1960 Ashley 1172
Registration No. ABT 956
Photo's courtesy Richard & the FSCC unless noted otherwise.
This Ashley 1172 was registered with the Ashley UK Registrar in 1985 when it was spotted in the
"Thoroughbred & Classic Cars" Magazine October 1985 Issue.
At this time it was thought to maybe belong to a Martin Turner of Dorset.
Little was known about the car as the previous page No.30
which would have had some story to the photo was missing.
It was two years later in early 1987 that further information was received about the car, it was "For Sale" in the Southampton area and Malcolm McKay had seen it and sent this description of the car:
Little was known about the car as the previous page No.30
which would have had some story to the photo was missing.
It was two years later in early 1987 that further information was received about the car, it was "For Sale" in the Southampton area and Malcolm McKay had seen it and sent this description of the car:
The car is built to a very high specification, including Bowden chassis complete with Bowden IFS and all round telescopic shock absorbers, full Aquaplane tuning gear, including cylinder head, manifolds, etc, and it has the distributor mounted on front of timing cover - Interesting!
It has a Morris 8 - 4 speed gearbox, a Bowden fully hydraulic brake system, high ratio rear axle diff, Ballamy 15" wheels, a very full instrumentation dashboard and Super Accessories Woodrim steering wheel.
The seller at the time was Alan Keble of Andover and it was sold to someone around the Salisbury-Fordingbridge area.
January 2015
It was not heard of again by me until I received an email from Robin Hanauer on the last day of January:
Hi
I have just acquired what appear to be the remains of Ashley 1172 Reg No. ABT 956. I bought it on ebay with a Ballamy LMB / Reliant Sabre chassis and log book but on inspection of the body I came across a plate with the details of the Ashley. It also came with another chassis frame and this appears to be a Bowden as you list in the chassis list. I have some photos of the assembly of bits and wondered if there was any way I could reclaim the original reg number. Do you have any further info on this car?
Best regards
Robin
I have just acquired what appear to be the remains of Ashley 1172 Reg No. ABT 956. I bought it on ebay with a Ballamy LMB / Reliant Sabre chassis and log book but on inspection of the body I came across a plate with the details of the Ashley. It also came with another chassis frame and this appears to be a Bowden as you list in the chassis list. I have some photos of the assembly of bits and wondered if there was any way I could reclaim the original reg number. Do you have any further info on this car?
Best regards
Robin
I replied as best I could and sent a link to a page titled reclaiming-registrations and Robin sent me some photo's below of the car as shown on eBay and as he received it.
These photo's also show the two chassis's included in the sale.
Not sure why the Bonnet shows Registration No. WBL 480
but it looks like the Bonnet & plate comes from a different Ashley 1172 judging by the colour differences, maybe the original got damaged.
(A future Ashley 1172 car history story to locate)
The 2 light Blue car photo's are shown by the seller to indicate what the car could look like when restored.
They are in fact photo's taken at the
FSCC Historic Specials Day - Burford on 12 Aug 2012
and it is the original
1961 "Sabra" Prototype for Autocars Co, (an Israeli firm),
now restored, running and at displays in UK, also a forerunner to the Reliant Sabre.
Not sure why the Bonnet shows Registration No. WBL 480
but it looks like the Bonnet & plate comes from a different Ashley 1172 judging by the colour differences, maybe the original got damaged.
(A future Ashley 1172 car history story to locate)
The 2 light Blue car photo's are shown by the seller to indicate what the car could look like when restored.
They are in fact photo's taken at the
FSCC Historic Specials Day - Burford on 12 Aug 2012
and it is the original
1961 "Sabra" Prototype for Autocars Co, (an Israeli firm),
now restored, running and at displays in UK, also a forerunner to the Reliant Sabre.
Further emails with Robin produced some more information about the car, the Ashley bodyshell plate No. 2077 and a stamped plate made and attached by the original builder, (maybe), indicating
A:F:S Ashley:Ford:Special ???
REG: ABT 956 Registration No.
CHS: Y209813 Chassis No.
ENG: C782552 Engine No.
J.E.B J.E.B Car builders name initials ???
The words in RED are only my assumptions!
