This early steel bodied roadster was manufactured on November 28th 1950 and was despatched by the original distributor Walter E Sturgess, of Leicester on the 6th December 1950 and duly registered HBC226.

While the first owner of HBC226 currently remains unknown, by the August of 1951 it was being regularly driven in competition by Roy Salvadori who was back in action just months after a serious accident at the Silverstone 'Daily Express' meeting that May.

Salvadori, originally a second-hand car salesman, had been eager to compete from a young age but his ambitions were frustrated by the onset of the Second World War. With the end of hostilities he began racing in 1946, starting with an MG and Brooklands Riley before moving onto Tazio Nuvolari's 1935 German GP-winning Alfa Romeo and Bira's Maserati 4CL. His career was progressing until the Silverstone accident where he had a near-fatal crash after hitting a marker drum and suffering a fractured skull and broken bones after being ejected from his somersaulting car. In spite of a lengthy hospital stay, Salvadori was keen to get back into the fray and the lack of viable car prompted him to switch from the damaged 'Nash and acquire HBC226.