Meredith bodies

Sir,
I rather think Meredith Coachcraft, about which a reader seeks information (Motor Sport, January 1988), owned or were the same firm as Trinity Coachcraft or Coachworks, who operated around 1933 from buildings on the old British Industries Fair site at Castle Bromwich.

I had a Hornet Special— a 21st birthday present. One went to Wolseleys to choose a completed chassis from several and had it delivered (soapbox & goggles) to Castle Bromwich. Their body was clever but heavy — as an open two-seater the rear seat squab folded forward and up to lock over the space behind the front seats, being metal-panelled on the side then exposed. In what appeared as a sloping tail, with spare wheel thereon, lurked a semi-rigid coupe-type top— more than a mere hood. So the car was either an open two-seater, an open four-seater, or a drophead coupe, hence the appellation Trinity. Clever linkages were devised to allow all this folding.

Bellevue Garage had the engine “Wilkied” for me, offsetting the extra weight of the body compared with the “Abbot” and “Daytona” bodies. My car was registered JJ2107.

The firm was still there (in 1935, I think) to put it together after I carelessly inverted it with the lid up!

Gad Smith, Burford, Oxfordshire