Summary
"Rootes also had a sub-contractual agreement with General Motors Limited, and official information shows that Thrupp & Maberly Limited, Acton, the coachbuilders, received for instance an order for 250 General Service Truck bodies for Ford and Chevrolet chassis in 1943, 33 of which were completed by 27 November 1943, along with 61 A.E.C. cabs and 43 Humber l.w.b. limousines. Between 1 December 1943 and 29 February 1944, an order for a further 100 G.S. truck bodies was received. 112 G.S. truck bodies were produced in this period. The period to 27 May 1944 saw a further 150 bodies being produced, and then the order was expected to be reduced by 100, but then by 31 August 1944 the final order for 200 bodies was cancelled".
There were several sheets of paper that they sent and I know that I found them when sorting the garage out a few weeks back. There would I hope be more information and figures in the Rootes archive therefore. I found them very helpful years ago when I queried, so it's worth a try to see what they have.
I can add to the above information that General Motors Limited had a meeting in May 1941 at Cuerdon Mill, Bamber Bridge near Preston at which various agreements were reached for the assembly of Chevrolet and GMC vehicles in the UK. Northern Counties Engineering, Rootes Group and Pearsons of Liverpool were present, and we now know what Pearsons were doing there! Rootes allocated Barlby Road to assemble some Canadian vehicles in 1940-41 according to Sid Swallow.
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