1. 1938 Sunbeam Talbot 10 (CFH 485).
Two more car photos from the early 1960s sent over by Bonny open this page for the Sunbeam Talbot 10. His car was a 1938 saloon, registration CFH 485, and this fine machine was his first car purchase. He paid 110 GBP for it in 1960, and it didn't take long before he realised that it was a little under-powered for the North
Devon roads. Finished in a two-tone paint scheme, it certainly looked the part though, and with its leather upholstery and sunshine roof, provided
comfortable - if rather sedate - transportation.
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It was put on the road in November 1938, which fits with its (Gloucester) registration number, and Bonny believes that it could have been one of the first
cars built after the merger of Sunbeam and Talbot in the same year. At its launch, the four-door "Ten" was priced at 265 GBP and, according to the
adverts of the time, offered "Unequalled appearance ~ Great comfort ~ Sensible luggage space ~ High performance ~ Remarkable economy". Potential buyers
could make a beeline for stand 143 at the 1938 Earl's Court motor show and see it for themselves on the factory's stand.
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The first photo shows Bonny with his immaculate steed, outside a hotel in Ilfracombe, Whit 1960.
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Photograph number two is a colour slide of the same car, also in 1960 but this time near Chilmark. There are a few subtle differences. Although it could be the scan, I think the registration plate may have been re-painted, and an AA badge now adorns the grille. There's also an extra sticker or sign in the windscreen, alongside the tax disc.
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Thanks for sending over the photos.
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Update - more news regarding CFH 485.
Not for the first time in these parts, more information regarding a car featured in the old images section of OCC has come to light. This time, exciting news with regard to Bonny's Sunbeam Talbot registration CFH 485, which first appeared here in 2013. Paul dropped me a line in 2019, having stumbled across a photograph within an old family album that just so happened to feature his grandfather's Sunbeam Talbot in it. Closer inspection of it reveals a registration remarkably similar to Bonny's car. Although there are a few defects to the print just over the beginning of the car's registration number, it almost certainly is the same car, much earlier in its life and sporting a different, original, paint scheme. Paul adds:
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"I have visited your site many times in the past and often trawled through the various photographs with great interest. But only today whilst going through old family photographs did I locate a pic of a Sunbeam Talbot 10 with my mother at the wheel."
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"I believe it is the same vehicle, despite changes in paint and the later additions such as horns and pillar side lights. My mother is in the driving seat, but I cannot identify her passenger. The pic was taken in 1941 and would have been in the Dawlish/Teignmouth area in Devon, where my grandfather had a building business."
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"I do know that he owned the car on two occasions having initially replaced it with a P2 Rover, which he never took to and because he could not find another Sunbeam he managed to buy the Sunbeam back from the chap he had sold it to, unfortunately for more than he sold it for in the first place! but apparently he was just grateful to get it back and never regretted it."
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"I thought the wartime blackout headlamp covers & white paint to a panel behind the vee front bumper and the entire running board is interesting too. My grandfather was a special constable during the war years, being deemed too old for regular service, so I expect that the modest performance the car offered was more than sufficient for his needs. I don't know how long he kept the Sunbeam but he passed away in 1956 and as my grandmother didn't drive I suspect it would have been sold on by that date. His cousin owned a garage in Dawlish, so I suspect that the car would have been disposed of by him, perhaps after a paint refresh which would account for the new twin tone look it has in Bonny’s pics."
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"The DVLC has no current information about the car, but I would be very interested to hear where it was bought and perhaps of its later life and indeed if it has survived if Bonny can shed any light on its history?"
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"Just researching some more has unearthed that a David Boniface was a Dawlish resident in the 2008/10 census, so this connection is looking ever more likely."
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It's fascinating to read this Paul, and see the car in WW2 blackout guise. I no longer have Bonny's email address due to a PC crash a few years back, but if you're reading this Bonny, please drop me a line. Everything points to Bonny's car being the same one that Paul's grandfather owned twice, which is quite a coincidence.
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2. A post-war example of a Ten (JLA 400).
