I know the car quite well as it belonged to a late friend of mine Mike Brockway, he had owned it since the mid 60's, it was parked up for a long time with a worn engine which his brother eventually rebuilt but some years later it suffered a major failure , rod/piston through block, I helped Mike to find another engine which resulted in the purchase of another 403, far too good to break and that one, ONB was for years on the poster for the Great Dorset Steam Fair as Mike was a regular exhibitor of his 403's and tractors. Eventually the remains of the engine and the gearbox went to a well known Bristol specialist in exchange for the installation of the Triumph engine and box. His other 403 was a good example with a nice 100a engine and box but Mike always had the view that RKK with its Triumph unit went better, it certainly sounded nice, pity its lost the large key he had fitted to the boot, If I could have justified another car which I can't without selling something first I would have bought it when it came up for Auction, left it exactly as it was cosmetically and continued to take it to the type of steam and vintage events Mike liked.
Geoff.
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