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Originally Posted by zac510
Pretty sure there is a UK-based owners club kicking around somewhere. I know a guy who owns one.
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Sure is:
http://www.rochdale-owners-club.co.uk
Seem to be a some spares available too - at least in terms of kitcars & specials. In my memory serves me well the owners club exhited at the Classic Car show in Manchester back in the '80s & they had a complete "buck" to remake one of the bodies - probably the Olympic. Sounds to me like as close to a practical classic as you get if you want a special?
Little anecdote: In about 1980 I went to see a car described as a "Rochdale Grasshopper". The seller said it was a prototype. The back end did look similar to some Rochdales, but you see them so rarely it's difficult to say how simlar. The front end was totally different. It had an oval grill, but set vertically, i.e. more like an XK120. Unlike the Olympic, the 2 ends did not look good together! The engine was Riley 1.5. The body was aluminium with rather a lot of filler on it, so maybe it was a prototype - who knows? There is a reference to a Grasshopper in Bill Williams book on Austin Seven specials, but that is described as a 2 seater sports car that never went into production. Rochdale did do aluminium bodies for Austin Seven specials & racers, but the thing I saw didn't have much in common with one.
Anway, it was way beyond my restoration skills, so I had to say no thanks & left.