Vauxhall 30-98 Variant VV12. The T.T. (Trevor Timms) Special
In Christchurch New Zealand Professor Bruce Robson owned two 1920s Vauxhalls (a 14/40 Melton and a 30-98 Kitset purchased from the UK. (these cars I believe are now owned by the Newell family of Christchurch.) and various other Vauxhall components. Following his premature death at the age of 55 in 2000, the selection of Vauxhall bits were sold by Clynt Inns, the Secretary of The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand, to Trevor Timms who lived in Dunedin.
Trevor used 14-40 chassis number LM1865, 14-40 suspension, brakes, axles, steering and lights, 23-60 engine number OD1089, gearbox number G3489A, and a 23-60 sub-frame and radiator as the basis for his Vauxhall 30-98 Variant.
From the parts purchased, Trevor sold a dismantled 14-40 including chassis number LM 2500 to Grant Taylor of Hastings New Zealand and this chassis is being built into a Saloon 30-98 Variant by Tim Jones.
During the construction of VV12, John Kent visited Trevor on a couple of occasions and recommended that the engine was moved further back in the chassis; evidence of this change is visible on the stripped chassis. In 2012 Trevor registered the almost completed car with The Historic Vehicle Authority of New Zealand, The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand and the Vauxhall 30-98 Register in England. It was fitted with a 2” SU carburettor, a Velox style body (shortened), windscreen and dash board, cycle wings and a 20 gallon fuel tank. It was painted light brown with polished aluminium scuttle and bonnet and a cream leather interior.
After Trevor’s death at the age of 75 in 2013, VV12 was sold in auction to R.Moore in Australia. It was imported into England by Peter Street in 2015, sold to Ken Hawes in April 2016 and registered BF 7763, by which time it had been repainted maroon with a polished aluminium bonnet and black wings.
Ken had work undertaken by a Vauxhall specialist to “finish the car”. This included fitting shock absorbers, strengthening the torque arm mountings, brake overhaul, refitting the hood frame, inspection of the engine bearings, adjustment of the tracking etc. and tuning of the engine. The interior was then retrimmed in black leather, and a tonneau cover and hood bag made.
Ken advertised VV12 for sale in December 2018, and the March 2019 Vauxhall 30-98 Register Newsletter included his advertisement. The car was sold through Charles Leith in September 2020 to James Kelly who planned to exhibit it in a car museum in Mauritius.
In February 2022, VV12 was entered in a Silverstone Auction, but failed to sell. Subsequently Manor Classic Cars Ltd advertised it for six months without generating any interest,
Several people advised me not to buy the car. “Honestly, it is not a great car. “I don’t want to put you off, but look at it carefully and drive it before you make an offer.” It needs a lot of work.” “Trevor was kept on a very tight budget.” We went to look at it just after Manor Classics had withdrawn it from sale. The axle ratio was 3.3:1 not 3:1 as stated in the numerous adverts; the wiring was a joke; it ran badly albeit on four cylinders; it overheated; the brakes didn’t! But it looked as though the basics were right, and with a lot of work it could be a good car, so in September 2022 we bought it.
The first priority, after adjusting the brakes, and realising the advance retard lever worked backwards and the timing was set to allow it to start when fully advanced, was to get Winston Teague and David Aston to rewire the car completely before it caught fire. During the 150mile trip to their workshop, a front wing stay broke. On the way to our first VSCC event the oil feed to the rocker shaft broke – thanks to Roger Thorpe (OE 102) for coming to our rescue. During this trip the plate attaching the torque rod to the nose of the pinion housing bent – 10mm mild steel was replaced with 15mm stainless steel after we had cautiously driven home. On the next planned event a valve head broke off the stem punching a hole through the rusty 23-60 cylinder-head and the piston crown – rescued by VSSC assist, Then a push rod jumped out of a tappet due to weakening valve springs – push rod straightened by the side of the road and we drove home at lower revs.
By now the car was performing quite well, but when I wound it up to about 80mph for ten miles it ran a big end – VSCC Assist to the rescue. The con rod was slightly twisted and machining the shell before white metalling to suit solved the problem.
Half way to Prescott in the summer of 2023, the rose joints connecting the torque rod to the plate on the rear axle broke, breaking the prop shaft and the brake lever bearing castings on the rear axle – VSCC Assist again. It turned out that the rose joints were for control rods not for the suspension (I should have spotted that earlier).
Over the first year all four shock absorbers have broken a mounting, but this fortunately did not stop us enjoying our drives, neither did the failure of the battery box brackets; the battery cables were short enough to stop the battery hitting the road.
Finally the oil feed to the rocker shaft broke again – VSCC Assist again. The spiral in the tube was too heavy for the cantilever from the rocker box, and a simple S bend provides adequate flexibility.
