Current Owner: Steven Ballard, Winchester, Hampshire
Previous Owner(s): Unknown

In October 2022 Steven Ballard emailed with details of SXF129:
I have owned SXF 129 since 1990 and have just insured it so it can be driven on the road again.

Steven was concerned about various holes "...where I believe CD equipment was once attached — the bumper, front of bonnet and front edge of hard top. Your photograph on your Amber Lights page shows what may have been attached to the bumper and bonnet.

That seems pretty conclusive, but I have queries about the hard top, which I don't think is original.

In my experience, hardtops fitted to Home Office vehicles were generally Export Specification, with windows in the sides. For an explanation of why, see my Hardtops on Crown Vehicles page. I can't swear that this was always the case, but I can't recall seeing pics of an original hardtop without them. Moreover, this hardtop quite clearly is missing any sign of holes where the detachment board fixings would have been — but having said that, there's no sign of them in the tub either. so was it originally a Home Office hardtop, which has been changed at some time in its life for a 'civilian' one? (The two bolt heads in the circle above are part of the mounting fixings, and are not the board fixings.) I've also never seen any CD equipment requiring a large-headed bolt in the front corner of the roof either. And are the paler areas above the windscreen glass itself an indication of an external sun visor having been fitted?

Steven also adds:
I have also sent a photograph of a number on the inside of the bonnet. There is no brass identification plate attached to the top of the left wing under the bonnet but the screw holes show where it was once attached.

Numbers similar to those appear under the bonnets of many vehicles, and are (I believe) something associated with vehicle maintenance. Likewise, not all vehicles have the brass plate confirming their registration — my own SXF870 has no trace of one being fitted, and again my theory is that these plates were only added when a vehice went into the workshop for overhaul, and a code for the work was stamped into the plate... but I'm willing to be corrected. The right-hand picture shows other holes in the inside of the left-hand wing — again, I can't give a specific Home Office explanation for them, and they're too wide for the brass plate.

But it's good to see the details of this SXF added to these pages, and we wish Steven many happy miles in 129.

[To add (or alter) information on this page, please contact me on sxf@teeafit.co.uk.]