Back in July 09 when I saw an advert on eBay for an early (very early) Spitfire4 I knew immediately that I wanted her. The advert said she was FC316 (registration 952 CMO) and whilst from the attached photographs it was clear that she was a bit of a basket case, I just thought how great it would be to own such an early example.

I already own an early MK3 Spitfire and have had 1500�s and GT6�s in the past so I knew the cars pretty well. However this would be my first serious restoration. So having won the auction and parted with £400 pounds I went to Honiton to pick her up! � in a Luton Van! The photos didn�t do her justice! I knew that she had been dismantled, but wow � she really was dismantled!!!! The Chassis was bare, engine completely stripped part from the pistons which were seized and covered in rust! The body bent in the middle as the floors were non existent and the two halves held together by mostly rotten sills and filler! The front wings and rear wings were awful, door bottoms very perforated and the interior basically absent! Then there were boxes, lots of boxes of bits!!! Driving home I was absolutely sure I�d made a big mistake!

On top of this I had absolutely no paperwork with the car. The chap I bought the car from said that he�d bought her 14 years earlier with the best of intentions but hadn�t gone much farther that dismantling her. He�s seen her in a shed in Honiton and decided to ask the owner whether he�s sell, he would but didn�t have any paperwork at all, it having been lost in the 20 or so years that the car had been off the road. Hmmm � working that through it meant that this 47 year old car had been last used in 1975 or so � only used for 12 years?? Hmmm.

Since buying the car I set myself two targets to complete by the end of the year. Firstly to try and understand whether I had a collection of various cars or a complete (albeit dismantled) early Spitfire. The second objective was to get a V5 ownership document on the original registration number from the Driving and Vehicle license agency (DVLA) here in the UK. The first objective was a lot easier than the 2nd!!!

With John Thomason�s guide to originality, Graham Robsons Spitfire and GT6 file, a 1962 1st edition Spitfire4 owners book and a Spitfire4 parts catalogue I set to going through the parts quite methodically. From the various books I could see by comm. Number what should and shouldn�t be here. As the days and weeks went by I clearly had a complete, very early car! The little features that were removed in quite early production were still here, The straight dash top with no lip, the Herald vertical links and calliper mounting that were very early changes; the c-strip for the two piece door seals (rather than the single furflex that we probably all use on our Spitfires now), no rain channels on the windscreen surround; the passenger internal door locking mechanism, Dzu fasteners on the rear cockpit trim, even some of the grey rubber floor matting and the rubber grommets, that fit into the apertures in the rear valance, through which the rear bumper supports are fitted. These amongst many other little items are all as they should be for her chassis number, which was nice! According to Graham Robson only 1355 Spitfires were built in 1962 and of these only 457 were UK home market cars. On the International Spitfire database she�s currently listed as the 12th oldest surviving example of the Spitfire4 (although at the moment that�s an optimistic phrase!) and the 8th oldest in the UK.

The paperwork proved more problematical. I had the registration plates (yellow and white, which were by Hills and stamped 1967??) and the chassis number ok � good start. I initially contacted the DVLA to discuss how I would get a V5 in my name. DVLA had no record of the car, hmmm. They knew the registration had been issued but it appeared never to have made to transition to DVLA computer records so a V888 vehicle trace wouldn�t help. I was advised my only opion was to purchase an age related registration number instead, as I had �no proof that the registration numebr plates on the car were those originally allocated to the the chassis number�! Damn!

Okay so next step was to get a Heritage certificate from British Motor Heritage. This was really useful and confirmed the build dates and factory numbers (body/chassis numbers were good but the engine, originally FC166 had been replaced under factory warranty (now FC1211 FRE) so differed from the record), It also confirmed the receiving dealership (Halls Garages, Maidenhead, Berkshire). This proved to be the most useful piece of information! I�d got the TSSC Club Archivist, Dick Plumridge involved by now and I followed his very helpful advice:

I tried to contact the selling dealership in Maidenhead (still a garage on the original site) in case they had held onto old records in the basement � no luck
I contacted Warwick University as they had old Standard Triumph admin records � no joy they were company admin records not customer admin records
I contacted the chap I bought the car from to ask whether he could remember any details/name address etc of the chap he bought the car from � no luck here either

At what I thought was the end of the line Dick suggested one last avenue to explore. He didn�t give many details but just said that he�d let me know if anything turned up. Some weeks passed until an email from Dick turned up wit details and an attached letter from a Charity called the Kithead Trust. The charity was basically an archive of old (some very old, motoring records. It had started to preserve public transports records but over time had accrued numerous pieces of information on other vehicles. Their mail (which Dick had attached) seemed very hopeful that details of FC316 could be in the records as �they had a pretty complete set of Registration allocation books from Berkshire�!! It was difficult not to get too excited as I sent off the information request to the Kithead Trust. A few nail biting weeks later (I knew this was the last hope and the postal dispute hadn�t helped my nerves) an envelope arrived from the Kithead trust! I was astonished! In the envelope were two copies of the Berkshire allocation book for December 1962 showing my Registration number (952 CMO) associated with a Triumph chassis no. FC316 being sold by Halls Garages, Maidenhead!!!!! Result!!!! This was incontrovertible proof which would allow the DVLA to allow me to retain the original number plate! As a bonus it also provided the original owners name and address and a list of The cars registration movements until 1975 (when it was supposedly taken off the road (this tallied with what the seller had told me verbally).

So I can now prove that the car was built at Standard Triumph, Canley on the 8th November 1962 and was one of the first Production Spitfires She was chassis FC316; Body FC305 Engine FC166. She was shipped to Halls Garages Maidenhead on the 28th November 1962 for Mr J.N. Dobbin of and she was registered on the 6th December 1962 as 952 CMO. She was taken off road in 1975 (apparently with chassis outriggers needing replacement) and was never driven again.

As an aside I happened to Google the name of the original owner as it was a bit unusual and well you never know do you. Luck was with me! A company director called J.N. Dobbin was based in Maidenhead in the early 1960's - he was an insurance broker (J.N. Dobbin Holdings and the company is now called Greenhall Dobbin PLC) selling "Persona non gratia" policies amongst other things to Western Diplomats and Military Officers serving in Russia and other eastern bloc countries! A bit old cold war intrigue here maybe! Lol! Time magazine even did a little article! (see link to 1963 "Time" article)
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830416,00.html

Anyway having his address on the information provided by The Kithead Trust I decided to run a search on the Companies House databases (I work as a project manager at Companies House and built part of the online systems!) and searching on JN Dobbin Holdings shows that the registered office until 1999 was in York Road, Maidenhead - The address given by Mr Dobbin in 1962 on the Registration Allocation book was.... York Road, Maidenhead! Lol! York Road is about 2 1/2 miles from Windsor Road where Halls Garages (the selling dealership) was located. :-)