It not all bad news; in the first year of ownership, we enjoyed 3,500 miles of Vauxhall motoring. I was initially concerned about the cantilever rear springs having read in Nic Portway’s book about the wayward handing of the 1914 TT Vauxhalls, but previous experience with a 14-40, and the fact that Kidner’s E9, Pomeroy’s Le Dernier Mot and Walton’s F Type all had cantilever rear springs convinced me to try it before contemplating a change. Pre -war Prescott gave us the opportunity to have 9 climbs and the car handled impeccably, drifting controllably. But when my son entered long course Prescott, he reported he could not get the car to drift and was spinning an inside wheel out of every bend. This culminated in a 180 degree spin at semi-circle on his last climb. My diagnosis is that the shock absorbers were too tight. Its stroke of luck that we went to Pre-war Prescott; otherwise I would now be undertaking major chassis modifications.
VV12 now had a new 30-98 head with the high lift rockers. The head is fitted without a head gasket, and the ARIAS pistons made for Mike Quartermaine many years ago result in a 7.5:1 compression ratio. The battered sump had been replaced with an excellent second-hand sump. The exhaust is a 30-98 log, but with the down pipe in front of the sub-frame (the 14-40 chassis is too narrow to allow a central down pipe to pass between the chassis rail and the sub-frame). The rest of the exhaust is 30-98, but it has to pass over the rear axle to avoid the larger and separate foot and hand brake levers. A thermostat was fitted which removes the need to blank of the bottom of the radiator in winter.
The brakes and the non-original clutch have been relined. The electric petrol pump has been discarded, and the hand and engine air pumps repaired to enable the petrol tank to be pressurised. The modern horn has been replaced with a period Klaxon.
The assortment of floorboards are now covered in ribbed aluminium and foot wells have been created in the back to accommodate two children or one adult, A tool tray in the nearside running board, a toolbox on the offside running board and a luggage rack, allow space for touring with the dog.
In addition to the foregoing, other none original details are an alternator hidden and driven off the clutch shaft (it did not like the excessive oil lubrication and had to be replaced), a distributor driven through an empty Watford magneto, an electric fan (the engine is too close to the radiator to allow fitment of the original cast aluminium fan), flashing indicators, brake lights and double dipping head-lights.
VV12 changed its BF registration number to RU I225. It weighs 24cwt equally divided between the axles.
When purchased the 21” well base wheels are fitted with 5.25 x 21 Firestones and when they wore out 4.40 x 21 Lucas were fitted to lighten the steering and give a more period appearance. This was not a success and the rears were worn out within 1200miles. The best pair of the larger Firestones are now fitted, but the plan is to try 4.40 x 21 Firestones. (I prefer to avoid Blockleys)
On the way the 2025 Shelsley Walsh the clutch gradually became more difficult to disengage and when it stayed engaged, I unsuccessfully attempted a road side repair. When phoning for recovery I told the company I was going to Shelsley, but wanted to be recovered to home. I was told that they would only take me the 30miles to Shelsley and to take me home would cost £550. I waited for the traffic to ease and set off home with no clutch. 30miles from home I lost all drive, so rang recovery who agreed to take me home. It transpires that one of the clutch release levers had broken and subsequently and totally unconnected a half shaft had broken. After much research I established that the clutch was as fitted to an Austin Healey 100 so was readily available. Due to wear on the hub and half shaft taper, the drive had been taken on the spline which proved inadequate. Unfortunately the company I chose to make two new half shafts took 10 weeks, so 2025 was a disappointing year, albeit we added another 3,500miles.
Since we will soon be moving home, and it will probably take a while to build or modify a garage to accommodate a four post lift and ½ ton engine lift beam. I decided to strip the engine and remetal the bearings. The crankshaft journals proved to have 5 thou ovality and the crankshaft was bent by 40 thou. My new cylinder head had developed a crack so was taken to be laser welded. Subsequent unbolting of the engine block from the crankcase to hopefully stop oil leaks revealed that corner of the block had broken off, necessitating a return to the laser welder. Meanwhile I have sleeved the oil pump piston and machined it to the original diameter (the rocking cylinder exhibited no wear).
Future plans are a higher ratio crown-wheel and pinion, and higher ratio constant mesh gears to bridge the gap between third and top gears (I installed these on a 30-98 Velox I owned years ago and it transformed the drivability in everyday use)
We bought TT Special as a step towards returning to proper 30-98 ownership, but I now wonder if we will be able to justify the incremental cost.
I have omitted the saga of being hit by a modern, at a cost to him of £35,000, but the subsequent strip down and repair confirmed all the major work undertaken by Trevor Timms, and his design, are to a high standard. I am told that Trevor only used the car a couple of times, and experience steering problems which explains the telescopic damper fitted between the front axle and track rod. I like to think that Trevor was just trial assembling the later fitments, and had he lived a little longer, he would have finished the car to his earlier very high standard.
