 in question is the one i have now.
So, I am desperate to fill in the gaps obviously, as this is quite a rare bike (only 2100 made and of them only 300 stayed in the UK), and it really interests me of course.
First stop was DVLA. The bikes V5C states registered in 2014, declared manufactured in 1948. So, whilst in the cellar of the bike shop in East London, the bike clearly dropped off the DVLA's radar during the switch over to digital and owner B had to apply for the original registration mark. This was successful and i have correspondence to prove this. Apart from that they have no knowledge of the bike at all other than it was first registered in Kilkenny in 1948 (IP is a Kilkenny reg number so this proves it was the first number issued to the bike).
I am going to call the Irish equivalent of the DVLA next week, and the Dublin records office to see if they can shed any light on it. So, the questions i need to get answers to are as follows;
1. Who owned it in Ireland and when did it come to England?
2. What/where is the bike shop in East London, are they still there?
3. It was taxed in London from December 1964-December 1967 (I have the original tax discs). How do i find out who owned it and how long for?
Hopefully someone can shed some light on this or make a suggestion?
Thanks in advance..
Steve.