Radford KGU 3D

[david1]

Can anyone help. in 1971 my partner purchased Radford Mini Deville. KGU 3D. She sold the car in 1995.
She had the opportunity in February 2021 re-purchase the vehicle,which she did. The car is undergoing restoration at the moment.
We have spent hours trying to trace the original owner and others up to 1971.
Unfortunately, we have no luck at all. it's almost like the car had disappeared during this period.
Can anyone help or steer me in the right direction.

David

[mab01uk]

Unfortunately when the GDPR Data Protection rules came in a few years ago, the DVLA stopped giving out copies of the previous owner history of a classic car for a £5 fee. Before that date they would send the current owner on request, photo copies of all the previous owner original log book details that they have in their database.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... isters.pdf

[hanlminiman]

Hello David
The car you mention has a similar design of hatchback to mine which I am almost certain was handcrafted to a Radford design in the 2nd half of 1965 after the Carabus Mini.
Did your partner buy the car near Kingston, Surrey? Not quite sure how many years ago I had a chat with a lady who admired my Radford at a Brooklands event. I think she mentioned she regretted selling it and that it went to America.
Back to the plot.
I have a similar problem with the ownership of mine as it is a 1965 built car, adapted by Radford at the same time as the 1965 London Motor Show cars and I suspect yours. Mine was registered in January 1966 in Guildford, Surrey and a continuation book issued in December 1971 to a dealer in Essex.
I have no idea how many owners it had in the meantime but I do have full ownership record. In August 1974 a personal plate was added but I was very happy in 2015 when the DVLA reissued the D plate to me. Good luck in your quest.
It is possible that when a vehicle moved from one Road Tax authority to another a continuation book was issued in those days; maybe if the vehicle was offered for sale by a dealer it needed to be "licenced/registered" with the relevant period "DVLA."
Cliff

[Pete]

Hello again David. Just to clarify Maureen sold the car in the 70s (not the 90s) and it was exported to the U.S by Charles Pinion (who I spoke to a few years back) before DVLC computerised hence why DVLA had no records of the car when I reimported it. So DVLA won’t have any info at all of the car prior to re-registration which was done by me a three years ago.

Like so many cars registered in London the council records have also all been pretty much lost, so it’s doubly difficult to research cars like this.
Maureen was the first name on the continuation book in 1971 so I concluded that the original logbook with the first owner on (I suspect Maureen was the only the 2nd or 3rd owner) was kept by the dealer who sold it to Maureen in 1971 or even kept by the first owner.
The car is a hatchback Radford after all so yes could well have had a famous first owner or it could just have been a wealthy industrialist or a businessman, who knows. I hope one day somebody recognises it or a revealing photo of it turns up. Until then good luck in your search!

[jamiestevens94]

I’m on a Facebook page called “Big Bumper Page of North Wales Working Vehicles” and a couple of photos of KGU have been posted up!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2251634 ... 7S9Ucbxw6v

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