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My 1973 Cadillac, Huggy Bear


eddyramrod

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I was talking to one of my friendly local mechanics the other day and the subject arose of moving Huggy on.  I mentioned that I was up for suitable swops, such as a 1970s Rolls-Royce or Bentley, and he seemed to think the prospect was entirely realistic!  We'll see, I suppose....

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I can't believe there isn't a decent pic of Huggy on this thread since, oh, several pages ago, and at least two years!

2034594600_Millom003.thumb.jpg.3db8d9b9fa1a7e78f98c44b1da1f1cb1.jpg

So this was September, at a show at Millom.  It's not very far as the crow flies but there's a river in between, which means the route is long and convoluted.

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What a beast!

I always try to imagine the person that went in and bought a certain car and the reasons for doing so.

The excitement of bringing it home and showing it off to family and friends alike.

Why can't we have cool cars again?

Can you imagine the same excitement bringing home a new Juke or it's like,

No?

Me neither. 

:mrgreen:

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I've been thinking today about the list of possible swops/pxs.  Anything pre-1979 is a contender as long as it isn't diesel or German.  I'd prefer automatic obviously.  I could also be tempted by something later, that ticks more boxes.  Come on lads, you know what my boxes are by now.  Show me something with a price on it....

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Mention has been made of the idea of Roffling Huggy.  I've resisted so far because the tickets would be eighty quid a go and I don't think many of us could stand that sort of gamble.  But, the idea has been raised.  Is there enough support?

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15 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

Chaps, I applaud your eagerness, but are you sure?  At EIGHTY POUNDS a ticket?  Eight-zero?  If you're sure, then I'll open the Roffle.

I'd absolutely commit to trip-tickets at £80 a pop. Last year I spent 750 on a mk4 golf and the rear axle came off the minute it got home. There are far worse things to lose money on and this has the potential for some big life stories.

Selling the other 56 will be a serious challenge. It's an extremely niche car.

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For anyone else who is reading this and on the fence about giant American classics:
You need to do it at least once in your life
 


I’ve had a few giant American classics, and a couple of less giant ones. My favourite had to be this....
7c6365ec3c186e6ee1a1f38ba3cefc01.jpg

I miss that car.

65d5f2bcbc03eb266dce3554133b4fc7.jpg


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  • 2 months later...

Huggy is on the Naughty Step tonight.  He's been sitting around for several weeks, because the weather has been horrible, so today (being a nice day and having almost a full tank) I thought I'd take him out.  I only had stuff to do around town but still...

Great, until right at the end.  I parked in town having given him a good 7 or 8 miles of run (well stroll) and went to do what I had to do.  Came back, sat down, turned key... clickety clickety clickety.  Oh shit.

He's done this before (on a main-road roundabout) which turned out to be a poor connection between battery and starter, so I spent ages jiggling the lead and trying again, with a conspicuous lack of success.  Eventually I gave up and walked to the garage where the Jag is (good thing Barrow is compact!) but they couldn't do a callout for me.  I tried over the road, where I got the brakes done, with the same result.  In the end I had to walk home (not far) and recruit Mrs to bring the Motability bus and my jump leads.  Also my lovely new trolley jack and some spanners.  I got the front up in the air a bit, so I could get at the starter from below, but nothing was loose, so we tried the leads.  And it started.

 

I've had a lovely evening meal, a little sleep with the dog on my knee and a relaxing hot bath, and I'm still thoroughly pissed off.  Somebody make me an offer.

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I’m not sure this is a car for EBay, as it strikes me as a dreamer/messer magnet - I would try Car and Classic first. Perhaps also a street rod forum like Rods and Sods or whatever it’s called? There’s a lot of Yank fans in the rod/custom scene.

Even advertising it on Retro-Rides would give you a much bigger audience than here.

A (physical) classic car auction would see it gone with comparatively minimum fuss but you would need to be realistic with the reserve.

Once rot gets a hold of these 1970s land yachts, it doesn’t really let go, sadly. 

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  • 1 month later...

Consider this a trailer...

1196979953_LMM001.thumb.jpg.8b607a7df3101212578a131eb6871220.jpg

In the last couple of weeks there has been work on Huggy!  Better than that though ;) is that I've been doing this work, on rusty bits of body in the back alley.  Now I've typed that, it looks incredibly saucy, and in a way it is, because it's reignited my love of the car.  I'll go into detail in a later post, hence this being a trailer, because I haven't uploaded the pics yet.

 

Something I particularly would like to clear up though, is the sales position.  As very much expected, enquiries are not exactly coming in thick and fast.  And you know what?  That's fine!  There is one major element that people are overlooking, and indeed I have allowed myself to overlook it way too many times, but I've had a lot of time lately to think about such things.  The bare truth is, I simply don't want to sell!  I might need the money (no "might" about it!); MrsR might have refused to ever ride another inch in it (same applies) and keeping the car might make literally NO financial sense (again...) especially as I have exactly no off-road parking.  But a few moments (and that's really all it takes) of looking at it, or better still driving, reminds me how much pure style it exudes.  I've never, ever, been this cool, even when I had my 1962 Cadillac (well ok, possibly then).

So please don't assume I actively want to sell this car.  I don't.  I probably never will.  I mean, just look....

466358033_Camdump1389.thumb.jpg.ce97063043dbf8147f0cbb9e0ae7445f.jpg

I rest my case.

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52 minutes ago, purplebargeken said:

Ace car. So, what might be a reasonable offer?

Thank you Ken.  I have said several times that the price to a Shiter, which is NOT available to the general public, is £4500.  That, or a swop/px to the value of, is what it would take to get him out of my grubby paws.  But I'd rather keep him; the question is, how long can I hold back the inevitable deterioration?

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