Hi All, There does seem to be some confusion over the Blue Star mock-up. Here're the replies I got from Kevin Wheatcroft some days back, before I had Barry's contact details. Donington think they own the "car". I asked for records but Kevin said there is nothing to show. Anyway here's Kevin's replies cut & pasted:
"Further to your email of 27 June addressed to Garry Rankin at the Donington GP Collection. As a child I recall going to get the mock-up you are referring to from a premises in London. I seem to think there was a chassis frame and engine earmarked for the project. We were contacted out of the blue and asked if we wanted to buy the mock-up, it then sat on the bridge ever since. It is something I would consider selling if someone is interested.
Good to hear from you to be able to put a bit more of the story together."
and the second mail I sent asking for records of the purchase received this;
"Hi Mike
Unfortunately this was my only recollection and in all honesty it could have come from Luton where it was picked up from, it was many many years ago and I could have thought Luton was London as a child! "
When I saw it was for sale/auction, I thought Beaulieu would be a good resting place, along with the other LSR exhibits they have. I hope to speak with Barry in the very near future, maybe Barry will give his thoughts on this, I'm sure they would like it on loan and it would also help Barry as it's quite large. Alternatively, the Brooklands museum has LSR stuff, but very early, that might be an option. The mock-up is a fibre glass shell in reality; there are no internal parts I can recall but it is a long time ago now. Bye for now.
"Further to your email of 27 June addressed to Garry Rankin at the Donington GP Collection. As a child I recall going to get the mock-up you are referring to from a premises in London. I seem to think there was a chassis frame and engine earmarked for the project. We were contacted out of the blue and asked if we wanted to buy the mock-up, it then sat on the bridge ever since. It is something I would consider selling if someone is interested.
Good to hear from you to be able to put a bit more of the story together."
and the second mail I sent asking for records of the purchase received this;
"Hi Mike
Unfortunately this was my only recollection and in all honesty it could have come from Luton where it was picked up from, it was many many years ago and I could have thought Luton was London as a child! "
When I saw it was for sale/auction, I thought Beaulieu would be a good resting place, along with the other LSR exhibits they have. I hope to speak with Barry in the very near future, maybe Barry will give his thoughts on this, I'm sure they would like it on loan and it would also help Barry as it's quite large. Alternatively, the Brooklands museum has LSR stuff, but very early, that might be an option. The mock-up is a fibre glass shell in reality; there are no internal parts I can recall but it is a long time ago now. Bye for now.