Snippets: The Radio Man & a Talented American

John James ordered 5BV87 in December 1959 but did not take delivery of the car until June 1961.

John James (1906/1996) had learnt about radio whilst in the RAF and during WWII as a radio operator; after the war he purchased Broadmead Radio Company and whilst repairing broken radios he rented sets to the customer, reaching a double income. He soon had a chain of over 300 shops and in 1959 he sold the Broadmead chain for £5.8m. In the 1960s and 70s John James continued in business: he played the stock market, had a builder’s merchant, a printer firm and made office furniture. His hard work enabled him to help various institutions such as the Bristol Grammar Schools, the Harefield Hospital (Middlesex) an the Frenchay Hospital in Bristol, to name a few. His work still continues today with the John James Bristol Foundation and his Biography “The Sky’s The Limit” is a must for the next owner of 5BV87. During the 1970s, 5BV87 was with Frank Sardo Avianca an Italian-American whose talents included singing, writing, producing & singing; in January 1959 he was invited to join the Winter Dance Party tour as the opening act for Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and Dion and The Belmonts with his song “Fake Out”. After the concert at Clear Lake in Iowa Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Popper decided to fly to their next venue; in the early hours of the 3" of February 1959 the plane crashed with no survivors. In 1972 Frank was in London producing the film “The 14” starring Jack Wild, Liz Edmiston and Peter Newby, when Frank returned to the US he took 5BV87 with him having had some interesting modifications done to the Phantom V, including a gaming table, a vanity table and a rear seat the converted into a recliner.