Ralph Bennet January 2026
In Christchurch New Zealand Professor Bruce Robson owned two 1920s Vauxhalls (a 14/40 Melton and a 30-98 Kitset purchased from the UK. (these cars I believe are now owned by the Newell family of Christchurch.) and various other Vauxhall components. Following his premature death at the age of 55 in 2000, the selection of Vauxhall bits were sold by Clynt Inns, the Secretary of The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand, to Trevor Timms who lived in Dunedin.
Trevor used 14-40 chassis number LM1865, 14-40 suspension, brakes, axles, steering and lights, 23-60 engine number OD1089, gearbox number G3489A, and a 23-60 sub-frame and radiator as the basis for his Vauxhall 30-98 Variant.
From the parts purchased, Trevor sold a dismantled 14-40 including chassis number LM 2500 to Grant Taylor of Hastings New Zealand and this chassis is being built into a Saloon 30-98 Variant by Tim Jones.
During the construction of VV12, John Kent visited Trevor on a couple of occasions and recommended that the engine was moved further back in the chassis; evidence of this change is visible on the stripped chassis. In 2012 Trevor registered the almost completed car with The Historic Vehicle Authority of New Zealand, The Vintage Car Club of New Zealand and the Vauxhall 30-98 Register in England. It was fitted with a 2” SU carburettor, a Velox style body (shortened), windscreen and dash board, cycle wings and a 20 gallon fuel tank. It was painted light brown with polished aluminium scuttle and bonnet and a cream leather interior.
After Trevor’s death at the age of 75 in 2013, VV12 was sold in auction to R.Moore in Australia. It was imported into England by Peter Street in 2015, sold to Ken Hawes in April 2016 and registered BF 7763, by which time it had been repainted maroon with a polished aluminium bonnet and black wings.
Ken had work undertaken by a Vauxhall specialist to “finish the car”. This included fitting shock absorbers, strengthening the torque arm mountings, brake overhaul, refitting the hood frame, inspection of the engine bearings, adjustment of the tracking etc. and tuning of the engine. The interior was then retrimmed in black leather, and a tonneau cover and hood bag made.
Ken advertised VV12 for sale in December 2018, and the March 2019 Vauxhall 30-98 Register Newsletter included his advertisement. The car was sold through Charles Leith in September 2020 to James Kelly who planned to exhibit it in a car museum in Mauritius.
In February 2022, VV12 was entered in a Silverstone Auction, but failed to sell. Subsequently Manor Classic Cars Ltd advertised it for six months without generating any interest,
Several people advised me not to buy the car. “Honestly, it is not a great car. “I don’t want to put you off, but look at it carefully and drive it before you make an offer.” It needs a lot of work.” “Trevor was kept on a very tight budget.” We went to look at it just after Manor Classics had withdrawn it from sale. The axle ratio was 3.3:1 not 3:1 as stated in the numerous adverts; the wiring was a joke; it ran badly albeit on four cylinders; it overheated; the brakes didn’t! But it looked as though the basics were right, and with a lot of work it could be a good car, so in September 2022 we bought it.
The first priority, after adjusting the brakes, and realising the advance retard lever worked backwards and the timing was set to allow it to start when fully advanced, was to get Winston Teague and David Aston to rewire the car completely before it caught fire. During the 150mile trip to their workshop, a front wing stay broke. On the way to our first VSCC event the oil feed to the rocker shaft broke – thanks to Roger Thorpe (OE 102) for coming to our rescue. During this trip the plate attaching the torque rod to the nose of the pinion housing bent – 10mm mild steel was replaced with 15mm stainless steel after we had cautiously driven home. On the next planned event a valve head broke off the stem punching a hole through the rusty 23-60 cylinder-head and the piston crown – rescued by VSSC assist, Then a push rod jumped out of a tappet due to weakening valve springs – push rod straightened by the side of the road and we drove home at lower revs.
By now the car was performing quite well, but when I wound it up to about 80mph for ten miles it ran a big end – VSCC Assist to the rescue. The con rod was slightly twisted and machining the shell before white metalling to suit solved the problem.
Half way to Prescott in the summer of 2023, the rose joints connecting the torque rod to the plate on the rear axle broke, breaking the prop shaft and the brake lever bearing castings on the rear axle – VSCC Assist again. It turned out that the rose joints were for control rods not for the suspension (I should have spotted that earlier).
Over the first year all four shock absorbers have broken a mounting, but this fortunately did not stop us enjoying our drives, neither did the failure of the battery box brackets; the battery cables were short enough to stop the battery hitting the road.
Finally the oil feed to the rocker shaft broke again – VSCC Assist again. The spiral in the tube was too heavy for the cantilever from the rocker box, and a simple S bend provides adequate flexibility.
