1939 Rover 14hp Tickford Three-Position Drophead Coupe
Coachwork by Salmons & Sons

Registration No: CSG 739
Chassis No: 931628
MOT: Exempt

• 1 of only 177 Salmons Tickford Drophead Coupes manufactured, with a mere 25 believed to survive
• Sympathetically restored between 2018 and 2021 including a bare metal repaint and a new hood
• A desirable 1939 model year car with the revised and more powerful 14hp straight-six engine
• Offered with a history file that includes a large selection of restoration images

Unveiled on 14th October 1938 for the following model year, the thoroughly revised Rover 14 gained a wider 48-inch track, a more powerful 1.9-litre straight-six engine, Luvax automatic chassis lubrication, and synchromesh on third and fourth gears. Part of the revered P2 range, along with Rover 10, Rover 12, Rover 16, and Rover 20 models, it could be purchased in Saloon or Drophead Coupe guises, with the latter being crafted by Salmons & Sons of Newport Pagnell. Surviving in very limited numbers, Bill McCreath’s 2018 book ‘Rover – The Salmons Tickford Drophead Coupes’ posits that only 8-11 of the 25 cars thought to still exist are currently roadworthy.

Manufactured in 1939, chassis 931628 was received for coachwork by Salmons & Sons on the 18^th of March 1939. Featuring the revised and more powerful 14hp straight-six engine allied to the four-speed manual transmission, the Rover was road registered as ‘CSG 739’ on the 28^th of April 1939, being supplied new to the Edinburgh area. Next known to have received an engine overhaul in 1991 (costing £1,600) the Salmons Drophead subsequently saw minimal mileage in the following long-term custodianship (between 1994-2018), before being acquired by the vendor, and a sympathetic restoration was decided upon.

The restoration works completed comprised coachwork repairs as required, a bare metal repaint in White, and the chassis was undersealed. A complete rewire with a new wiring loom was provided, and an isolator switch fitted, along with an alternator conversion (the original dynamo accompanies). The brakes were overhauled, and new rear wheel bearings, new tyres, and extensive re-chroming provided. The interior was refreshed as required and a new hood trimmed in Maroon was fitted, with renewed headlining. Completed in 2021, invoices on file amount to over £8,500 expenditure.

‘CSG 739’ is offered with a history file that includes a large quantity of images and invoices pertaining to the restoration; a few previous MOT certificates; an instruction manual; a copy of Bill McCreath’s 2018 book ‘Rover – The Salmons Tickford Drophead Coupes’, in which chassis 931628 features; a copy of ‘The Book of Rover’; reproduction workshop manual; a previous log book and a current V5C document. Described by the seller as ‘a good runner with nice gear changes’, this is an opportunity to acquire a very scarce Salmons Rover with just three known owners in the last forty years.

For more information, please contact:
Paul Cheetham
paul.cheetham@handh.co.uk
07538 667452