Guy Harold Richard Radford built up a reputation for fine coachwork during the period after WW II. He had taken over Seary & Macready, a small specialist coachbuilder and relocated premises from North-London to Ealing. It was a most unlikely time, because the number of independent coachbuilders was dwindling steadily. Indeed the take-over of Seary & Macready who previously had built bodies to the order of Radford might indicate the owners of that company were happy to have found someone investing in what anyone considered to be "risky business".

After a mere 10 bodies had been built on R-Type chassis Radford very cleverly found a way-out of the problem that traditional coachbuilding resulted in costs so high that the sale price of such a car became almost prohibitively expensive. In 1954 he opted for a major change by modifying standard steel sports saloons as supplied ex-factory.

 
In outward appearance there was a major difference in the form of a two-part 'clamshell' hinged tail gate. This revolutionary feature was executed so well that it followed precisely the lines of the basic design. From a long list of options a costumer could select folding rear seats, a wash basin and mirror incorporated into the lower of the 'clamshell' boot lip, flask holders, tachometer, special front seat armrests, electric windows, etc. etc.

An almost complete list of such goodies is found on #B268WH – no wonder, because this was the first such R-Type modified by Harold Radford.