CS 517, was ordered by the only previous owner, Mr. Alistair Kennedy, from Southpark Road in Ayr in April 1934, and was delivered in rolling chassis form from the Talbot Factory in North Kensington, London to Messrs. Armour & Melvin in Glasgow, the main Scottish Talbot Dealers. Mr. Kennedy had ordered the Salmons Tickford body separately from Newport Pagnell and the rolling chassis was delivered to Wellington Motor Company in Ayr, where the bodywork had also been delivered. The car was completed and delivered to Mr. Kennedy by Wellington Motor Company, Ayr, in June 1934.
Mr. Kennedy worked in Glasgow and the car was garaged at his house in Southpark Road, Ayr and used only for social purposes, as Mr. Kennedy travelled to Glasgow each day by train.
In about 1993 Alistair Kennedy telephoned his godson, George Hay, the present owner, to indicate that he wanted to give the car to him, but that unfortunately Mr. Kennedy no longer knew exactly where the car was!
In about 1970, Mr. Kennedy had been moving house from Ayr to Dundrennan, near Kirkcudbright, and just prior to the move, he had passed the car to a mechanic to have various works carried out. On the day before Mr. Kennedy was due to move, the mechanic telephoned to report that the car was ready and Mr. Kennedy asked if the mechanic would hold on to the car for a week or two until Mr. Kennedy was settled at his new address, whereupon arrangements would be made to have the car collected. After some detective work by George Hay, the mechanic was traced and, despite having retired, it was discovered that he had stored the car in an old cattle byre not far from Ayr to await further instructions. The car was complete except for two missing headlights and, what’s more, the original leather roof had been regularly treated with Neatsfoot oil to keep it supple.
Having sat for over twenty-two years, everything was covered in thick grime and the oil had solidified in the engine, thus necessitating a complete strip down and rebuild.
Notwithstanding this, the parts were readily available and, after a respray, the car was successfully licensed on 1st July 1994 and has been used regularly ever since. When recovered by George Hay, the car had a recorded mileage of 44,000, which covered the period up to 1971, and its current mileage is just over 55,000. It is believed to be the only Salmons Tickford bodied Talbot AX 65 left in existence.
In late 2001 the crimp bolts at two of the “Little Ends" were found to have failed, causing the gudgeon pins to slip and score their bores. This necessitated a rebore, redesigned crimp bolts, new pistons, te?on ends on the gudgeon pins and, whilst stripped, new main bearings, reconditioned Wilson preselector gearbox, replaced collapsed bearing and, finally, reconditioned torque tube, where the bearings were found to be in a sorry state and one had completely disappeared!
Sadly, both Alistair Kennedy and his wife, Jean, died within a month of one another in June 1998. The car, however, continues to live on in the proud ownership of George Hay, in Ayr, its original home town, with its original Ayrshire number plate.
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