here we go again
Chris Parnham is of course the authority on this stuff, but the 3 cars converted at Dunmurry are the AXI cars and were done by a few of the senior workforce who remained when the factory had been closed by the receivers. It is for this reason that a large part of the original workforce have no idea that they even exist. But they do, and Chrispy has owned one of them, Nigel has this one (he only very recently restored the AXI 1697 plate) and a third is rotting away in a garage somewhere which Chrispy tried to rescue but they wouldn't budge on the price he offered.
Nigel's is a very interesting car, and is the most "finished" of all the right handers, even down to the lower windscreen grill. He has an original european high compression engine, 3.8:1 final drive, custom free-flow exhaust, convex mirrors with correct right-hand offset - all FACTORY ORIGINAL.
When people talk about the "euro spec cars" this one really is the original UK spec as it was to have been the 1982 London Motor Show car.
Most of the Wooler Hodec cars are vinned May 81 and have a pecular vin number beginning 121xx