4444 DA ~ ex-Stan Annis
(Previously registered WLY 154 and then E 700)
The ex-Eric Davis/Stan Annis Sebring 4444 DA (now owned by Sven Eckhardt) seen (top right) on the 1961 London Rally "where she finished 3rd overall beating a certain John Sprinzel who came 5th". The car currently has been awaiting restoration for quite some time but still has its tall-sidescreen DHMC hardtop No.322.
Past owner, Paul Webb, told me: "Eric Davis's registration E700 was on this Sprite which had an Ashley bonnet and a tall sidescreen DHMC hardtop at the time he sold it to Stan Annis. Stan Annis bought the car in around July/August 1961 and ran it with the E700 reg for a short while until he transferred his own registration 4444 DA on to the car. The E700 number was then transferred to Eric's new car which was coupé bodied and was I assume built for Eric by John Sprinzel who says Eric was his storekeeper. Soon after acquiring the car Eric replaced the Ashley bonnet with a W & P Sebring one. I'm unsure whether the 8" rear brakes and Lockheed PL (Thin Disc) front brakes were fitted when Eric had the car or were subsequently fitted by Stan Annis".
According to Tom Coulthard in "Spritely Years" the car was originally registered WLY 154 and was "Cherry Red, then later light blue, then cerise and light blue, then cerise". Eric Davis was from Bromley in Kent and belonged to the Sevenoaks & District Motor Club. He won the Bexley Light Car Club's Capricorn Rally (Jan '61), came 3rd in the Regent Rally (Feb '61) and gained a 1st in class on the Moss Trophy Rally in May. "Over 6 feet tall and heavily built, Stan Annis was 32 in 1961". He ran a garage business in Wolverhampton (called Raymond Stanley Cars) with Ray Gibbon another keen rally competitor.
1961 Rally Reports
Bournemouth Rally |
Liverpool Rally |
London Rally |
25 May 2014: In a message received from Stan Annis, he offers to tell Paul about all the modifications he did to the Sprite, and his belief that the car was damaged in an accident after he sold it.
[My thanks to Paul Webb and to Tom Coulthard]
2017 ~ and the car is now owned by Sven Eckhardt of Rosenheim, Bavaria and a full restoration commences:
Stan Annis guides Sven on his rebuild:
"The Halda Speed Pilot looks like the Speedpilot Neuere Ausfuhrung in Black nothing to reflect light for the navigator, he also had a Magnified map reader with a plastic bottom with a miles & inches scale on it which he used on the 1 inch to a mile map.
The speed pilot was used mostly on long sections so that we did not exceed the 40mph average over 20 miles on public roads. We did not use it on special stages. Most of the rallies in the UK were on Ordnance survey maps that were 1 inch to the mile; the navigator was given the map references of the controls & the direction to approach - he then had to plot his route, he was also given the times allowed. You were allowed 29 minutes lateness before you had a failed section so you could make up time between controls but 30min late at a control was a failed control The navigator also had a black curtain to stop reflected light on the screen so has not to effect the driver. Today it seems that it is one special stage after the other; this is because we could not average more than 30mph on the roads by law which soon became very easy. My navigator Richard Binns was the first to set a rally on Forestry roads where the 30mph did not apply & the special stage was born; it was The Express & Star Rally. Hope this of interest for you it has been a nostalgic trip for me."

Sept 7th 1961 on the Jeans Gold Cup run by Liverpool MC [Motoring News]

New registration and bonnet for the London Rally - here crossing the Elan Bridge
[Autosport 29 Sept 1961

October 19th, 1961 on the Bournemouth Rally, the car repainted in Triumph Powder Blue with a purple hardtop.
[Motoring News]

The Elan Bridge today