Build yourself a new old car

2.4k · May 6, 2009

Restoring an old car is a wonderful thing but it's bloody hard work (especially if you can't weld...)Recently I got to thinking it might be a nice idea to build myself a Mini from a Heritage shell. Not that I'm a big Mini fan, it's just that Heritage don't do Allegro bodies at the moment.Of course it'd be completley non-scene, probably a mid-70s bog standard 1000 in Antique Gold (that shitty green colour). I caould imagine it being extremely satisfying just putting all those shiny new parts on a brand new painted body - all the nice parts of a resto without the crappy part of it.

44,574 · May 6, 2009

Interesting idea. Wonder how you'd register it if it was all new? There was a company building Isetta and 'Schmitt replicas a few years back. They used 'all new' parts (ahem, I think some Rascal parts were 'reconditioned' actually) and the cars wore modern number plates!09 plate Mini FTW? Nice way of celebrating 50 years (so much so that Wood and Pickett are apparently going to build some 'new' Minis...)

4,444 · May 6, 2009

I agree. It would be extremely nice to be able to get hold of a brannd new shell and build yourself something using a big pile of new bits. Pretty expensive mind but it would be nice.

May 6, 2009

If they weren't so scene-taxed up I'd be quite happy to have an early 80s scum-spec Mini for a bit, I like the ones with the black grille and offset 1980s "Austin Morris" badge, especially with the crap full-face wheeltrims.Unfortunately I'd be wanting to spend about Ã‚Â£200 and get a fairly nice unmessed with thing, but I suspect you'd need to spend four times that and get some sort of half-arsed Isopon-filled thing with huge plastic arches.

May 6, 2009

Interesting idea. Wonder how you'd register it if it was all new? There was a company building Isetta and 'Schmitt replicas a few years back. They used 'all new' parts (ahem, I think some Rascal parts were 'reconditioned' actually) and the cars wore modern number plates!09 plate Mini FTW? Nice way of celebrating 50 years (so much so that Wood and Pickett are apparently going to build some 'new' Minis...)

I dont think you would be able to? Wouldnt get past emissions, type approval etc. Q-reg city unless you went down the obvious route of buying a knackered K-suffix rotter off the Bay and playing silly buggers with the VIN tags.

63,087 · May 6, 2009

I dont think you would be able to? Wouldnt get past emissions, type approval etc.

Couldn't you SVA it? I'm sure far less roadworthy vehicles than an Issigonis Mini have managed to pass the SVA test.

3,146 · May 6, 2009

Some dude built a new E-type from new old stock parts recently and it seems the DVLA had no problem with registering it for him...

Linky

I know someone who has a brand new unused bodyshell for a 1967 Datsun Bluebird and probably a lot of the parts with which to build it into a car...

3.8k · May 6, 2009

Rimmer Bros. came across a mahooosive hoard of Rover SD1 parts in India about 2 years ago. Bodyshells the whole works. IIRC it was everything bar engines.Nice new SD1, anyone?

2.4k · May 6, 2009

Rimmer Bros. came across a mahooosive hoard of Rover SD1 parts in India about 2 years ago. Bodyshells the whole works. IIRC it was everything bar engines.Nice new SD1, anyone?

Oh yeah, I forgot about those. I think the whole bodyshell came to about 2.5K but unfortunately you had to put it together....spot welder anyone?I like the idea of the 410 Bluebird. Odd shells do come up every now and again - there were the R9 and Itals not long ago. That'd be more interesting than an MGB eh?

44,574 · May 6, 2009

Just imagine it though - you could probably build an SD1 better than BL could!

5.8k · May 6, 2009

there's an urban legend going round from time to time about a brand new Mk1 transit body shell being stored in a barn somewhere, some old fart is hanging on to it and won't sell. I would marry him for that. I would have his children, but I believe it's only a SWB.....

27,997 · May 6, 2009

VW Heritage built a new old (i.e. Mexican aircooled) Beetle out of their parts catalogue to prove they could. Shipped the shell, already painted with doors fitted, to the Volksworld show this year and over the course of the weekend, fitted the remaining parts to make a complete car. They weren't allowed to drive it indoors but it started OK.

http://www.vwheritage.com/blog/volksworld_beetle_build/

It has a few tricks, like a catalyst system to bring the emissions down to below proposed levels. It did however cost them just short of Ã‚Â£17k.....

Not sure how they went around getting it approved, last I heard they were still in discussion to get it on an 09 plate. Think it revolves around proving the ages of the major parts.

2,914 · May 6, 2009

My best mate ended up with an Avenger on a 'Y' plate. Apparently its well known in Avenger circles as the chap bought the last bodyshell, and built it to his own spec. Was down at heal when my mate had it. Not sure who he sold it on to...

27,997 · May 6, 2009

Oh and I just remembered.... Simpson Salvage used to have a warehouse full of various Ford shells. I know they had Mk1 Sierra 3 door, they had the XR4i 6-light shell, some Mk4/5 Escort Cabrio shells and a handful of Mk4 Escort hatchbacks. All in white primer, but last time I looked they were being bought out by a major metal dealer so might have been scrapped.They wanted huge money for the Sierra stuff though, way more than buying solid whole cars and stripping them.