If correct and Mr J.E.B see's this please contact me as I would like
to get your story about the building of Ashley 1172 - ABT 956
REG: ABT 956 Registration No.
CHS: Y209813 Chassis No.
ENG: C782552 Engine No.
J.E.B J.E.B Car builders name initials ???
The words in RED are only my assumptions!
If correct and Mr J.E.B see's this please contact me as I would like
to get your story about the building of Ashley 1172 - ABT 956
The photo's below where also emailed to me by Robin, it would seem
from the photo's that he is a 1960's special's collector,
as he also has in his back yard
a Tornado Talisman, a Rochdale GT, a Microplas Mistral and
a Ginnetta-Lotus-Halifax-MG and now an Ashley 1172
quite some collection.
from the photo's that he is a 1960's special's collector,
as he also has in his back yard
a Tornado Talisman, a Rochdale GT, a Microplas Mistral and
a Ginnetta-Lotus-Halifax-MG and now an Ashley 1172
quite some collection.
June 2015
I didn't hear from Robin again until September 2016, but in June 2015
a friend emailed me about an Ashley 1172 for auction on ebay,
I opened the page to find that it was an Ashley already known to me, albeit in a different colour:
ebay
1950s Ashley bodied MG Special for restoration. Kit car - No reserve
1950s Ashley bodied MG Special for restoration. Kit car - No reserve
Item information
Item condition: Used
Ended:
15 Jun, 2015 21:41:18 BST
Winning bid:
£2,000.00
[ 6 bids ]
Item location:
Haslemere, United Kingdom
Buyer is responsible for vehicle collection or delivery.
Description:
This is a stalled project for rebuild. It is a rare (and in my opinion attractive) Ashley bodied special from the late 1950s / early 1960s.
The chassis is early 1950s MG with a 1622cc B-series engine.
It has disc front brakes and live leaf sprung back axle.
I have had the engine running on slave tank and it sounded good but the car is sold as needing total restoration.
I am selling this due to the acquisition of another (better) project!
Please email for more details, I'll try to answer your questions.
Better still come and see it.
No paperwork.
Yes, it was Robin's Ashley 1172 but under the Registration No. WBL 480 that was shown on the bonnet of ABT 956.
Strange that after the repaint, the engine bay photo below still shows the nameplate with the
ABT 956 registration, chassis and engine numbers !!!
ABT 956 registration, chassis and engine numbers !!!
I didn't hear from Robin again, even though I emailed him about the sale, until;
September 2016
When I received a "Hacked/Spam whatever email" with his name on, when I checked back to him he had not sent any emails to me,
but he did send this reply,
Hi Ivor
Must be spam, sorry about that. I'll change my password!
Sadly I never had ABT 956 in it's entirety, only the bodyshell less bonnet which came from another 1172 shell.
The bits I fitted to a MG chassis and sold into Belgium last year.
Cheers
Robin
Must be spam, sorry about that. I'll change my password!
Sadly I never had ABT 956 in it's entirety, only the bodyshell less bonnet which came from another 1172 shell.
The bits I fitted to a MG chassis and sold into Belgium last year.
Cheers
Robin
I replied asking if he had any last photo's and also a contact address
for the buyer in Belgium, but have had no reply as yet.
I'm hoping that maybe he has sent my details to the new buyer
and I will hear from him in Belgium sometime.
So if the new buyer from Belgium see's this page or
If you have any information about these
Ashley 1172 sports cars
Registration Nos.
ABT 956 or WBL 480
Please email me or use the contact page
ABT 956 Donor car originally registered by
Yorkshire (ER) C.C.
in March 1937
WBL 480 Donor car originally registered by
Berkshire C.C.
in August 1960
Ashley.Sportiva@yahoo.com.au
or use the contact page on this site to contact me
If you have any information about these
Ashley 1172 sports cars
Registration Nos.
ABT 956 or WBL 480
Please email me or use the contact page
ABT 956 Donor car originally registered by
Yorkshire (ER) C.C.
in March 1937
WBL 480 Donor car originally registered by
Berkshire C.C.
in August 1960
Ashley.Sportiva@yahoo.com.au
or use the contact page on this site to contact me