A classic car owner is hoping that Andover residents can reach back in their memories and help him solve a 60-year-old mystery.

Grahame Bull, from Fleet, is passionate about his cars, and recently won the pre-1960 award for his Jaguar SS100 at the Concours D’Elegance contest in Middle Wallop. He’s currently in the process of restoring another of the same car and is looking into its history, but has reached a dead end in 1950s Andover.

“I am sure the vehicle was in the Andover or surrounding area between 1957 and possibly through to 1960 as it was being taxed at the post office in Bridge Street,” he told the Advertiser. “If anybody has any recollection of this car, or any story relating to it, I would be most grateful to hear from them.”

The car in question is a 1938 SS100 Jaguar, with the registration FAU 620. Grahame bought the remains of the car in the 1990s, and began investigating its past as he restored it.

After being built in the late 1930s, he found the car had been owned by a number of people, including P.M. Burnett, a racing aficionado and former Governor of both Stafford Jail and Pentonville Prison. It was also in Eastbourne for a time, and in both East and West Sussex.

However, while Grahame was researching the history, he hit a road block when he found the car was taxed in Area 21 in Hampshire in 1957.

“I could never identify it,” he said. “Eventually, I found out it was the post office on Bridge Street in Andover, and so it was in the area before it disappeared.”

Based on the tax, Grahame believes the car could have been in the town into the mid-1960s, with its sudden disappearance perhaps pointing to a military past.

“The evidence points towards a British or American serviceman,” he said, “though it’s not out of the question it was owned by someone else. It could have been shipped overseas before coming back as a result.

“This car was the cad’s car at the time, and it was very popular amongst servicemen.”

After that point, little is known until Grahame bought the car 30 years ago, but the previous owner had passed away and documents from the era in question were missing. He’s now hoping someone in Andover can help him uncover the truth.

“Somebody knows something,” he said. “There might even a retired mechanic out there who has seen it. It’s grey now, but it could have been another colour at the time.”

The car is nearly ready to start being reassembled, and Grahame hopes that when it does, it will be with the knowledge of what happened to it some 60 years ago.

If you have any information that might help Graheme, he can be reached on 07836 203159 or by email at: grahamebull@tiscali.co.uk