One of many British “cottage manufacturers” of the 1950s was Turner — but they were more successful than most, producing around 600 giant-killer sports cars that can be found racing even today. One 1958 Turner 950S that needs completion is listed for sale here on eBay. Thanks to frequent finder Peter R. for this rare and neat find! It’s located in Candia, New Hampshire and has a buy it now of $7,400 — but even lower offers will be considered!
English race car driver Jack Turner had built some of his own racing cars but nothing for the street before the mid 1950s. The Turner was somewhat of a cross between a race car and a street car and used various engines. Production ended in 1966. This one appears to be in pretty solid shape and the seller has sourced brand new doors. They also point out that if you don’t want to deal with the 61-year-old fiberglass you can get a new shell from the same vendor.
As you can see from this picture, the seller has done a lot of restoration work already. There were some modifications made for streetability including later disc brakes and a 1275cc A-Series engine substituting for the original 948cc. A truly staggering list of new and rebuilt parts have been accumulated and I can easily see that their cost far exceeds the asking price for the car.
The seller has constructed all new inner panels for the car but they have yet to be permanently attached together.
Some more new and refurbished parts. Someone really is going to get a bargain!
And even more parts. Turners are successful vintage racers now and actually most of them that I have come across have been modified for racing, so this street version is kind of unusual. What do you think about this project where a lot of the hard work is already done? I like it!
Okay, I have a question. I am thinking of getting a 1970 Ford Maverick as my first car, it has been sitting next to an abandoned house near my house for quite some time but it seems really complete and I think they had a 6 cylinder only for that year which means good enough gas mileage. All the reviews on them seem decent. Should I do this, and what is the best way to find the owner? And no, you are not going to convince to get a Toyota Camry or something, so don’t even try, I really want a classic.
Speedy, IMHO you could check with your county assessor for the owner of the property. If you find one you may be able to work a deal whereby you do an agreed upon amount of work around the place in trade for the car. That’s all contingent on the owner filing on the car as abandoned property on his real estate pursuant to the laws in your state.
Another route may be to check the DMV for the registered owner if you have a VIN or plates, but be careful about your ordinances pertaining to trespassing.
Too, this might be the opportunity to collect on debts owed you by any good friends in law enforcement or at DMV.
Good luck! We hope you score.
Speedy, this is about a Turner. Don’t hijack the thread.
A bloody stunning deal and one unlikely to be seen again soon.
get the vin and do a motor vehicle department search.
Saw many a Turner get “dissed” at the local SCCA events by folks ignorant of its potential only to find those folks that had been turning up their noses at such an old odd looking car (to them) get put into their place for said attitude at the end of the day!
But then again, Edward Turner did that for many years prior with his Triumph motorcycles and later his Daimler SP250 too.
Very fast cars. The tube framer provided more rigidity than cars of that era. Used to run against them in gymkhanas etc. in the 1960’s and they were often the car who was FOTD (fastest of the day). I hope whoever gets it appreciates how good they can be.
I worked on one or two in the late 1960’s in central Ohio. They were not built for year round use, and 50 years ago, the street driven cars were ragged. This has to be the best way for anyone who has to have a Turner, to get a good one. A great find. I feel badly for someone to do all this work and not see it through to completion.
Looks like the designer took his styling cues from an early MGA in front & a 56 Plymouth for the rear fins.
Perhaps you should have suggested the cast aluminum egg crate grille is reminiscent of the early 50’s Ferrari 166 and 212 as the Turner 830 née Turner A30 sports car was announced in March 1955 whereas the MGA was shown to the public on 26 Sep 1955. Of course there were earlier iterations of the MGA design raced at Le Mans, but all had the MGA style vertical slats. No egg crate (or egg boxes) for the MGs.
The ugly, oh my, so ugly and profoundly discordant fins were added for…wait for it…yep, you guessed it the American market. Hmm…a different take on the phrase ‘ugly American’. Dale Smith of Tri-City Sports Cars in Massillon, Ohio was the “not ugly” American who suggested adding fins. The 950 Sports w/o fins and the 950S do have larger brakes than the earlier cars among other advances.
The 950S offered appears to be a superb deal even though many hours of labor remain for the new custodian. A few years ago I would have immediately made an offer. Hell be damned, I would have kept the the frightful Plymouth-ish fins. However, a set of correct performance spec black wall tires would have been a must. But time marches on and now acquisition of a major project isn’t a reasonable endeavor.
Petula Clark had a smooth good looking 803 (ok, the lamp shades are a bit much) Turner. Petula was a BBC radio star at age 11 with her Pet’s Parlor show which provided entertainment for British forces home and abroad during WWII. Her image remains forever linked to Turner Sports Cars in the minds of many enthusiasts.
“Sports Car and Lotus Owner” magazine’s Feb, 1957 issue with Turner 950 Sports article is accessible by first clicking on articles in the left hand menu column. Petula’s 803 is pictured front and center is this the second article listed: http://www.turnersportscars.co.uk
Very pleased to read your comments and thanks for the website. Comments about the fins are inappropriate in many ways. To me Plymouth was a boat.
Great find I don’t understand the loss of enthusiasm on the seller!! He’s almost there 20 to 30 hours without paint and you could potentially have a runner!!!