Vehicle Model: Swallow Doretti Year: Chassis Number: 1205
State: NSW Owned since: 2020
Bought new by Steven Stewart of Bowral and I think originally Black with Burgundy interior. NSW rego AVW197. Lorraine Hill bought it around 1960 and raced it at Warwick Farm, Hume Weir, Catalina etc. By this stage it was painted Metallic Gunmetal Grey. George Parlby bought it in 1963 and around 1971 crashed it at the corner of Pacific Highway and Mona Vale Road Pymble NSW. The wreck was sold at auction in 1972 and bought by Les Taylor who pulled it apart and left it in his shed for 26 years. Warren McEwen bought the car in 2008 and completed a total rebuild, painting it Silver with a burgundy stripe.
Lorraine Hill would race a Lotus 7 after selling the Doretti. She would then go on to race sedans in the 1962 Bathurst 6 hour and also in the first two Bathurst Armstrong 500s. She married another car racer, Brian ‘Brique’ Reed. Her brother Lance also raced with an MG TC and SS 100.
I grew up in a classic car family, helping my father Ian on his cars (mainly Jaguars) from a young age. So it was a logical step to get something of my own when I got my driving license. My first car at 17 in 1979 was a TR3a. Then followed another TR3a before getting a TR5. All used as daily drivers.
In 2020 I was looking for a reliable and easy to drive classic car. I bought the Swallow Doretti from Warren McEwen. I had originally thought about getting a long-door TR2, as my father had one in 1960 which was used on my parent’s honeymoon. I decided on the Swallow Doretti as I also have a 1930 Swallow bodied Austin Seven, so now have cars at the beginning and the end of the Swallow car name.
