XJU 848J. Leicester area.Blue Austin van. Where has it been?

[Gormley]

I bought this van locally in March and have been in touch with the DVLA to try to track its history. I have done the DVLA search. It spent its whole life in the Leicester area, originally sold by Grange Garages, London Road, Great Glen. But from July 92 to Nov 2008 it was located in Coalville and for that span of time had one owner. I am curious. Was the van used or barn stored? That keeper sold it to a restorer in Bingley in Yorkshire, who in turn sold it to the guy in Taunton who I bought it from. Nobody seems to know of this van. It is unknown to the LCV register. I'd be interested to hear from anyone who might have had a connection with it. It's a rare survivor and I'm only the 7th keeper in 39 years.[frame][/frame]

[Kevin]

If you pat the DVLC fee which I think is £5 they will send you a copy of any details of previous owners they have on file, that will probably be your best bet.
Cracking looking van by the way.

[Gormley]

Thanks, Kevin, for replying. I sent my fiver to the DVLA and last week, two months later, I got the details of the previous keepers. However, the chances of them being at the same addresses are not high, so I was hoping that perhaps some MMOC members in the Leicester area might have some recollection of seeing this van around. Also, does the Glen Garage still survive?

[Pyoor_Kate]

When I got the addresses back I spent a little while poking at telephone directories; some people were listed at the same addresses (although they didn't reply), and by sending out a few letters to people with the right initial and last name in the same town, I got some replies and some history back

[MarkyB]

Don't dismiss the info you have so soon Gormley , I've lived at the same address for 25 years, people don't change houses as quickly as the change cars.

[Gormley]

Thanks for your phone directory suggestion. I found one online and traced one of the previous owners. The others are not there - perhaps they're XD. This was such an obvious idea - can't think why I didn't think of it myself, but that's what is so good about the MMOC site. Let's hope the other owners have stayed put like MarkyB. Thank you all. Would be pleased to hear of any other ideas, particularly from Leicester.

[Gormley]

Thanks for your suggestions MarkyB, Pyoor Kate and Kevin. I took your hint and contacted a couple of previous keepers based on the addressed on the old documents. Whereas I haven't found anything of great significance, I did get two responses. One was from the van's keeper in the early 80s, who sent me 2 photos of the van at work on a building site. Sadly, there was no explanation, just 2 photos. I also had a phone call from the keeper from 2008/9 who did the majority of the restoration. I would have liked to know more about the van's early history, but it's good to have any small pieces of information. Telephone directories are very useful for double-checking current addresses against the keepers' names. Perhaps I was being unrealistic, but I had hoped that because the van had been in the Leicester area for the majority of its life and rarely changed keepers, it would have been known to other MMOC people.

[charlie_morris_minor]

when i traced the history of my saloon, i visited the actual addresses, the first owner had passed away but the neighbour who happened to be working in the front garden, remembered the car and was able to give me the address of the son of the first owner..

the second owner was away on holiday but gave me a call after i left a hand written note..

[HarryMango]

I was hoping that perhaps some MMOC members in the Leicester area might have some recollection of seeing this van around. Also, does the Glen Garage still survive?

Only just noticed this post

99% certain never owned by a Leicester Branch Member - not sure about the Garage - wrong end of Leicester for me & Great Glen is now bypassed by A6 so not been through the village for a long time.

Rog