1959 UK Samba

1959 UK Samba's

	Paul Utting rhd 59
	1959 deluxe details to follow
	1959 deluxe, owned by a guy called Dean, this bus has been everywhere!! more details to follow.
	This is a 1959 RHD South African import owned by Jason Pugh? Check out those original factory safari's.
	This 1959 deluxe was manufactured in October so it must be one of the last to have semaphores. It also has bullet indicators which I think may have been fitted by the factory because the bus still would have been under warrantee when the law in Europe requested it had to have bullet indicators. I am taking it back to just semaphores. The other unusual thing is, the doors that I have striped back appear to be the original ones, sealing wax red and beige grey (the same as the van) but they are 58 doors with no handle recess. I have got to do a lot of panelling and welding which hopefully I am going to start soon. It was originally a taxi and by the m codes it was delivered to Slazbe! in Austria, where it travelled a lot of miles, then at some point in its life it was used by a diving school in Italy (The worst combination!!), as you can see from symbol on door. It then ended up going to a collector in Holland, then being sold to a dealer called Carlos also in Holland, at European collectables. I brought the samba off them and brought it back to the UK. It now lives with me, Dean, in Cheltenham Gloucestershire. I have had the bus for about 6 months, its a big restoration project but I had to save this one! am I mad? no its a love thing!
	Enclosed are some photo's of my Samba I have ONLY owned it for three years and I am getting round to a fully modified concourse restoration. Due to the success of my last bus now owned by Adrian and Teresa Long I'm going to be going down the resto custom route again. Planning full IRS 1835cc engine to start with Porsche disk brakes all round, detailed Porsche Fuchs alloys. It will stay as a Micro bus because when I bought it it came complete with centre seat and all major parts. It was imported from Sweden and is right hand drive. The chassis number is 534696 and is believed to have been built November 1959 (1960 model). I will now keep you posted on its progress but it is going to take some time because I love this bus and It is not going to be rushed it has just been sand blasted and I'm replacing both side panels to achieve dead straight side (someone before me gas welded rear arches and sills in place and I have distortion you could surf on).
	JSL339 - RHD (semaphored last year in Europe) deluxe, owned by a guy called Gavin, last time I saw this bus it was beige grey over sealing wax red, that was at the Brighton Breeze 2000, it's new colour scheme is nice and subtle and a little away from the norm, I like this bus a lot. Apparently Gavin has had a nightmare with the restores, and is still having a few problems trying to locate a door hinge, anyone help? You will probably be able to see this bus at the Breeze again this year.
	888 UMX - 1959 RHD samba. Photo taken at Stanford Hall,. This is the first year that you could get a deluxe in this colour combo, sealing wax red and beige Grey, also it was the final year for trafficators (UK). I have not seen this bus for ages and I don't know who owns it now but it's very tasty.
	UVE 558 - 1959 RHD deluxe, late 66 Devon interior, this bus was built by Matt Keen, the back end has been IRS'ed and the beam is adjustable with hydraulics. He build a hot 1641 motor for it with a turbo, it sounded fantastic!! All the seats and interior panels were re-trimmed in white leather with purple piping to match the exterior. The bus now belongs to a celebrity chef called Jamie Oliver, you may have seen this bus on some of the Sainsburys TV commercials. The photo was taken at Wolvey 1996.
	922 CVO - 1959 Devon, now owned by Kerri Pearson, Stanford Hall 1991