Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Vicarage Squire

Saw this for sale on Car and Classic. An interesting car - ash framed and aluminium panelled. Doesn't seem expensive for such a car.

Apparently a small number were built by Vicarage - better known for their Mk2 Jaguar restorations and upgrades. The first Restomods ?

It has an Alfa twin cam too.

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1324100

An interesting and good value for money car, I couldn't live with that shape though.

Allegedly the early Morgans were influenced by the Squire design.

Ii liked it until I saw the front view, then thing's went wrong.

I seem to recall reading that somewhere now you come to mention it.
I'll bet the Alfa engine and running gear is nice provided the chassis is not too agricultural, it looks pretty solid at the front axle it's one you would need a good drive of and it could be a nice surprise.

I don't think the pictures necessarily do it justice, the Squire was a very attractive car.

I'm very tempted but I'd change a few details to make it look more "period"

I know the founder of Vicarage but until recently I didn't know they'd made these Squires. I'll give him a call for an honest appraisal.

They seem to have been built to a very high standard with stainless fastenings in the ash frame, Connolly hide, Wilton carpet, very high spec paint job etc. etc.

It will be a very interesting test drive I would say, it could be an absolute delight to drive.

I have never seen or heard of these cars before you posted.

Interesting. The front does look odd though

Interesting I wonder if it is meant to look like the Alfa 6C 1750 -which Alfa made themselves on Giulia running gear in the 60's . An old friend started something similar here based on Alfetta running gear, not sure if it ever got completed though. I prefer a less sloped back look more upright like an HRG.

J'll have the webbers....

Needs bigger headlights to make it more 'Squire' looking.

+1. Room for an extra toothbrush then. Agree about bigger headlights as well.

It's a replica of the original 1930's Squire with slightly increased dimensions.

I don't mind the overall look but I'd probably change the steering wheel, seats, front indicators and improve the dash layout with some more period-style switches and instruments.

I have the background from the horse's mouth so to speak.

The car is built on a ladder type chassis with tubular reinforcement hoops front and rear. The body is totally aluminium, over an ash frame where required. Particular attention was paid to panel gaps, the doors are gapped to fit accurately into the apertures, rather than Morgan style which have a flange and require much less fitting.

The body was prepared and painted to a very high standard, Vicarage being keen to invite comparison with Rolls Royce standards of paintwork. Also a bit of marketing PR as he says. The chassis and other items were powder coated black. All fixtures, including screws etc. were either galvanised or stainless.

The suspension was Ford derived with some Vicarage modifications. The engine and gearbox were Alfa Romeo.

The car rode and handled well and was a fun car to drive. According to my friend the car is very pretty in the flesh.

That sounds good and definitely worth a test drive I would think.

Not as attractive as a Morgan with the front looking odd and the dashboard much higher than the back of the seats. But would probably be good fun for the money.

Adrian Squire only built 7 cars out of the 12 laid down before he was killed during the war. A chap I know in a village up the road from me has one in his collection. I think they were very will built cars using a twin cam Anzani engine with a Roots supercharger. This Vicarage copy is not bad except for the wheels and tyres which are wrong but at that money it would probably be quite a nice car.

This is mine :[img]https://ibb.co/Lg3hC8b[/img]
Other info ;
I have used yellow/white LED to move indicators into the sidelights, 1930s ford headlamps and rear lamps removed all the 1980s yellow lamps !
I made a body colour aluminium dashboard with rolled edge to replace the 1970s leather TVR style dash with something more period, mine came with a Lancaster bomber map light an 8day clock and a leather rimmed four spoke steering wheel. I have tried to make it look period, struggling with the Jaguar e-type smiths gauges, I would prefer jaeger.

They have as standard; Morgan door handles and windscreen
Healey hood frame
Alfa Romeo 2 litre (105 nord) with 5 speed, twin Weber 40s (although at least one had a ford cross flow with SU, it is on display at the Lincolnshire aviation museum, it has 18” wheels)
Marelli ignition (Alfa Romeo 2000)
SU fuel pump.
Marelli filter and pressure regulator (same as Alfa/Ferrari)
Ford English axle
Alfa Romeo 2000/gtv brake and clutch master cylinders
15” or 18” wire wheels (mine are 15”)
Steel tubular exhaust manifold with a custom 2” pipe to the rear , mine has two silencers but I suspect the rear one has been added to make it quieter !
Twin circuit and servo brakes with a Morgan brake warning/balancer
All aluminium over an ash frame with a steel bulkhead (although mine has been changed to aluminium)
Vicarage still have the original squire signage on their workshop wall.

Each car was hand built to customer spec (I have a box of all the different builds) They had lots of options , for instance the red one has the hinges on the front of the door and a different shape as a result, bonnets came in two or four part options, the louvres on the side could be straight or angled, mine has no trim over the rear end and seat options varied on every car although they were all custom trimmed in leather with Wilton carpets, top quality tonneu, screens and hood, thankfully I have no headrests but I do need three point harness for UK MOT.

10 made, I know one is in Germany and another in Japan, two in UK….

A lot of fun to drive, lovely engine and gearbox, loads of character and small children wave frantically…. The pedals are very close together and not designed for big feet, and if you are over 6ft you will find it snug getting your knees under the steering wheel, although it has good headroom. Looks much better without the hood up !

Very nice. Do you have any pictures of the dash ?

