So at last, I can present my new (old) ELC RW B-6 to you all …
I’d had an ELC B-6 (in seal brown) some years ago, but it was a size 40 and was a titch too tight on the chest for me, and so it was moved on – but I always thought I’d like another but in a size 42, just like my ELC RW B-3, so I could comfortably wear a thick wool sweater beneath one – but since I bought my ELC RW B-3 in 2006, the style of leather had changed and I’d seen/felt them at the ELC QM tent at RAF Duxford and I just wasn’t a fan at all; I knew that what I’d ideally want would be an ELC B-6 but made around the same time as my B-3, but I knew that anything from that time would be well-worn by now and what’d be the point in that? Realistically, the odds now of finding what I wanted were so ridiculously small that I gave it no more thought …. And the years passed by.
So I was looking at eBay earlier this Summer and, on this particular day, I saw a superb ELC RW B-6 made around 2006 (!) in a size 42 (!!) and virtually unworn condition (!!!). It looked exactly like the RW B-6 in my battered old copy of The Golden Book :dance:- except this one had grey RiRi zips (?!?) and an odd-looking makers label that looked rather modern (?!?) – not like The Golden Book at all. Hmmm. It was for sale at 400 GBP but offers were invited.
I watched it – and it failed to sell.
So then I contacted the seller and asked about the odd zips and label and how they possibly came to be, as I know that ELC don’t entertain alterations. I said that, although I liked the look of the Ri-Ri zips and I thought they looked the part, they weren’t appropriate to the jacket proper.
The seller kindly sent me some more photos and told me that he knew nothing of these things; he was selling the jacket on behalf of a friend – the jacket had belonged to her dear departed husband and they’d both bought ELC jackets from a store in London to drive their AC Cobra (she had chosen an ELC Irvin – in the original semi-gloss finish!), but their jackets had been barely worn as they simply hadn’t done the driving they’d intended to do and then he’d sadly become ill and passed away. Now these unworn jackets were both up for sale and the B-6 hadn’t reached the 400 Pounds that she’d wanted – she’d said that they’d cost nearer a grand each (!!) and none of the offers on the B-6 had exceeded 350 quid. More than that, he couldn’t say.
So I contacted Gary at ELC and sent him a few of the photos from the seller and asked about the zips and label and if they could be switched back to the current spec. and he gladly offered up some extra info – that yes, the jackets were made in 2007 for a store in Notting Hill (Bamford & Sons) and they’d specified the Ri-Ri zips and label as they wanted something a bit more “fashionable” and more modern (as they weren't so interested in the wartime history aspect of the jacket), and ELC had duly obliged - and Gary said that they could be switched back to the regular spec. Crown zips and Rough Wear label for 75 Pounds plus P&P. This price also included the making and fitting of a leather name tag (in as dark a leather as possible at my specific request) – as the jacket was changing ownership, I wanted to put my stamp on it, so to speak – by having my name on it.
So I explained to the seller that, bearing in mind the extra costs of mailing the jacket to ELC plus the alterations, plus Air Mail to me here, I offered 375 – and I got it ! Talk about making my day - I was dancing !
The ELC alterations were managed by Alan, who did a brilliant job and he was a pleasure to deal with. The jacket was turned around in 24 hours from its arrival on a Monday and it arrived by the same week’s end ! It’s sat on a hangar all this time until just a few weeks ago and now it’s in its element.
And here it is:
The fit is perfect and it’s just right for the cool Autumn days. The Crown zips perform perfectly and you’d have to scrutinize to the Nth degree to know the work was ever done.
The only other thing to mention is that the jacket has an extra label inside in the seam, which you can clearly see on the open shot of the jacket lying down – and it’s rather modern and has a JCB logo and states modern things like “100% leather” and “Made In England” and “Specialist Dry Clean Only”. I asked Alan what JCB, a company that I associate diggers and earth-movers with, has to do with leather clothing - and his answer was rather opaque for me, but really, it wasn’t any of my business and I didn’t ask for further clarification.
I’ve enclosed close-ups for you to see this label as I think it’s quite a curiosity. But I really don’t care that it’s there – the jacket’s a real gem of a find and that’s that.
I mentioned to Worf last week that I don’t usually wear my ELC RW B-2 (2006) with it as it can “look a bit matchy-matchy” – and I had my pal take a few photos of me in the combo to prove my point – except now I see it for myself here, I think it actually looks quite alright !! “Never say never”, as they say …!
Sorry for the strange purple tint to the final photos. Can’t explain that.
Below are the photos of the way the jacket looked before I got it, plus close-ups of the of JCB label and makers label that was replaced for a Rough Wear type.
