Triumph Acclaim at metal re-cycling company in Barnstaple

[theorganist]

A friend of mine works at a metal re-cycling company in Barnstaple. They have quite a few cars in mostly modern but I did ask him to inform me of any interesting old chod.

 

He has rang me today to tell me that they have had an A reg Triumph Acclaim in (apparently it is a sandy colour). It drives and he seems to think looks quite solid, apparently the sills look good. They are a recycling company there I don't think it will be around for long. Unfortunately it is the wrong time for me as I do not have a pot to urinate in!

 

He will try and get me some more information tomorrow, if anyone is interested let me know. 

 

[vulgalour]

Pictures and price deffo needed for this.

[EssDeeWon]

pissed off its probably not going to get saved, even more pissed off that someone sent it there!!

[theorganist]

Yes it's annoying. It may turn out to be rotten for all I know but my friend who is reasonably good at spotting defects on cars (he drives a Land Rover Defender) seems to think it is solid. 

 

I will ask him how long it can be kept there, I guess if there is serious interest then that will help.

 

I wouldn't count on any pictures or if I get any they will be poor from his rather ancient mobile phone, he isn't David Bailey by any stretch of the imagination.

 

A price should be forthcoming!

[Guest Breadvan72]

You have beigemail.

[dollywobbler]

Hmmm. My folks live down that way. Maybe it's time I went to see them again...

[phil_lihp]

That's just down the road from me. I'll pop over and try and get some pictures in the next couple of days if I can. If it's worth rescuing I'm happy to offer any help needed.

[phil_lihp]

I rang the company today, unfortunately the chap I spoke to had no knowledge of it at all but said that if any cars came in they would normally be taken straight to Bideford, which is where their scrapyard/vehicle recycling centre is.

 

I rang the Bideford site, a helpful bunch who I've had bits off in the past, and the guy who answered the phone confirmed they did not have it in their yard ("haven't had one of those in for years!") and said that if it had been brought over, it had probably gone straight in the crusher.

 

I'll be nearby tomorrow morning so will pop in anyway, there's a chance your mate has squirreled it away in a corner to stop it being taken off to the recycling yard so it may yet live.

[Noel Tidybeard]

we were on holibags at combe martin last week and we did see a a/s coloured acclaim drive past us prolly on one of the days we went to barnstaple of atlantic village- looked reasonable as it went by

[purplebargeken]

It's okay. It's not a REAL Triumph anyway 

 

Hope it is saveable. These were ace little cars, especially the CD.

[Guest Breadvan72]

Also one on eBay in a breakers oop north, wrongly described as a Dolomite. They have a beige Dolly too.

[phil_lihp]

Well...there's good news and there's (maybe) bad news.

 

The good news is, the guys at the recycling company are proper gents and have kept it safely put away to one side.  Apparently their hi-ab driver came to pick it up plus a couple of others, took one look at it and said 'we'll leave that there, shall we'?

 

It's pretty scruffy and appears to have sat for a good long while but looks very solid from a brief inspection.  Not only that, it starts on the button (appears to be a carb 1.3) and runs really well.  For some unknown reason, it has a cherry bomb back box so sounds quite fruity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've seen a lot worse.  Tyres all look good, doesn't smoke, clutch bites and it moves in 1st and reverse, little oil leak from the rocker cover, there's a lot of underseal which seems to have kept it solid but I can't guarantee there aren't hidden horrors lurking unseen.

 

However...apparently, it has been registered as scrapped so, if that's true, it's probably nothing more than a running, driving pile of parts unfortunately.

 

That said, I've just looked it up on the DVLA website and not only is it still showing on the database, it's taxed and has MOT until today!

 

 

However, it might just be that the DVLA hasn't processed the V5 yet to mark it as scrapped.

 

I spoke to theorganist's contact on site, a thoroughly nice bloke who was quite enthusiastic about the car and apparently they want £500 for it.  Frankly, it might be worth that if it was roadworthy but if it's been scrapped then that seems ludicrously overpriced to me.  Not knowing that it had MOT, I was expecting it to be no more than about £200 i(.e. a little over scrap value) and might have looked a bit shocked at the price - he said good ones go for £1600 on eBay so they thought that was a fair price.  Maybe, maybe not - these don't really do it for me and I know little about them so I couldn't say.

