Chasing Classic Cars

Wayne Carini chases classic cars all over America, one of his recent buys is a 1963 BMC technical support vehicle used for staff training throughout the USA.

The six cylinder diesel engine has a five speed dog leg gearbox, for the younger generation this means that to get reverse gear you have to put the gear stick backwards and to the left. The large BMC van with a commercial chassis type FFK 140 was purchased from the RM auctions by Sothebys for 55,000 dollars. Originally the vehicle was used for race cars to give track side support and also used for promotions. There are believed to be only eight left in existence, this one having the registration number D728 KNG. Body styling was designed by Pinin Farina the legendry designers responsible for may beautiful cars such as the Ferrari Dino, Alfa Romeo Spyders and many more. The bodywork was manufactured in aluminium with the long tail fins similar to the Ford Zodiac or the Morris Oxford. The body shell was made by Marshalls one of the leading airframe specialists for many aircrafts who were based in Cambridgeshire. After the purchase Wayne drove the van down the Pacific highway to various car shows on route. He attended the Mini show at Cars and Coffee California where there were Ferraris, Austin Healeys, Porsches, and of course lots of Minis including the Cooper S the flag ship mini of all time. Carrying on his journey in the large BMC van  with push button start and no air conditioning to Carmel California concourse de elegance to advertise the vehicle for sale. The show and auction for classic cars has raised over $175000 for charity in the last three years. Whilst driving up pearl beach Wayne said the vehicle was noisy and smelly probably why he put it for sale rather than drive it back, Originally a 1963 UK registered vehicle would have had a suffix A or B registration issued by the DVLA. Assuming this is the original registration issued D728 KNG suggests it must have been registered in 1966 before being exported to the USA.