Update by Tim Suddard to the
Tornado Typhoon project car
May 20, 2014
We were excited to see what our finished product would look like.
As we were looking through some of the paperwork that we got with our 1958 Tornado Typhoon, we found receipts and notes to and from a former owner in Connecticut.
We were able to contact this owner and learned a bit more about our car. First, he told us he had brought the car over from England in the mid-‘80s. It was running and drivable at that time. He also provided us with some pages out of a 1981 Hayne’s book called: Post War British Thoroughbreds. We quickly found a copy on eBay.
Lo and behold, on page 228 of that book was our actual Tornado with the same English license plate (LTB 413) that we found in our parts boxes. Even back then, it had the same incorrect turn signal lights. We could also see a mesh grille that we did not have, but that also appeared to be an incorrect part.
We also learned that there was a book published on the Tornado car company called Winds Of Change. While out of print, we were able to score a copy from Autobooks/Aerobooks in Burbank.
It’s hard to believe that a whole book exists on a company that sold less than 500 cars, but this 224 page book does an excellent job of telling the whole Tornado story. Also included are excellent period photos that should really aid us in our restoration.
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Just came across your story on the Typhoon..... I owned that car in England back in the late 60's early 70's Registration LTB 413. I sold it when we emigrated to Canada in 1977, it was a runner and went with a box of Aquaplane parts I was going to install. The turn lights I put on from a VW... as you say, not standard :) I'll see if I can find any more pictures... no digital in those days.
With the likes of a Typhoon, you may well be stretching things calling them incorrect tail lights. The lights might not have been what Typhoons typically came with, but it doesn't mean the factory didn't send some out with those lights when the typical ones were for some reason hard to get hold of at the moment.
Seen this sort of thing many times, in vehicles and items far more mass produced than a Typhoon.
Very cool to find direct info about your particular Tornado survivor. FIAT flipped back and forth between an in-hose thermostat and an in-head one for a few years in the early-to-mid '70s, depending on what was cheap /available at the moment. They did that with other cars and parts as well.
It is so cool to start connecting with the people that built and owned this car. I spent time with and England and have gotten to know the founder of the Tornado car company too.
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