a few of Len Ward's photos ...
I have recently been contacted by some car enthusiasts who actually own (and have renovated or are in the process of renovating) two of Len's cars. The first contact had located the photo of the Austin Ulster (which I thought at the time was my Dad's first car) on Len's page on this site. After going through all his albums and boxes of prints I have eventually located further images of more of his prized motor cars, which were identified by these contacts. And it turns out that Len had owned at least two cars before the original photo I had located. One of the cars is now completely renovated and a second is in the process.
Hover over the photos to see reg. no. and where and when they were taken if known; and click on each photo to open an enlarged copy (though I'm afraid none of the photos were larger than 4cm x 6cm and many of the images were pretty blurred to start with!)
car 1
Car 2
These two images show a Bullnose Morris, Reg No HU 1833 - in the photo album this was described as "The Car" - and both photos were taken in 1932 when he was about 19, so it MAY have been Len's very first car!
Car 3
Car 12
These two show an Austin Chummy 1923, Reg No HR 9756. The first photo was taken In Bristol in 1934, the second photo is undated
Car 4
Car 6
Car 7
This is an Austin Ulster, Reg. No. MV 1344 - all three photos were taken in 1937/38, and the middle photo (he carried this one around in his wallet, so it was the first one I found) had a note on the reverse stating it was taken in Dymchurch (on the south east coast of Kent). If you look closely, there is another (similar?) car parked just behind.
I hope to add some photos of how this car looks following the renovation which is currently taking place - check back to see if they have been posted! But in the meantime, this car features in 'The Automobile' magazine (Mar 2022 issue), you can read the article and see some photos here!
(Many thanks to John L who spotted the article)
Car 8
Car 9
Car 10
Car 11
This group of photos all show a 1936 Austin 7 'Open Road', Reg. No. JW 9133 - all were taken in 1938/39 (that's my mum leaning against the car in photo 9), so I think photos 9, 10 and 11 must have been taken when my Mum and Dad drove up to County Durham so Len could 'ask for Mary's hand in marriage'! When Jim Green said 'yes', they drove off to the Lake District for a brief holiday ... much to Granny Green's disapproval!!
Astonishingly, it turns out that the car was stored (in bits) really close to where they retired to in Cornwall, and the very helpful guy who eventually purchased all the bits and has restored it also lives in Cornwall.
If only my dad had known!!
CLICK on the red car to discover how Len's car was transformed!
