January 2007: SB1298 emerges from 20 years of hibernation!

The "line of rivets" is a repair made by a local body shop (a Cadillac dealer) before I got the car. The wound was made in shipping (I have records), however it was driven unrepaired from Galveston, TX to Albuquerque. Of course, that repair needs to be investigated. I suspect that the alloy was peeled back and the lower tube was replaced.

I have about concluded that the car needs to be reskinned because there are numerous holes in the aluminum that I assume are caused by corrosion. The skin needs to come off to inspect the frame, too, and if I'm going to that trouble, it might as well be relaced with new.

New Mexico is very dry, so there is no rust on the steel anywhere, but there's a depressing amount of work to be done.

I guess it doesn't qualify as a "barn find", if you're the guy that put it away!

The car is pretty original - six previous owners. I've owned since 1978. It's a Universal Radiators chassis. Never been repainted, not raced much at all-not in the US anyway. It was originally built in London with a 997 Ford. Lots of "patina".

I have owned SB1298 in New Mexico since 1978. I have been in contact with all of the previous six owners; four in England and two in New Mexico. Although not running currently it is in mostly original (unmodified) condition. Now that my children are raised I intend to reassemble it and drive it.

It was built by Kevin Michael Kelly in London beginning in September 1961 and first registered in April 1962. Kevin tells me that the frame assembly was a pre-production (?) chassis purchased directly from Universal Radiator. Perhaps that's why the number seems out of sequence compared to others listed on the SimpleSevens website. Anyway, Kevin said it required a lot of hole-drilling, including those for the instruments. He raced it several times at Brands Hatch and Snetterton (see photos below) saying that he didn't win, but he didn't come in last, either.

Originally built with a brand new 997 105E, the second owner, Mark Tyrell, changed to the current 116E 1500, although retaining the original SU carburetors. He also added Series 3 wider rear fenders and disc brakes. He experienced some difficulty with the original axle, switching to a BMC variety. He lived in Wallingford, near Oxford - but drove it to Bologna, Italy one winter. I have a photo he sent of the Seven in St Bernard pass at Christmas on that trip. No heater!

SB1298 was sold to Roy and Carol Newton of Stourbridge who used it as a family fun car. I suspect Roy Newton as the good-sized fellow who "widened" the driver's seating area by taking a hammer to the drive shaft tunnel. They sold it in 1976 expecting it to be exported by CK Smith in Staffordshire whom I believe is the same Chris Smith who had such success with a Mark 6 in vintage racing.

It was imported to Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1976 by an aerospace engineer named Bob Crain. He drove it from the Port of Houston to Albuquerque, which is a good thousand desert miles with 4:56 gears and 13 inch wheels. The next owner, David Fingado, was moving to a high part of Colorado in 1978 and wanted to trade it for a four wheel drive. I bought one to trade him for it!

I drove it for fun until the coolant consumption became unacceptable. I took the engine out in about 1984. Two kids through college, moving, several different jobs, my wife's return for a Master's and my two heart surgeries have all now been completed. The car is in the shed, the fenders are in the rafters, the engine is under the bench.....but the kids are now out of college. Maybe now I can get back to the it.

It has no frame reinforcements and only one coat of paint - the Austin Healy 100 red applied by Mr. Kelly in 1962. It doesn't have the glorious racing history that some other sevens have, but it is complete and very nearly original after forty years.

Barry Mills
Corrales, New Mexico.
Mills689@aol.com