It not all bad news; in the first year of ownership, we enjoyed 3,500 miles of Vauxhall motoring. I was initially concerned about the cantilever rear springs having read in Nic Portway’s book about the wayward handing of the 1914 TT Vauxhalls, but previous experience with a 14-40, and the fact that Kidner’s E9, Pomeroy’s Le Dernier Mot and Walton’s F Type all had cantilever rear springs convinced me to try it before contemplating a change. Pre -war Prescott gave us the opportunity to have 9 climbs and the car handled impeccably, drifting controllably. But when my son entered long course Prescott, he reported he could not get the car to drift and was spinning an inside wheel out of every bend. This culminated in a 180 degree spin at semi-circle on his last climb. My diagnosis is that the shock absorbers were too tight. Its stroke of luck that we went to Pre-war Prescott; otherwise I would now be undertaking major chassis modifications.
VV12 now had a new 30-98 head with the high lift rockers. The head is fitted without a head gasket, and the ARIAS pistons made for Mike Quartermaine many years ago result in a 7.5:1 compression ratio. The battered sump had been replaced with an excellent second-hand sump. The exhaust is a 30-98 log, but with the down pipe in front of the sub-frame (the 14-40 chassis is too narrow to allow a central down pipe to pass between the chassis rail and the sub-frame). The rest of the exhaust is 30-98, but it has to pass over the rear axle to avoid the larger and separate foot and hand brake levers. A thermostat was fitted which removes the need to blank of the bottom of the radiator in winter.
The brakes and the non-original clutch have been relined. The electric petrol pump has been discarded, and the hand and engine air pumps repaired to enable the petrol tank to be pressurised. The modern horn has been replaced with a period Klaxon.
The assortment of floorboards are now covered in ribbed aluminium and foot wells have been created in the back to accommodate two children or one adult, A tool tray in the nearside running board, a toolbox on the offside running board and a luggage rack, allow space for touring with the dog.
In addition to the foregoing, other none original details are an alternator hidden and driven off the clutch shaft (it did not like the excessive oil lubrication and had to be replaced), a distributor driven through an empty Watford magneto, an electric fan (the engine is too close to the radiator to allow fitment of the original cast aluminium fan), flashing indicators, brake lights and double dipping head-lights.
VV12 changed its BF registration number to RU I225. It weighs 24cwt equally divided between the axles.
When purchased the 21” well base wheels are fitted with 5.25 x 21 Firestones and when they wore out 4.40 x 21 Lucas were fitted to lighten the steering and give a more period appearance. This was not a success and the rears were worn out within 1200miles. The best pair of the larger Firestones are now fitted, but the plan is to try 4.40 x 21 Firestones. (I prefer to avoid Blockleys)
On the way the 2025 Shelsley Walsh the clutch gradually became more difficult to disengage and when it stayed engaged, I unsuccessfully attempted a road side repair. When phoning for recovery I told the company I was going to Shelsley, but wanted to be recovered to home. I was told that they would only take me the 30miles to Shelsley and to take me home would cost £550. I waited for the traffic to ease and set off home with no clutch. 30miles from home I lost all drive, so rang recovery who agreed to take me home. It transpires that one of the clutch release levers had broken and subsequently and totally unconnected a half shaft had broken. After much research I established that the clutch was as fitted to an Austin Healey 100 so was readily available. Due to wear on the hub and half shaft taper, the drive had been taken on the spline which proved inadequate. Unfortunately the company I chose to make two new half shafts took 10 weeks, so 2025 was a disappointing year, albeit we added another 3,500miles.
Since we will soon be moving home, and it will probably take a while to build or modify a garage to accommodate a four post lift and ½ ton engine lift beam. I decided to strip the engine and remetal the bearings. The crankshaft journals proved to have 5 thou ovality and the crankshaft was bent by 40 thou. My new cylinder head had developed a crack so was taken to be laser welded. Subsequent unbolting of the engine block from the crankcase to hopefully stop oil leaks revealed that corner of the block had broken off, necessitating a return to the laser welder. Meanwhile I have sleeved the oil pump piston and machined it to the original diameter (the rocking cylinder exhibited no wear).
Future plans are a higher ratio crown-wheel and pinion, and higher ratio constant mesh gears to bridge the gap between third and top gears (I installed these on a 30-98 Velox I owned years ago and it transformed the drivability in everyday use)
We bought TT Special as a step towards returning to proper 30-98 ownership, but I now wonder if we will be able to justify the incremental cost.
I have omitted the saga of being hit by a modern, at a cost to him of £35,000, but the subsequent strip down and repair confirmed all the major work undertaken by Trevor Timms, and his design, are to a high standard. I am told that Trevor only used the car a couple of times, and experience steering problems which explains the telescopic damper fitted between the front axle and track rod. I like to think that Trevor was just trial assembling the later fitments, and had he lived a little longer, he would have finished the car to his earlier very high standard.
Ralph Bennet January 2026
