A Stag on St.Helena.

[Neil in Deal]

Afternoon all,

The July issue of Classic and Sportscar came through the letter box this morning.
There's a feature on cars on St.Helena - which is actually slightly bigger than most people think.
The majority of vehicles are British. The owner of a local hotel/coffee/banana estate runs a Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, and his other car is......the 71st production Stag.
It looks like it's possibly Maple, but the photo shows it lurking under a very thick layer of muck. It just syas it's his "next project", so no idea if it runs/goes/stops.
Best of luck with that one....I suppose the UK suppliers will airfreight there, but "ooooh, that ain't gonna be cheap"......

Stay safe,

Neil.

[StagJonno]

Never saw any Stags there in 2003 when I was there, but possibly locked away in a garage. We got an XR3i as a hire car, but it had seen better days - reckon a 1100cc in good nick would've given it close competition. A big problem they had was that skilled folk generally moved to Ascension Island or the Falklands to earn a decent wage (average on StH then was ~£4,500 pa). Very often grandparents would bring up children with parents only seeing them a couple of times a year. So the owner must be pretty self-sufficient to take on a full resto as very little by way of support locally.

It's a lovely island with a year-round temp of ~24C, so a Stag will be a great car there. Roads are narrow with lots of hills, twists and turns so most driving done in 3rd, though they could well now have a "motorway" to the new airport.

[roadster72]

I'm a rare contributor to this Forum as others seem to know more than I about most things and to be quicker off the draw. But here's something where I can contribute.

I've seen that Stag and been in the Rolls, We stayed at his hotel while we were on the island in the days before the airport was opened, when the way to get there was on the RMS St. Helena, from either Capetown or Ascension Island, a desolate spot from which the connection to the UK was an RAF transport, on a flight that began in the Falklands. That ship was wonderful, but probably trying if you lived on the island and were in a hurry.

They are a lovely couple running a small hotel in an old island house. They both used to work on the RMS. I have no doubt that he, with a little help from other islanders, could get the Stag going again, if he can find sufficient time. I remember it as brownish, so it might well be maple. I might even have the odd picture, if I can find it.

He brought the Rolls out from England in a container, carefully packed with spares and lots of other household necessities. I expect the Stag travelled in the same way.

The islanders are well used to the delays inherent in ordering from the UK. Not to mention the further problems if you are sent the wrong part. One chap told us he waited for his nephew to send out a suspension part for his 1990s car, only to find it was for the wrong version. The further delay did not stop him trundling on around the island with the odd clunk from below. But third is a good gear to stay in and most if not all the island seems to be subject to a low speed limit, maybe 30, anyway.

Stay safe.

[CJG]

Thank's for the contribution most interesting Anthony.

[Neil in Deal]

Morning all,

Thanks to Anthony and Jonno for some interesting information.
I remember seeing RMS St.Helena in Cape Town MANY years ago - it may even have been the previous one. (This was early '80's, when we used to load oranges, grapes etc. Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth for Europe.)
Seem to remember having the odd "chat" with them in morse code - I was a Radio Officer '74 to '89.
There was an article about a year ago in my Nautilus Telegraph (the Nautilus Union paper for UK Merchant Navy Officers) with an Islander young lady, who was the Master of RMS Helena. (She was from either Ascension or St.Helena, can't remember which one, memory fading with increase of silver hair !! ) they were very proud of her achievement, as well they might be.
Yes, I can just imagine opening my long-awaited box from the UK to find.....the wrong bit !!
Always good reading/hearing about exotic places with car enthusiasts, who don't have the ability to nip down to "Halfords" for a bit to keep their cars going!

Stay safe,

Neil.