I was most suprised to see pictures of a GT I didn't know about and wanted to learn more. Leon told me that the car had been offered for sale through a friend. He wrote: "The pics were sent to me by my engine builder Stuart Greig. He got them from a friend from Zimbabwe who said it was an original car. I got the impression that he was not the owner and was trying to find a buyer for a commission."
Since I was eager to find out more I contacted Stuart and finally got in touch with Jeff Lendrum, who told me he'd actually just bought the GT but hadn't yet collected it. He did send me a few more pictures of the car and also stressed it to be an original Broadspeed GT, with all the necessary paperwork including registration. It was in the UK where Jeff was to pick it up at the end of August. Two month have passed since and I have phoned and e-mailed him several times since for more details, but unfortunately don't seem to be able to get in touch with him anymore.
Please let me know more about this intriguing find!
UPDATE 12:00: Andy Harrison writes: "I think I owned that for a while and was on the front cover of Hot Car magazine. 'WUX 431', I think or maybe 421? It was similar to how it is now. I bought it from Greg Hales, had it about 5 years in storage then sold it... It came with loads of history to other famous Broadspeeds and the owner of one of those cars bought everything. It needed painting..."
It could well be that car. 'WUX 421' was based on a Mk2 Mini and built up by Graham West of Burton-on-Trent originally. It did have electric windows and was in Hot Car mag. Not on the front cover but in the Reader's Cars section though. It's in this listing also, written almost exactly 10 years ago...
UPDATE 27 October 2021: Sad news as Stuart Greig informed me about the following: "Jeff Lendrum has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and is in intensive care in the UK, hence he is not contactable currently." I wish Jeff all the best.
UPDATE 28 January 2022: The sad news continues. Jeff is in a very poor health. The Broadspeed has now been sold again and is on its way to the USA. The transport company Kingstown Shipping placed the picture below on its Facebook page.
This is said to be a genuine Broadspeed GT, seen for sale in August. What happened next?
Picture Jeff Lendrum
The car was for sale in the UK and supposedly came with correct registration
Picture Jeff Lendrum
I'd never seen it before or heard about it. It was sold for very strong money
Picture Jeff Lendrum
An empty shell but a fantastic project if you ask me. Any more info would be much appreciated
Picture Jeff Lendrum
The car is on its way from the UK to the US now
Picture Kingstown Shipping Ltd
I puchased WUX421 via Jeff Lendrum from its custodian Chris Wooden. Chris was the restorer of the works car EOP88D and the demonstrator EOP89D.
ReplyDeleteI had known Jeff Lendrum since the early 80s when he was living in Johannesburg SA. He moved to the UK in 1996/7. He knew that I had yearned after a Broadspeed for over 30 years.
WUX421 is awaiting custom clearance in New Jersey, and will then be transported by road to my home in Saint Charles, Illinois.
I will be starting the restoration towards the end of 2022.
Peter, has WUX 421 arrived yet ??? How is the restoration going ??
DeleteI spoke to Hedley Whitehead, a mutual friend of mine and Jeff's. He has been in constant contact with Jeff, and says that although he is in very poor health and in and out of hospital he is still "alive and kicking"
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your comments Peter and I look forwards to updates on the car's restoration. I have amended the update above and hope for all the best for Jeff.
ReplyDeleteI owned WUX421, it was indeed Graham West's motor
ReplyDeleteWUX421 is indeed now in the US since 2022.
ReplyDeleteA conversation with Chris Wooden revealed that a previous owner had made attempts to convert it to a "clone" of the original Works Fitz car. It has been lowered and the wheel arches cut to accommodate this, the front bumper lip[ has been removed and two additional vent holes added under the bumper line. The person modifying it had also started adding the vents on the rear of each wing as per the Fitz car, but only the LH side had been done but not the RHS. (The LH hole will be filled in to return it to GT rather than GTS spec.)
It's pointless returning the wings back to original and raising the suspension again, but the car will be returned back to having a front bumper, and we will leave the additional vent holes under the bumper in place.
All these mods where done assuming the Fitz car had disappeared, but it turned up in Holland, and Chris Wooden managed to get it back to the UK and restored it.
WUX421 was indeed based on a MK2 Cooper S, and appears to be the last Broadspeed produced around 1969 (outside of the original Broadspeed works) . It was originally painted RR Regal Red and will return to that colour.
The Electric windows were poorly installed, and we will be returning it back to the original slider windows.
Luckily we have an original Mk2 Cooper S engine which has been nicely modified and is ready complete with its correct period gearbox.
Chris Wooden purchased it with the dash panel missing, but fortunately cloned the dash from one of the other cars, and found the original type speedo and taco. The car importantly had the original rear window and 1/4 windows when found, although the window surround frames are incomplete.
For those interested WUX421 is currently located in Campton Hills, Illinois, USA
Peter Pentz
My bad, I forgot to enter my Name and location when I made my comments regarding WUX421D.
ReplyDeleteI am Peter Pentz, a well known collector of Mini Cooper S's.
We are located in Saint Charles Illinois 40 miles west of Chicago in the US.
I was born in South Africa, and grew up in Bulawayo Rhodesia, returning to SA in 77 and immigrated to the US in 96.