I’d had an ELC B-6 (in seal brown) some years ago, but it was a size 40 and was a titch too tight on the chest for me, and so it was moved on – but I always thought I’d like another but in a size 42, just like my ELC RW B-3, so I could comfortably wear a thick wool sweater beneath one – but since I bought my ELC RW B-3 in 2006, the style of leather had changed and I’d seen/felt them at the ELC QM tent at RAF Duxford and I just wasn’t a fan at all; I knew that what I’d ideally want would be an ELC B-6 but made around the same time as my B-3, but I knew that anything from that time would be well-worn by now and what’d be the point in that? Realistically, the odds now of finding what I wanted were so ridiculously small that I gave it no more thought …. And the years passed by.
So I was looking at eBay earlier this Summer and, on this particular day, I saw a superb ELC RW B-6 made around 2006 (!) in a size 42 (!!) and virtually unworn condition (!!!). It looked exactly like the RW B-6 in my battered old copy of The Golden Book :dance:- except this one had grey RiRi zips (?!?) and an odd-looking makers label that looked rather modern (?!?) – not like The Golden Book at all. Hmmm. It was for sale at 400 GBP but offers were invited.
I watched it – and it failed to sell.
So then I contacted the seller and asked about the odd zips and label and how they possibly came to be, as I know that ELC don’t entertain alterations. I said that, although I liked the look of the Ri-Ri zips and I thought they looked the part, they weren’t appropriate to the jacket proper.
The seller kindly sent me some more photos and told me that he knew nothing of these things; he was selling the jacket on behalf of a friend – the jacket had belonged to her dear departed husband and they’d both bought ELC jackets from a store in London to drive their AC Cobra (she had chosen an ELC Irvin – in the original semi-gloss finish!), but their jackets had been barely worn as they simply hadn’t done the driving they’d intended to do and then he’d sadly become ill and passed away. Now these unworn jackets were both up for sale and the B-6 hadn’t reached the 400 Pounds that she’d wanted – she’d said that they’d cost nearer a grand each (!!) and none of the offers on the B-6 had exceeded 350 quid. More than that, he couldn’t say.
So I contacted Gary at ELC and sent him a few of the photos from the seller and asked about the zips and label and if they could be switched back to the current spec. and he gladly offered up some extra info – that yes, the jackets were made in 2007 for a store in Notting Hill (Bamford & Sons) and they’d specified the Ri-Ri zips and label as they wanted something a bit more “fashionable” and more modern (as they weren't so interested in the wartime history aspect of the jacket), and ELC had duly obliged - and Gary said that they could be switched back to the regular spec. Crown zips and Rough Wear label for 75 Pounds plus P&P. This price also included the making and fitting of a leather name tag (in as dark a leather as possible at my specific request) – as the jacket was changing ownership, I wanted to put my stamp on it, so to speak – by having my name on it.
So I explained to the seller that, bearing in mind the extra costs of mailing the jacket to ELC plus the alterations, plus Air Mail to me here, I offered 375 – and I got it ! Talk about making my day - I was dancing !
The ELC alterations were managed by Alan, who did a brilliant job and he was a pleasure to deal with. The jacket was turned around in 24 hours from its arrival on a Monday and it arrived by the same week’s end ! It’s sat on a hangar all this time until just a few weeks ago and now it’s in its element.
And here it is:
The fit is perfect and it’s just right for the cool Autumn days. The Crown zips perform perfectly and you’d have to scrutinize to the Nth degree to know the work was ever done.
The only other thing to mention is that the jacket has an extra label inside in the seam, which you can clearly see on the open shot of the jacket lying down – and it’s rather modern and has a JCB logo and states modern things like “100% leather” and “Made In England” and “Specialist Dry Clean Only”. I asked Alan what JCB, a company that I associate diggers and earth-movers with, has to do with leather clothing - and his answer was rather opaque for me, but really, it wasn’t any of my business and I didn’t ask for further clarification.
I’ve enclosed close-ups for you to see this label as I think it’s quite a curiosity. But I really don’t care that it’s there – the jacket’s a real gem of a find and that’s that.
I mentioned to Worf last week that I don’t usually wear my ELC RW B-2 (2006) with it as it can “look a bit matchy-matchy” – and I had my pal take a few photos of me in the combo to prove my point – except now I see it for myself here, I think it actually looks quite alright !! “Never say never”, as they say …!
Sorry for the strange purple tint to the final photos. Can’t explain that.
Below are the photos of the way the jacket looked before I got it, plus close-ups of the of JCB label and makers label that was replaced for a Rough Wear type.
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