Harold Radford Coachbuilders

Harold Radford (short: Radford ) was a British coachbuilder , of 1948 to 1975 special bodies for Rolls-Royce , Bentley and Aston Martin produced. Radford's shooting brake versions based on early Aston Martin coupes became particularly well known. Conversions of various minis were also a profitable business for decades .

Company history

First production focus: Countryman station wagons (here on a Bentley chassis)

The company has its origins in the Seary & McReady body shop in London. In 1948 the London Rolls Royce and Bentley dealer Harold Radford designed a special body for a Bentley chassis, which he commissioned Seary & McReady to manufacture. The vehicle - a station wagon known as a Bentley Countryman - proved so successful that Radford had several replicas made. In 1950 Radford finally took over the majority in Seary & McReady and changed the company name to Harold Radford Coachbuilders. In the years that followed, the company produced numerous other Countryman models, which, however, differed considerably from the original concept. From 1958 the company was temporarily incorporated into the Swain Group before it was sold to the Bremer Group in 1965.

With the introduction of the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow , the production of Countryman models ended. From 1963, Radford focused on the refinement of mini vehicles, which was an essential pillar of the company until 1975. In addition, individual special bodies were created for Aston Martin. In 1967 the bankruptcy followed. The newly established successor company, after it had taken over the former competitor Freestone & Webb , traded a little later under Radford Freestone & Webb and continued the production of mini-conversions. At the beginning of the 1970s, Radford was under increasing pressure from successful competitors, above all Wood & Pickett , who in turn offered mini-conversions, but in contrast to Radford also refined other vehicles. In 1975 Radford ceased operations and in 1977 the company was dissolved.

Between 1990 and 2000 the Radford name returned to the automotive market. The British designer Chris Humberstone had taken over the naming rights and marketed Minis upgraded under the old Radford name De Ville. The manual production was taken over by external companies.

Radford models

Radford Countryman

Bentley Mark VI Countryman

The first vehicle to be called the Radford Countryman was a two-door station wagon, presented in 1948, based on the Bentley Mark VI or the Rolls-Royce Silver Dawn . The type later called "Mark I" had wooden panels on the side parts of the body and had a long rear overhang. The Countryman won first prize at the Concours d'Elegance in Cannes in 1948 . By 1950, a total of eight copies of this type were produced by Seary & McReady.

After Radford had become a body manufacturer himself through the takeover of Seary & McReady, he fundamentally changed the concept of the Countryman. The reason for this was the fact that Rolls-Royce no longer offered just running gears, but also factory superstructures. The standard steel construction of the Silver Dawn and Mark VI sedans remained largely unchanged; however, Radford installed a large tailgate that split in two, opened up and down. The trunk, which is fully accessible in this way, could be equipped with picnic utensils or fold-out armchairs on request. 37 of these vehicles were built.

Vehicles of the Bentley-S-Series and the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud have also been revised to varying degrees by Radford. A total of four conversions were made from the Silver Cloud model. Some got a station wagon rear, others were only equipped with picnic utensils in the interior. If the car was given a station wagon rear, the body was modified by HJ Mulliner & Co. , while Radford carried out the interior work.

Mini De Ville

Radford Mini

From 1963 to 1975 Radford manufactured a large number of conversions of the Mini , which were marketed as Mini De Ville . The vehicles received an upgraded interior with a leather and wood interior; The body was also replaced by some add-on parts such as B. revised special bumpers. Some vehicles were also equipped with twin headlights, one above the other, most of which came from Mercedes cars. Radford also improved noise isolation. In its highest quality version as the De Ville GT , the Mini also received a large one-piece tailgate, which significantly increased its practicality compared to the production vehicle.

More mini conversions

Aside from the De Ville versions, Radford also met special customer requests when converting Minis. For example, the company designed a hatchback mini for the car-loving actor Peter Sellers and his wife Britt Ekland .

