Valance - for crazy money

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RILEY-ELF-WOLSELEY-HORNET-REAR-SKIRT-PANEL-/380400904852?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5891a92a94#ht_743wt_922

£115.00 plus 16 quid postage, that is way expensive, no?

Doesn't seem so bad…
241.43 at Somerford
252.00 at MiniSpares

Seems a fair price to me also

agreed

Okay, I guess I'm used to buying an A-panel for less than a tenner! It just seems expensive.

As for availability of Elf/Hornet panels…
Interesting reading from Somerford Mini's panel catalogue.

If Only...

One of the more surprising things about the Longbridge complex (known to all in the West Midlands as ‘The Austin’), apart from its vast size, is the incredible network of tunnels underneath it. Apparently constructed at the behest of Lord Austin some time before the Second World War, the tunnels are substantial in sectional size (big enough for a delivery van to negotiate, if it had to), are reasonably well lit, poorly ventilated and run to a total length of somewhere around two miles!

Over the course of time, the tunnels became favourite hiding places for things that either staff didn’t know what to do with, or had been instructed to throw away and couldn’t bring themselves to do it. You sometimes hear tales of Aladdin’s caves under car manufacturing plants - this is one instance where the tale was true! Matters came to a head at the start of the 1980s when a serious fire broke out in one of the tunnels and extinguishing the fire was compromised by the amount of clutter that blocked the way. The tunnels were soon cleared, and what we classic car enthusiasts today can only dream of finding was brought to the surface in huge quantities. Tea chests and pallets full of production line stock of all kinds dating back to the 1940s but mostly from the late 1950s onwards was recovered, along with several complete bodyshells , cars and even exhibition items from motor shows back in the mists of time! In all, the huge stash filled a staff car park. The Heritage arm of Leyland Cars, as the parent company was then known, had not long been in existance , and was duly offered several items some of which are on display in the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon today. As for the rest - well, there simply wasn’t the demand for classic car parts that there is now, so it all went for scrap. Some of it would make you weep: palletfuls of early Mini doors (the external hinge ones), even an articulated lorry load of Riley Elf and Wolseley Hornet panelwork. Nowadays of course British Motor Heritage would be a perfect recipient for such a haul, and would doubtless make sure that anything useable was salvaged for the benefit of enthusiasts around the world. Just think - if the fire hadn’t occurred, Elf and Hornet owners might be a whole lot better off today for the unique panelwork for their cars. There’s still a handful of bits and pieces down there in the tunnels, but it’s very, very little by comparison with what was there. Around 1997, there was a brand new (but very battered) 1979 specification bronze metallic Mini 1275 GT still nestling in one of the darker corners . Bet it’s still there ...