...when I was 'Buying' cars out of Tokyo / Japan, in the 80's,one yard I used to go to had a 80's/ Le Mans Sports car on top of its office, no running gear as such,big wheel just sitting in place,still all signwriten up........but sadley 'Not For Sale',but what a great starting point...oh Well!!!!!
Dead car lot from the old Dukes Of Hazard tv series. I think I found this one on the HAMB:
I just love the sections in magazines such as 'under the hedge' or 'in the paddock'. I saw a photo in a magazine many years ago that stuck in my mind. I was an Alfa saloon I think in a delapidated state on the side of a road an exotic rural village somewhere and it had a chain around the door pillar with a big padlock which was negated by the fact that their were no windows. Some time later I was travelling and went to Macau where I visited Teddy Yip I think it was who had a garage cut into the hill on the Macau circuit.
After that I rented a mini moke and drove around the various small islands that are connected by bridges. I came into a small Macau rural village and out the corner of my eagle eye which I have for tucked away cars, I saw something worth stopping for. There was the very car in the magazine complete with chain and padlock. I took my own photo and continued on my way. Chris Read-Arrowtown.
I do, but it was in the video period of my life long photo taking and the vids are on little cassettes for which the camera does not now work. One of my many retirement projects is to convert them onto disc and there is a plan!
The story was a little more than a drive - My kids were reminding me of the trip not so long ago as after we had rented the Moke (I had to hand over my Passport as collateral which Kiwis don't like doing). I said I would take them round the Macau circuit and off we went but part of it in street form was 'one way' and not the way we were going. We continued on anyway but not without being noticed by the local miltia who took off after us. We headed for the houses (my passport being recorded by the rental firm in the back of my mind) on the hills above the town to lose them but boxed ourselves in on an ever narrowing downhill street that ended with steps. The kids were hooting with excitement over the chase saying to go for it, so down the steps we went in the Moke as only a NZder knew was their purpose. At the bottom I saw the big bridge over to the first island and on the advice of my wife who was becoming less impressed with the antics, she said we had better get out of town - and that's how we ended up in the village with the padlocked car. We booked out of the hotel, took the Moke back to the ferry terminal, got my passport back and left on the last ferry to the mainland that night - a day early. Haven't been back since. Chris Read - Arrowtown.
Last edited by Chris Read; 08-20-2012 at 10:12 PM.
Steve, yes, there was a lot of money to be made, I had put 4years into refinning my purchasing and import /export skills,with some fine people involved both in Japan and Melbourne, signed a deal to import cars/vans/people movers for an Australian based Asian company that was 3yrs in contract,worth inexcess of $5 mill only to recieve a "General' letter from the F#!~%ng Australian Government that basically said ...Quote; 90days from the receipt of this letter there will be no more 'Personal imports!!!!.....I should have got on the plane and come home,but I had meet a number of the NZ 'importers' in Japan and I figured the last thing that was required was another 'Punter'......I grew up in the car game as my Father sold 'New and abused' cars his whole life.his advise at that time was that there was enough people doing it in NZ...his advice was ....."think of something else"!!!.......but I like the way you think Steve!!!
HAMB is Hokey Ass Message Board. Its the forum section of the brilliant Jalopy Journal site for traditional hot rods: www.jalopyjournal.com
from barn finds
Last pic (car 99) is an early pre 1964 Marcos Gullwing. Plywood chassis of course...
Not sure where these pics are from but I'd also love to know what happened - to that one anyay.
An NZ car which I have not seen since I very nearly bought it in Rotorua.
The guy I went to see called it a Dyna, had a rear engine and memory says a coupled pair of Dyna-generator engines from a war surplus source, plane? It was painted brown.
I would have looked at it in the mid to late 60s.
Anyone have any further info?
The Dyna-Four apparently had two single-cylinder 500cc Lawrence aircraft-auxiliary engines mounted back-to-back. I saw it race once or twice around 1963 or '64 (in dark blue), and believe it was in the Bay of Plenty area a couple of years after that, but haven't heard of it since.
I took these photos at scrutineering for the first Pukekohe GP meeting
The last time I was at Ted Thomsons he was building a special with 2 starter motors of some plane 1961? he also had modified his Healy 4 bodywise?? along with his lovely 39 coupe,at one hillclimb Ostridge Road the V8 had 8 Ammal carbs, and to think he was deaf how he tuned it was amazing,then again was he really deaf???