Aston Martin Shooting Brake

Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake from Radford

In 1964 and 1965, Radford produced 12 copies of a two-door station wagon based on the Aston Martin DB5 , which was called the Shooting Brake (hunting vehicle). The vehicles had an elongated roof line, a hatchback and a long side window between the B and C pillars. Other bodywork companies also produced shooting brakes on this basis - among them Coachwork FLM Panelcraft - but the Radford versions were mostly seen as the most successful designs. Radford's DB5 Shooting Brakes were considered the fastest, most luxurious and most expensive station wagons of their time.

From 1966, seven shooting brakes were created based on the newly introduced Aston Martin DB6 . They differed from the DB5 version in that they had a steep C-pillar with a tear-off edge.

More work

Set up at Radford: Prototype of the Alvis GTS "Gladys"

Radford also worked as a subcontractor for other plants and also produced smaller conversions on behalf of customers. The company built a few prototypes, among them the Alvis GTS "Gladys" for Rover in 1966 . Radford converted some Alvis TD 21s into Fisherman versions so that they could carry a complete set of fishing equipment in the trunk.

In the mid-1960s, Radford also revised some coupés from the Alfa Romeo Giulia GT series . They have been given a high-quality interior and slightly alienated from the outside. One of the clients was actor and automobile enthusiast Peter Sellers .

literature

• Martin Buckley: Perfect for a trip to the tip? Presentation of the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud Countryman with a description of the company's history in: Classic and Sports Car, issue 11/2011, p. 128 ff.
• Andrew Noakes: Aston Martin fascination . Parragon Publishing (2006), ISBN 978-1405479004
• Rainer Schlegelmilch, Hartmut Lehbrinck, Jochen von Osterroth: Aston Martin . Verlag Könemann 2005, ISBN 3-8331-1058-9
• Estate Agents. Exploring the unorthodox world of the Aston Martin Shooting Brakes and its makers . Presentation of the DB6 Shooting Brake from Panelcraft with a mention of Harold Radford Coachworks in: Classic & Sports Car 3/2002 (engl.)

Web links

Commons : Harold Radford coachwork  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Company history on www.aronline.co.uk
• History of the Radford De Ville Minis on the website www.radfordmini.free-online.co.uk
• Image of a Bentley R-Type Countryman on the website www.rrab.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Classic and Sports Car, issue 12/2011, p. 130
2. ↑ Company history on the website www.aronline.co.uk  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on March 26, 2011)  
3. ↑ Model history of the Countryman Mk. 1 on the website www.conceptcarz.com (accessed on March 26, 2011)
4. ↑ Model history of the Countryman Mk. 1 on the website www.conceptcarz.com (accessed on March 26, 2011)
5. ↑ Illustration on the website www.daddytypes.com (accessed on March 26, 2011)
6. ↑ s. Advertisement from Harold Radford with a picture of a converted Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III on the website www.rrocncr.net ( Memento of the original from May 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on March 26, 2011) 
7. ↑ Illustration of a Bentley S3 on the website www.rrab.com (accessed on March 26, 2011)
8. ↑ Classic and Sports Car, issue 12/2011, p. 128
9. ↑ Image of a Radford Mini Cooper ( Memento of the original from August 3, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on August 3, 2017). 
10. ↑ Overview of the Mini De Ville models from Radford on the website www.radford-mini.com ( Memento of the original from November 26, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on March 26, 2011) 
11. ↑ Noakes, p. 79
12. ↑ Schlegelmilch, Lehbrink, Osterloh, p. 164
13. ↑ Noakes, p. 79
14. ^ John Fox: Alvis Cars 1946-1967: The Post-War Years , Amberley Publishing Limited, 2016, ISBN 9781445656311 , p. 76.
15. ^ John Fox: Alvis Cars 1946-1967: The Post-War Years, Amberley Publishing Limited, 2016, ISBN 9781445656311 , p. 66.
16. ^ Ronan Glon: Radford's GT. ranwhenparked.net, June 21, 2011, accessed June 27, 2019 . 
17. ↑ Dieter Günther: Permanent sprinter. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT and its successors . Oldtimer Markt, issue 5/1989, p. 13.