Object of the Fortnight - Coventry Victor Venus

10 November 2011

From 11 to 13 November we will be exhibiting at the Classic Car Show at the NEC, and one of our most intriguing and unusual items will be on display on our stand. 

We are very keen to find out more about this vehicle, so it is this week's Object Of The Fortnight: 

Coventry Victor Venus 1949

Where made: Coventry
Engine: Four Cylinder 747cc
Reg. No: YDU 502
Reg. Origin : Coventry

Only six Venus’s were built by Coventry Victor (Four saloons and two convertibles), this being the only survivor.

Found on a farm in Devon the car was purchased in 1981 with aid from a Science Museum grant. Very little is known of its history except that it is a prototype and is unusual in having the engine mounted ahead of the front wheels and employing rear wheel drive.

The engine is in a flat four configuration, as Coventry Victor employed in their stationary and industrial diesel and petrol applications.

Coventry Victor supposedly ordered all of their Venus prototypes (the car never made it into production) to be destroyed, it is unknown how this one escaped the scrap man and ended up on a farm in Devon. We do know that it was first registered on 19 August 1959, ten years after it was built.

If you know anything more about this intriguing vehicle then do let us know!