 

I can't afford to buy it to save it myself at the moment but I feel sorry for it.  I'm perfectly happy to get involved with a rescue mission, hell, if it's not actually registered as scrapped and someone here decides they want it, I'd get it to an MOT station and deliver it to a new home at cost if that means it gets another chance.  All depends on the paperwork and the price I guess.

[sloth]

you can get them unscrapped...... its a major fuck around but it is do able.

[EssDeeWon]

This reminds me a little bit of the primrose 75 situation....

 

Old car going for scrap, they probably paid £100 for it? then all of a sudden someone comes along and shows interest and suddenly its worth £500. If its been scrapped with DVLA then this car is unlikely to ever see the road again, hence it is only good for parts. A shame none the less.

 

And I wish people would stop quoting ebay for car valuations, how many of these hiked auctions actually go through? The odd car I watch is usually shilled bid over the current market value then re-listed 24 hours later with some excuse about a no show.

 

Didn't Trig flog his tidy little gold A reg for about £700?

[theorganist]

I spoke to my mate today. He did say some of the guys had been revving the "testicles" off it whilst driving it round the yard (in their dirty overalls) as they liked the sound of the cherry bomb. He said that inside of one sills was quite rotten but there was a new sill fitted, not sure if that is both for the same side as he was a little vague about it! 

[phil_lihp]

Not sure, I could only get to the drivers side which looked Ok. My gut feeling is even if it's not been marked as scrapped it's not worth much in its current state.

[purplebargeken]

Given the difficulty of taking detailed pics, what I can see looks pretty good. The interior will clean up, a basic service on  the engine and a completely rigorous investigation of everything below mid level of the body should suffice. 

 

Seriously, if it is all sound then it really would be worth anything from 300 to the 500 quid quoted. Hidden rust and a certificate of destruction will be the kiss of death.

 

Further physical investigation would be helpful - maybe they could put it on a 4 poster and it could be checked especially if they are keen to have it rescued.

[EssDeeWon]

My gut feeling is that its failed its up coming MOT so the owner has scrapped it.

[purplebargeken]

Probably right but it would be great to see a fail sheet. 

[Squire_Dawson]

It would be heroic to save but I fear we are experiencing the 'cup of water in desert' syndrome here, whereby anything old and/or unusual is immediately thought to be worth more than it is and prospective buyers are held to ransome, knowing that it is one step away from the chopping block.

[EssDeeWon]

^^Indeed!

 

It will most likely go to the crusher now...

[Bren]

Champagne beige is for winners.

[CortinaDave]

500 quid seems steep to me unless you're a diehard acclaim pervert.

 

It's a couple of hundred quidder in my eyes, as nice as it would be to see if live on.

[Bobthebeard]

Possible missing of point, but if they sold it for more than it is worth as scrap metal then they would make a profit. Sticking out for £500 means they get much less. Selling it for £200 would still net them a profit surely.....

[captain_70s]

There have been a lot of Acclaims on eBay recently for anywhere between £1500-£2500. Doesn't mean they actually SOLD though...

[Rusty_Rocket]

I'm afraid I find the Acclaim totally nondescript and wouldn't want to invest my time or money saving one.  Sadly, 99% of the population think the same, so unless it's at give-away price (or in perfect condition), few folks will 'step up'

[EssDeeWon]

As I was saying, Trig sold his tidy gold A reg for £700 IIRC. These guys are not going to get £500 for that car but the reason its £500 is because someone has shown some interest in it. Had there of been no interest it would have probably been crushed a few days ago...

[trigger]

It's not worth £500, £250-300 tops.

[hauserplenty]

It looks like a Honda Civic to me.

Awww. Poor little car. Somebody save it please...

[Squire_Dawson]

Any straight talking shiters going to talk turkey on this car? No harm in making a take-it-or-leave-it offer backed up by cold reason, is there? As mentioned, they'll still be making a bit of money on it.