Jackdaw Story Begins

This diary is mainly for my own benefit. I am writing it simply to keep a record for myself on what I've done and how much I've spent. Now if anyone is reading this who has expertise of building kit cars (Please ring me, I need all the help I can get) please forgive my mistakes. I am determined to get this van on the road but as a complete novice I am sure to cock things up. I am telling how it is, warts and all. How I went about things whether right or wrong.

If you have time to waste and don't mind the ramblings of a loony Punch and Judy Man read on.

The first part of this story I am writing retrospectively in November 2005....Why?
In August/September my web site had been infected with a virus and my computer was down for while but its all back nice now. I also had loads of entertaining work on, doing up our caravan, trying to get away on holiday etc, etc. and I was building another computer for a friend, all with a bad leg, I'm a martyr, I really am.

It all started way back in the 80s when Marilyn and I were in the furniture business, Llewellyn's Furniture Emporium, selling new and secondhand furniture. I'd heard about these vans that were based on Ford Transit or Leyland van parts but looked really old and I thought it would be a great advertising gimmick for the shop to get one. I called it a Ringtons tea van because I think that company used to use them.
A couple of names I remember were The Asquith or Fleur de Leys. I managed to get hold of a brochure but the prices were astronomical starting at around thirty six grand, way out of our league, we were running a small secondhand furniture shop that hardly paid its way so we had to make do with an old tranny box van. But my dream of owning one of these vans never left me.
We packed the shop up in 1988 to do full time entertaining and I kept seeing these vans (usually as wedding cars) and I thought one would be perfect for Punch and Judy but even secondhand they were commanding fantastic prices. Again we had to make the best of a bad job so we went for another tranny van. A friend was selling a 4 year old ex hire transit crew bus so we bought it, after a small rear end accident had it painted red and fully sign written. I must admit it did us proud over the years, 10 years in fact. It paid for its self on advertising alone. It went through 3 engines from 1600 to 2ltr, 2 gearboxes, and 2 back axles. When the cost of welding got to be more than the van was worth we bought our latest. It was 3 years old and it had just had a respray white so we were going to have it sign written as it was but because of the comments about what had happened to our red van we went and had it resprayed again red.
I went mad and purchased a number plate L444FUN and we changed our company name (not that we really had one in the first place) to Llewellyn for Fun.
This van with this plate gets us even more work. Even the DVLA used it in one of their advertising campaigns we got a full page in a movie magazine.

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