Through the past darkly...

[Junkman]

Thanks for all the nice words from all of you. Thank you so much!

But please keep in mind that this was my bloody job, I did this for a living, so I was just the pimp for many of these tin ladies here.

There are still hundreds of paper photos from ye pre-digitale dayse, but the box with them fell behind the bookshelf.

To retrieve it, I will have to dismantle a section of it. Then I would have to scan all those photos, Jeezuz, why was such a practical invention as servants ever done away with?

 

I bid you 'P', like Panhard.

 

 

 

 

[vulgalour]

The crunched red one looks a bit home-brew rather than factory.  Great background chod too.

[Junkman]

The crunched red one looks a bit home-brew rather than factory.  Great background chod too.

 

It's a Dyna Junior, which was factory built at the request of US importer Ferguson. Di Rosa delivered the bodies.

Almost 5000 were built.

Believe it or not, this is the car that inspired Nissan's Figaro.

[brickwall]

 

This one I remember pretty well:

 

 

Brilliant. And Brave too!

 

ANy story behind it?

[Junkman]

Brilliant. And Brave too!

 

ANy story behind it?

 

Not a great one, really. It was found, dragged to Belgium, and sold. The then owner had it restored and used it to advertise his business, which was tyres, IIRC.

[mercrocker]

Whatever else, Junkman, you breathed into the history of every one of these almost-fabled motor cars at possibly the last hour of being able to do so in a sensible century....I treasure the very existence of such automobiles, even though their ownership eludes me at a more diminishing rate than my remaining lifespan.   If I may be less verbose and sensitive - Fan-fucking-tastic!!

[Junkman]

I don't see it this way, really. I just always was the Junkman, that's all.

 

Anyway, we're still at 'P', so next is Peugeot.

 

 

 

 

Plymouth

 

 

 

 

 

Pontiac

 

 

[Junkman]

FV Excellence!!!!

 

Edit- I count 3 thats a reasonable chunk of production

 

Four. It's four of them.

[Junkman]

Wow, look at this!
 

 

It's the very car. It must be.

 

 

Moar: http://i607.photobucket.com/albums/tt159/baronvonzach/Cars/Delage/Chapron01.jpg

[vulgalour]

What's with all the missing headlights?  I'm going to imagine it's down to tight owners removing the lights from the old car they've laid up and putting them on the new car they've bought but haven't ticked the headlight option box.

[Junkman]

What's with all the missing headlights?  I'm going to imagine it's down to tight owners removing the lights from the old car they've laid up and putting them on the new car they've bought but haven't ticked the headlight option box.

 

It's totally beyond me. You would not believe the fruitcakes I came across. That alone is book-worthy. The stuff people do to their cars and their reasoning for it just defies any logic whatsoever. One of the reasons that kept me still doing this kind of barnstorming while the classic car trade already got organised, was the encounters you could have. You know, when a situation is so funny that you actually can't laugh? I had a lot of those in these years. The real rofflers then followed at the bar in the evenings, when those stories were traded.

We were working our arses off back then, but we still had a lot of fun.

[Junkman]

Oh, and it must be back then when I developed that country bumpkin phobia I have nowadays.

[Skizzer]

Great thread.

 

I hope you didn't have to kill that Plymouth Fury with fire because it turned out to be a psychopath.

[Junkman]

That Plymouth leads a quiet and peaceful life in France now, occasionally showing off its new feathers.

[tooSavvy]

 

no fire........

 

TS

[Junkman]

'R' comme Renault

 

 

IIRC this one was also driven away after a few hours of tinkering.
 

[Junkman]

And the rest.

 

Rosengart

 

 

 

Steyr

 

 

 

VW

 

 

 

As I said earlier, the rest is on paper photos behind my bookshelf. It all starts in the mid-Eighties. Back then, people treated you as if you were a total lunatic when you dragged some old chod out of their barn.

[vulgalour]

Juvaquatre!  Halcyon days you were having.

[Junkman]

Juvaquatre!  Halcyon days you were having.

 

I would, if this was my personal collection and I'd still have it.

Unfortunately this is not so and thus I still have to work.

[HMC]

 Looking forward to future installments!

 

I like the understated way all this has come out, almost as an aside. After nearly 5000 posts you hit us with THIS! Fantastic

[drum]

That's some junk, Junkman. Get behind that bookshelf please.

[scruff]

Fantastic thread Junkman. Sounds/looks like a lot of fun. If you do retrieve the photos I'm sure we'd all love to see them... 

[Twiggy]

Thank you Junkman - it`s fantastic.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Is that VW a Schwimmwagen (sp?) ,if so did it float ? Given that tatty campers make £30k ,a restored Type 166 must worth the same as a Daytona.

[wuvvum]

A Facel Vega Excellence is right at the top of my lottery list.  Along with a Peugeot 402.  And a Tatra T700 as a daily.

[Grundig]

 Junkman WOW!! is all I can say

[Junkman]

 Looking forward to future installments!

 

I like the understated way all this has come out, almost as an aside. After nearly 5000 posts you hit us with THIS! Fantastic

 

I just found those pics back, I hitherto assumed them lost. As I said, I'm tossing out an old laptop I hadn't used in ages and I just checked what's on it before I take it to the tip.

I never made a secret of having had a former life.

There also were loads of non-autoshite pics on it, it was quite sentimental, really.

[Junkman]

Is that VW a Schwimmwagen (sp?) ,if so did it float ? Given that tatty campers make £30k ,a restored Type 166 must worth the same as a Daytona.

 

Yes, Typ 166. I sure didn't try whether it floats, I'm certifiable hydrophobic. Having said that, it's not the water I'm scared of, I actually can swim. But there are loads of things in said water that only wait for me to jump in, or for my Schwimmwagen with me in it to sink.

[Jim Bell]

Ive gone right off Batman.

 

Junkman is my new hero.

 

Great thread and many thanks for sharing.

[Lankytim]

Really enjoying these pics- it's really taking shiting to another level!