| Anders Ditlev Clausager, who died aged 76 on 27 July 2025 after a long illness, was one of the most important figures of the past 50 years in the classic car world. Besides his research endeavours during his 35-year career as archivist at the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (1979–2000) and Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust (2000–2014), he was a prolific author and guiding light in various significant clubs and societies.
One of the many strings to Anders’ bow was his dedication to the MSMT as a long-time Trustee and latterly as Vice-Chairman. As both a great scholar and a prolific author, his contributions to the Trust’s deliberations were always especially valuable and often delivered with the driest of dry wits. Concerning one manuscript that he considered excessively long, his verdict was: “This should be a pamphlet, not a book.”
He wrote 24 books, mostly about British subjects, and delivered the last of them, BMC Farina Cars In Detail, to his favoured publisher, Herridge & Sons, shortly before his death. This is a landmark work in another way, for it is the 100th book supported by the MSMT. Of all his books, Anders was proudest of Wolseley: A Very British Car, published in 2016 as the definitive work on the subject. It also received MSMT support and won awards from the Society of Automotive Historians in Britain and the Guild of Motoring Writers.
COVENTRY TRANSPORT MUSEUM ARCHIVE
A valuable resource for researchers of British motoring history
Coventry, the cradle of the British motor industry, has an archive devoted to the city’s motoring history. For years this resource had a less-than-satisfactory home within the Coventry Transport Museum but, since that popular display space became part of the Culture Coventry charitable trust, the motoring collection is now part of the Coventry Archives housed at the nearby Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.
A huge library of books and publications includes bound volumes of The Autocar (1895–2010), Commercial Motor and The Light Car & Cyclecar. Among many scarce items is the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders’ own set of motor show catalogues going right back to the industry’s foundation. There are surviving production records for numerous Coventry-based makes, including Daimler, Hillman, Humber, Morris, Rudge, Standard, Sunbeam and Triumph.
Although a great deal of technical information in the form of drawings, blueprints, manuals and handbooks dating back to 1900 has stayed within the Coventry Transport Museum, it remains available for reference.
The photographic collection spans motoring, motorcycling, motorsport, cycling, factory and historic scenes from various companies including Armstrong Siddeley, Calcott, Daimler, Lanchester, Lea-Francis, Maudslay, Standard, Triumph and White & Poppe. Some 4,000 glass negatives of Daimler and Lanchester vehicles and factories from 1900 to 1939 are especially treasured.
The remaining official photo library of the Rootes Group (Hillman, Humber, Singer and Sunbeam, plus Commer and Karrier commercial vehicles) comprises an extensive collection of negatives and prints from the 1940s to the 1970s. There is also a unique Rootes press-cuttings collection from the Group’s factories and activities.
The archive’s keeper, Damien Kimberley, is gradually organising the collection so that navigating the material becomes easier, and there is now a proper reading room. The Archive requests a very reasonable £15 fee for a daily ‘photo permit’ so that researchers can capture images on their phones for later reference. High-quality scans of specific items incur similarly modest handling costs. Fees for reproduction of photos in books are both modest and flexible in order to encourage worthwhile projects.
More information is available at https://www.transport-museum.com/collection/archive.aspx or by emailing archives@cvlife.co.uk. Visits are by appointment only and donations of Coventry-related material are welcomed.
VOICES FROM THE PAST
The MSMT’s new audio library
We are encouraged by the response to the Trust’s audio library instituted earlier this year with a collection of interviews of significant personalities from the motor industry and motorsport in the 20th century.
More than 40 audio files have been distributed to assist authors and historians in their work. Intriguingly, the most requested of the first 10 subjects was Alex Moulton, the suspension specialist and collaborator with Alec Issigonis, and the designer and manufacturer of the cycles that carry his name.
We are planning to add more interviews to the library in the New Year, including Stuart Turner, the famous rally manager, who sadly died in September.
The full list of interviews can be found on the Trust’s website: https://michaelsedgwicktrust.co.uk. They are available, free-of-charge, as MP3 audio files to download on application to msedgwickmt@gmail.com
WHAT IS THE MICHAEL SEDGWICK MEMORIAL TRUST?
The Michael Sedgwick Memorial Trust is a charity, not a membership organisation, run by volunteer Trustees who between them have huge experience of writing and publishing books. The Trust exists to encourage new and original research into any aspect of motoring history and to offer financial and other assistance to authors and publishers.The Trust wishes to see research into motoring history reach the public domain, through publication as books, other printed media or on the internet. The Trust gives advice to would-be authors and tries to ‘connect’ authors and publishers. The Trust believes that even books with very limited sales potential should be published if the subject matter is worthy and the research is new and comprehensive.
In cases where a publisher or author believes that a subject merits publication but is unlikely to be a viable commercial proposition, the Trust can often offer some financial help to bridge the gap or enable an author to self-publish.
Where research is of a very specialist nature and not commercially viable, the Trust may offer funding to assist with research provided that copies of resulting texts are lodged in selected specialist libraries, County Record Offices and possibly published on the internet.
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