I emailed Ian Elliott asking for some advice and sent an answer back to Darren.Hello,
I have been asked to help a cousin to help with a dilemma he has. His father (my uncle) passed away a few years ago, and left behind 2 unique 1929/33 Rover automobiles. Each is (I believe) the last remaining example of their model in the world. My uncle, Ray Arnatt was a noted English artist and fabricator. He purchased and lovingly restored both of these vehicles over 40 years ago. He acquired dyes and templates to remanufacture and restore these cars from someone with British Leyland as I remember. I remember as a child the ongoing process (even being a part of the process) – he had a metal foundry for his art and actually re cast metal parts out of the original alloys the cars were made from.
They lived in England at that time, and moved to Canada in the early 80’s to head up the art department at the University of Calgary. At that time he brought the cars to Cochrane, Alberta in Canada. He kept them in a garage on his acreage near Cochrane since that time. He has since passed on, and the cars have remained in storage with his widow, left to his 2 sons. His widow is now interested in moving these vehicles out of the garage, and his 2 sons don’t have the room to store them, and are unsure what to do.
I got a call from one son looking for help in finding storage for the cars, with the possibility of selling them as well. We are now looking for people with either secure long term storage for these two icons, or an interest in acquisition. I am at a loss as to how to determine value or how to find people who may be interested in these automobiles, and so that’s why you are receiving this. I’m attaching a copy of an article written in 1984 on the cars after they arrived, pictured at his acreage near Cochrane.
If you have any information or ideas on whom I could contact regarding this matter I would appreciate it, greatly!
Thank you very much for your time, and best regards!
Darren
Today as I had not heard an update I decided to contact Darren to find out what the position was with the two cars.
Sadly they have now been sold. Here is the reply
A sad outcome for Rovers in the UK but at least the cars are in safe handsDirk Burrowes (http://www.roveramerica.com" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank) purchased them both. He is out of Mass in the US, and is just now sending a transport truck to pick them up. They will become part of his collection, and will be kept as a pair. I believe he will write a book to document them, which I look forward to seeing. This is the best possible outcome! He is a great guy, and avid roverphile. He flew up to see the cars a month ago (we are over 2000 miles away from each other) and spent time getting to know the family around the cars. There were so many parts too, (motors transmissions rear ends and a ton of other big heavy stuff) that it was decided he would need to send a transport to pick it all up.
So thanks for your thoughts, Rover people just seem like the nicest people!
Best Regards,
Darren