The Sunbeam Talbot Ten was one of many cars that were built both pre-war, and also for a brief time after WW2, until new models were ready for production. In the Ten's case, it was to be the Sunbeam Talbot 80 that replaced it, in 1948.
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The following pair of photos were sent over by David Hunt (thanks!), they show the post-war Ten that his father had agreed to deliver to the South of France, on behalf of its owner - the Earl of Westmorland no less. It's registration is JLA 400, a post-war London issue first used in July 1947, from a time when the supply of brand new cars was severely restricted. Note the old-style street lamp in the background of his first photograph.
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Another view of the Ten while parked. The car behind it belonged to David's father, a 1935 Standard Flying 14 reg. EHT 195.
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Update - more news on JLA 400's drive to France.
David got in touch, with more background info on both his father, and the aforementioned delivery trip for the Sunbeam Talbot to France:
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"Edward Herbert George Hunt (1911-2000) was my Father. He was very clever and could turn his hand to anything---literally. I won't go into his many abilities here, but suffice to say that he was a plumber & decorator by trade, but was really interested in engineering. He had his own private hire business after the war due to materials being hard to get, so he didn't go back to his trade as a business. Besides the taxi work, he was often given jobs by the AA. He would collect private cars from the Avonmouth Dock, that had been shipped in from abroad, and he would carry out any voyage damage and/or repairs, clean all the gunge off that had been applied to keep the salt air off etc, and then fully service the car, and deliver to the owners. He did other jobs for the AA occasionally, and this car was one such. The 14th Earl of Westmoreland had gotten married in 1952 approx, and was to honeymoon in the South of France. He wanted his car there, but didn't want to drive it there himself, so he contacted the AA to arrange its delivery. Dad was gone several days as there were no motorways over here, and I doubt any over there at that time. The roads were very straight in places though, and Dad did achieve 82 mph on one stretch, and with his Brownie 127 camera he managed the blurred photo you see here (below) as a record of it. He apparently carefully rested the camera on the centre of the steering wheel. The first photo shows when he collected the car, and the couple in the photo, was the Cunard Manager of their Avonmouth Office and his wife, who drove Dad's Standard 14 back. (Dad supplied the car for Cunard business, carrying ships Captains, Officers, Engineers and Chief Stewards, and of course Cunard staff mostly, but with the occasional ordinary crew members). I joined him in the business in 1956. The second photo is shown outside of our council house on the Lawrence Weston housing estate, which 9 Middleton Road. The house is to the left of the photo out of the frame. The house you see is No 11."
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"As an aside, and typical of Dad's expertise, he came across two young Scottish lads who were broken down with their Austin A30. They were touring. Dad did a temporary repair and got them on their way. On arrival home there was a postcard from the lads saying they had reached Turin, Italy and the repair was still holding out. A while after, another post card stating they were now home in Glasgow, and the repair was still working. Dad was so chuffed and he mentioned it few times through the years. What he didn't know, and I only found out after he had died, that the lad who owned the car and wrote the cards, had died at the age of 32. Dad would have been really gutted to know that. So, assuming they were early 20's as a guesstimate, the lad would have died in the early 60's at the latest, almost 40 years before dad himself. On the plus side, the lady who told me he was her favourite uncle, had scans of the cards and the tale I have mentioned, and from the scans have a record of her uncle's hand-writing for her family tree records, so I am pleased that I was able to get those to her, and it adds to Dad's story of his adventure."
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Many thanks for the extra information David. The photo of the car's speedo showing 82 mph is shown below.
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Practical Motorist feature.
In addition to the saloon, buyers visiting their local dealership in 1938/39 may also have been tempted by the Sports Tourer (250 GBP) or, smartest of all, the
desirable Foursome Drophead Coupe (285 GBP). An example of the latter can be seen on the cover of Practical Motorist magazine, July 23rd 1938, shown below.
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Return to Page 18 in the photographic archive, or visit the main index here.
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Other cars from the S-T stable that feature elsewhere on the site, include this old shot of a 1939 3-litre saloon.
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