4.5k · May 6, 2009

TD Fitchett still sell FH and DH TR7 shells. I promised myself that if I ever had a stupid amount of money I'd build a new one. Still possible to get a hell of a lot of parts for 'em new-old stock.

2,914 · May 6, 2009

Oh and I just remembered.... Simpson Salvage used to have a warehouse full of various Ford shells. I know they had Mk1 Sierra 3 door, they had the XR4i 6-light shell, some Mk4/5 Escort Cabrio shells and a handful of Mk4 Escort hatchbacks. All in white primer, but last time I looked they were being bought out by a major metal dealer so might have been scrapped.They wanted huge money for the Sierra stuff though, way more than buying solid whole cars and stripping them.

I think Simpsons is now part of that U-Pull-It.

14,308 · May 6, 2009

While IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m not a great mechanic (!), I can see the appeal of bolting nice shiny bits into a brand new, unrusty shell. However, I suspect itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢d be handy to have a similar donor to supply lots of unseen bits even on something with amazing parts availability, or just to have it as reference.Trouble for me is most of the cars that have shells available arenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t what I want to own.Oh, and I couldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t afford it anyway.Thing is, would such a car have the soul of something thatÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s managed to survive longer than it was meant to? By rights my Laurel should have rotted away years ago, but it hasnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t and the care and circumstances that have led to that are part of its history.

5,256 · May 6, 2009

Shells often appear, I think the painted R9 one was the one hanging from the ceiling in the Norman Foster deigned Swindon Renault centre (now a DVD place) Simpsons wanted about Ã‚Â£400 for the less desirable shells when I enquired, there Co-Part now.

4,444 · May 6, 2009

The R9 shell was in the Renault parts centre at Swindon along with mk1 R5, R11 and R18 shells. When the centre closed the shells were sold 'for charity' with offers invited.IIRC correctly they weren't that expensive. Wish I had the R11 shell...

5,256 · May 6, 2009

I never knew that, fits in nicely with THIS

12,815 · May 6, 2009

The Rimmer Bros Rover SD1 shells are anything but new. They've not been built into cars and used, but they are still old and coated in surface rust. The ones I saw had glass and bits of trim and were a bit shabby. New they are not. Given that Ã‚Â£2500 buys a really clean SD1 I don't quite see the point.I would also build a shite spec Mini from a new shell. I'd build a new 1971-2 spec Mini 1000 in Aqua. Solid remote box, 10 inch wheels with those full sized stainless wheeltrims with the halfmoon cut outs, drum brakes, centre key start plus those superb little British Leyland badges on the A posts.Failing that, a russet brown 78-79 car with stripey velours, black grille and double coachlines. Yum.The Mini scene is 96% social misfits and weirdos so anything to distance yourself is a good thing.

3,146 · May 6, 2009

Furbers scrapyard in Shropshire is home to various unused bodyshells but most have sat outside in the rain for so long they're not worth having any more.

Metros..

Astra estates and Mk2 Cavaliers...

Some more ashtrays...

1,064 · May 6, 2009

BMW built a "new" 2002 out of parts from its Mobile Tradition.

4.5k · May 6, 2009

Tsch. What a bloody waste!

1,396 · May 6, 2009

BMW Mobile Tradition are excellent, if pricey - I got a cover for an E28 M-Tech driver's seat (the car was 17 years old at the time) from Munich to Cooper Reading within 4 days of order.I like the idea of building a "new" car out of NOS parts, but it would be a bloody hassle to get every single clip, pipe, wire etc, not to mention ruinously expensive. I've got an Autocar article somewhere from 1975 on a bloke that commissioned his local (Swindon IIRC) BL dealer to build him a new Morris Minor 2 door saloon. Final bill was Ã‚Â£3600-odd, which would have bought an Ro80, BMW 525 or DS23 EFI...

May 6, 2009

There was the bloke who got his local garage to build him a Morris Minor from new parts a few years after they went out of production, I think there was an article in one of the classic car mags recently.

Or how about this
http://www.rallycarsforsale.net/clas/in ... s&id=38147

strike a light i want one of them

May 6, 2009

Furbers scrapyard in Shropshire is home to various unused bodyshells but most have sat outside in the rain for so long they're not worth having any more.

There must only be a small window of opportunity during which it was worth storing a new bodyshell for something undesirable like those 5 door Metros or Astra estates, perhaps 2-3 years after launch. In fact I'd go a step further and suggest that it's hardly worth doing at all nowadays as the product cycle is shorter and the labour to reshell a bent Fabia or something would render it unviable.On the other hand, those 3 door Sierra shells were a shrewd investment if the owner hasn't been paying rent on storing them all these years

27,997 · May 7, 2009

Imagine opening a barn and finding row upon row of neatly preserved, primered Mk2 Escort shells. 2-door ones, natch.Then imagine the island in the med you could retire to and call your own.It's true though, i don't know a single bodyshop that would consider reshelling a new car. Most recent ones I know of are 205 GTIs that start to split at the top of the B pillar, they tend to get reshelled into a poverty-spec donor but anything more modern gets crushed. Too many fiddly bits.