FARMLAND FIND REMAINS THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE
Shropshire-based Robert Holmquist has his own workshop, where he restores vehicles for work and as a hobby. During the first lockdown of 2020, he and the family went exploring locally and in a nearby field, past some derelict pigsties, they discovered a longneglected hollow way running down to a brook. “Halfway along we found the rear axle of a vehicle sticking out of the ground,” says Holmquist. “I knew enough on first sight to see that it was pre-war.”
Before proceeding, Holmquist called on the farm manager, who said that he remembered seeing the vehicle, which he thought was a van, when he was a child some 65 years ago. He gave permission for the Holmquists to unearth the remains and even lent his Telehandler to help.
“By the end of March I had managed to free all of the key components that I believe were buried,” says Holmquist. “The farmer kindly jet-washed the assorted parts, which were laid out in the workshop, and a lot of the major components are in reasonable condition considering that they have been exposed to the elements for 65-plus years.” There were no numbers, letters or names on any of the parts and for a long time Holmquist thought that the engine was by Coventry Climax, but other clues revealed it to be a late-model Clyno, which was fitted for a short while with a Hillman engine.
Clyno of Wolverhampton built cars from 1922-’29, and claimed to be the third-largest car producer in the country after Austin and Morris. Holmquist is determined to rebuild the vehicle if he can.