April
My friend, Alen Cooper, who helped me for a few months when I started work on the SS100 project, has now gone to America to work on his first love, AC Cobras, in North Carolina. His new employer is Jim Harrell. Jim is interested in buying one of my cars to add to his English car collection and is busy building a huge ranch warehouse close to his Cobra workshops. Alen and I spend four days touring the beautiful countryside around Charlottesville and Jim and Mary very kindly give us hospitality when Alen and I weren’t travelling. On the final morning before leaving for the airport, Jim and I visit a pavement-side bagel bar and he gives me a specification of the car he wants built. I am pleased to come home with a deposit cheque for his new car in my pocket, which rounds off an excellent trip to America.

November
I have a chance to purchase, from a Trac customer, a blue SS100. For many years he had been stalking a particular Rolls Royce of vast proportions and the car is now coming up for auction. The Rolls, if purchased, would not allow space for any other car in his garage so I agreed to underwrite his SS100 should he purchase his dream car. He was successful and I start a year’s association with a blue SS100. A fishing friend asks me to join him for a few days at Ednam House, Kelso on the river Tweed and we enjoy five days in wonderful fishing conditions and our patience is rewarded on the last morning when we each catch a salmon . The SS100 attracts a lot of attention amongst the hotel guests and I squeezed in two demonstrations to potential customers in The Borders area on my way home.

A classic and specialist car show is held at Westpoint, Exeter each year, so having returned from Scotland, I then drive off to Exeter to exhibit in the show. I have strong indications of an order while there, and this was confirmed three days later.