It's been some time since I wrote about Deep Sandersons, so it was good when Christopher Tamblyn contacted me about one such car. One his stepfather once owned. He wrote:
"Dear Jeroen. My stepfather bought this car around 1964/1965 from a well-known garage owner and wheel manufacturer JA Pearce of Staines Middlesex, who used to make the Magna magnesium wheels. I remember the car had a scrutineer label on the door pull but that was for a hill climb, it did have a hot Mini Cooper engine in the back with a Weber carb and it was road legal. I remember coming home from school and sitting in the car and pretending to drive it, oh what days they were.
I also remember that the rear suspension kept braking at one of the rose joints eventually putting the car and my step father through someones front hedge of their house just outside of Winchester!"
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From the pictures that Chris sent I recognized the car as 'AJB 150B' and had several pictures of it, too, being raced and crashed at the Nurburgring in May 1964.
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Chris continued: "This is just amazing, I recognize that Weber on that big inlet manifold, and the small number plates, as you say this is the car and we didn't know about this bit of history. We kept the car but he dismantled it and put the body on a Triumph Spitfire chassis with some small modification! Just stopping for a cry! This car and all of its ancillary equipment were then sold to a really nice guy called Chris Gow who was someone big in the Mini club after my father had passed away who also owned a Deep Sanderson. Around about a year later Chris had either sold his car and I had also found the chassis number of our Deep Sanderson and I think I sold that to this person so that he could have a 'proper' Deep Sanderson. I hope you have been able to follow this story and I am sorry I can't be any more specific about our car, but please keep in touch as its always nice to talk to interesting people about classic cars. Stay safe and kind regards, Chris"
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"Dear Jeroen. My stepfather bought this car around 1964/1965 from a well-known garage owner and wheel manufacturer JA Pearce of Staines Middlesex, who used to make the Magna magnesium wheels. I remember the car had a scrutineer label on the door pull but that was for a hill climb, it did have a hot Mini Cooper engine in the back with a Weber carb and it was road legal. I remember coming home from school and sitting in the car and pretending to drive it, oh what days they were.
I also remember that the rear suspension kept braking at one of the rose joints eventually putting the car and my step father through someones front hedge of their house just outside of Winchester!"
The Deep Sanderson 301 as owned by Chris Tamblyn's stepfather in the mid-1960s
Picture courtesy Christopher Tamblyn
The Deep Sanderson joined by the Jaguar XK140 of the Tamblyn family
Picture courtesy Christopher Tamblyn
From the pictures that Chris sent I recognized the car as 'AJB 150B' and had several pictures of it, too, being raced and crashed at the Nurburgring in May 1964.
Seen here in May 1964 at the Nurburgring, competing (?) a Ferrari 250 GTO
Picture Jeroen Booij archive
Unfortunately, it was crashed on that day and ended in the bushes
Picture Jeroen Booij archive
Chris continued: "This is just amazing, I recognize that Weber on that big inlet manifold, and the small number plates, as you say this is the car and we didn't know about this bit of history. We kept the car but he dismantled it and put the body on a Triumph Spitfire chassis with some small modification! Just stopping for a cry! This car and all of its ancillary equipment were then sold to a really nice guy called Chris Gow who was someone big in the Mini club after my father had passed away who also owned a Deep Sanderson. Around about a year later Chris had either sold his car and I had also found the chassis number of our Deep Sanderson and I think I sold that to this person so that he could have a 'proper' Deep Sanderson. I hope you have been able to follow this story and I am sorry I can't be any more specific about our car, but please keep in touch as its always nice to talk to interesting people about classic cars. Stay safe and kind regards, Chris"
The Deep Sanderson's body was eventually used on a Triumph Spitfire chassis
Picture courtesy Christopher Tamblyn
Longer and taller, re-registered and repainted in red, but still recognizable as a Deep Sanderson!
Picture courtesy Christopher Tamblyn