If you ever need a spare Lancaster map light (or a Spitfire magneto switch) I'm your man.

Considering they were coach built by top craftsmen to a very high standard I think they're criminally undervalued.

Dash in mine is made by me, replacing the wooden one with 3mm aluminium, dials are the ones from the factory, I rearranged them, they are from a 60s jag, as are the switches, but I was going for this original look:



And this is another angle



And

You've made a beautiful job of the dash, it looks so much better than the original.

I regret not going to view the one that was for sale quite recently

Written in the sixties, this is a good read for anyone interested in the Squire.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THE-1-1-...msclkid=48576d9dcf7411ecb231c9bf3773889c

I have a box of paperwork with build details for many of the early vicarage squires and a selection of photos, original marketing material and all the correspondence between the factory and the person which commissioned my build.
I also spoke to vicarage who have the 1930s garage sign for Squire motors hanging on thier wall.
I also spoke to someone who the internet claimed took over the squire build from vicarage but it turns out that this was incorrect, he turned out to be the owner of the original squire motor company and he offered to sell it to me !

I have some more pictures;

Those sidescreen fixings look awfully familiar


K

What a lovely car, you can see that it's a quality construction which is unsurprising knowing the company involved. Have you re-profiled the seats, they look more bucket-like (and better) than other pictures I've seen ? Likewise the lighting seems to be more period along with some other detailing. Did the car come like that ? Do you have any pictures under the bonnet to share ?

You probably know that the original founder of Vicarage went on to start Classic Motor Cars (CMC) the Jaguar specialists.

@mph
I spent a lot of time through lockdown rewiring and researching, I spent over 1500 squids on new 1940s 10” headlamps, new 1930s style brake/indicators (the glass which used to read stop on Ford model As is now a yellow indicator), I put bay15d led amber/sidelights inside the original king of the road shells (sidelights), that work removed the gigantic yellow Lucas indicators on the front. The rear indicators on the back are now in the Ford model A replacements. I reused the Ford model A “D” lamps as rear illumination and number plate lamps.
I removed the wing mounted reflector and fitted Alfa Romeo 159 reflectors , just like a morgan, on a custom mount under the rear wing lip.
I reused a lovely period bullet lamp and fitted another led bulb, this time white and red to make it into a reverse and fog combo, you can just make it out hanging under the corner of the OSR picture above. This has left the rear “nude” which is the original style.

I had to rewire for my replacement dash so I also did a hidden fuse box and a load of relays for everything from horns to fog lamps and wipers.

The yellow spot came with the car but had never been wired up ,so I converted it to 12v and it now has its own switch.

I found that the vintage indicator switch had the capability to flash from a little bulb in the handle, so I spent along time getting that to work with new bulb and careful wiring, I still leave it merrily flashing long after I have completed the turn !

The lighting and the dash are my favourite work from lockdown

I also changed the interior from very 1980s grey to navy blue, thankfully the car came with those buckets instead of some awful mx5 nastiness, they needed some minor repairs, but they are aluminium shells over a steel frame, so a quality set of seats. New carpets which I haven’t finished yet, I am also tidying up under the bonnet this weekend, trying to make it at least a little bit period, but there is only so much you can do with twin Weber DCOE40 and alternator! so I can share a pic when I am happier with it.

You obviously have an eye for detail and a good knowledge of what a car from that period should look like. You've made a great job of it.

Under the bonnet it depends how far you want to go (and the cost) You could replace the plastic washer bottle with a glass one and the alternator with a dynalite I guess.

Keep us posted.

Thread resurrection.

I've just bought the red car that was the original subject of this thread. Once I get my hands on it I've got a few ideas of ways to make it more "authentic" to the original.

I mentioned earlier that the original Squire was rumoured to be the inspiration for the four-wheeler Morgan. By a strange quirk of fate it's designer, Adrian Squire, had the middle name Morgan.

Slowly getting rid of some of the more "modern" items from the Squire. Here's the new vs old dashboard. Still a map light and a different rear view mirror to be fitted.

mph
Indeed, rumour has it that Adrian Squire wnet to the factory in the early 1930s and HFS was impressed. The problem with the Squire was the price! The 2 seater was £1,220 in 1936.

Nice cars.

Now has body coloured wheels and larger headlamps.

It already looks very vintage. The only thing I’d change is the seats—I’d swap them out for classic bucket seats, and then it would be perfect.

https://www.classic-seats.com/bucket-vorkrieg

This was written in the sixties and is a good read.

https://automotobookshop.com.au/products/car-profile-publications-no-64-the-1-1-2-litre-squire

That red dash with period instruments is a huge improvement on the rather clinical, modern look version below. Particularly like the tacho with inset clock - does it work?

The current seats are very comfortable but I may well have them retrimmed to look more 1930's. I've got to watch the budget ! Great link though. Thanks

The inset clock has given up the ghost (quite common) replacements or alternatives are readily available but the 1930's Smiths item is working fine so no rush.

I'm rather pleased with the steering wheel it's a wooden, alloy-spoked moto lita that I had painted satin black. The centre is an EBay purchase and came from a Triumph Roadster.

Showing the larger period headlamps and the side screens I had made. The side screens work particularly well.

Love it.

The "new" mirror. Had it in stock for decades.

The temperature gauge works though needs adjusting. Not sure about the altitude side yet.