Rocking Horse Shit Rare things that have been scrapped

[Stinkwheel]

I sold a Visa super X back in about 2004 ish. Id driven it around for a couple of years and it was when i was a real full on Citroen licker, so i should have maybe noticed quite how rare it was, about a year later i heard the new owner had scrapped it due to rust, at the same time the Visa people in the CCC (Hi Mike if you still read this forum) informed me it was probably 1 of 1 in RHD form at the point i sold it.

Oh well. Spilt milk and all that 

[primeradoner]

On 4/12/2023 at 8:40 AM, bunglebus said:

 

 

 

Why are you making this personal?

Says the man who called banger racers knuckle draggers.

[lesapandre]

On 4/11/2023 at 10:37 PM, barrett said:

Yeah let's PLEASE not turn this into another banger racing thread yeah? Topic title does say 'scrapped', and we all know rare things have been raced so, yeah...

Moving on, one that's always rankled with me is the Peter Kirwan-Taylor (of Lotus Elite fame) designed Frazer Nash Continental Le Mans car

Bodied by Williams & Pritchard I think, for a putative private Le Mans entry which was nixed by the authorities who thought the drivers were not experienced enough to race. Was then used as road car for many years, before coming off the road. Went into preservation in the late 1970s, passed around a few hands, but it was never restored.

Now, granted, it's not the prettiest thing in the world, but it was totally unique and of some historical importance. Some time in I think the late 90s somebody took the body off and built a sort of ugly pseudo-Le Mans Rep-rep on it, which just looks totally wrong

They also actively cut up the Kirwan-Taylor body and destroyed the remains meaning there is no chance it can ever be returned to its genuine original condition. Absolutely criminal.

Sadly this sort of thing happens all the time - turning 'undesirable' versions of cars into more financially valuable replicas - hence why loads of Ferrari 250 GTEs are now 250 GTO replicas, etc. So depressing.

And people splitting vintage Bentleys in two - and other brands - in other words making two 'original' cars out of the parts from one car and making repro pieces for what is missing off each - and then introducing a 'lost' registration plate and identity onto one of the cars.

[lesapandre]

Many of the rare old saloons from the 1980 DLOC rally are not now on the DVLA database - even though their loving enthusiast ownership would have have pre-supposed their survival. 

But then again I bet a lot of the people seen are no longer here either...

'Tempus Fugit'

 

[warren t claim]

As I alluded to in this thread...

... I saw plenty of rare shite attract no bids and get bought by the scrapman. Think early Ladas with horn ring steering wheels, A Chrysler 180 (which was fucking rare even then) and Mk3 Cortinas fitted with a front bench seat.

[morrisoxide]

This reminded me of the GM prototype cars that should have been cut up and crushed at Warhoops yard in Michigan. The GM executive never saw the final crushing of the cars he only saw the fiberglass ones cut up. 

Details seem to differ on a how and why they survived but they do.

1955 Chevrolet Biscayne.

1955 LaSalle II four-door sedan.

1955 LaSalle II Roadster.

1956 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham Town Car.

Some links if they are any good.

https://kustomrama.com/wiki/1955_Chevrolet_Biscayne

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2013/08/16/famous-warhoops-junkyard-sold

https://www.motortrend.com/news/gms-road-not-taken-la-salle-roadster/

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15115687/their-ghosts-still-haunt-the-place-how-four-gm-motorama-show-cars-were-saved-from-the-scrap-heap-feature/

[MiniMinorMk3]

Which of these survived, got buried, were cut up, exported, resurrected or escaped?

[sierraman]

33 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Which of these survived, got buried, were cut up, exported, resurrected or escaped?

I don’t know but he unceremoniously chucked the remains in a pond. 🤣

[warch]

My dad owned and then binned off one of these, a 1940s launch model Landrover 80 in Cockpit (Ooer!) Green, one of only 3000 produced. Of course when my dad owned it in the 60s it was just another shit old car, but cable knit sweater wearing, CAMRAphile beardy murderists would mud wrestle their own grandmother for a chance to own one these days.

[somewhatfoolish]

Given the state of HUE when the restoration started it was pretty lucky to survive.

[HMC]

There are instances out there of hoarders amassing low volume curiosities and then not paying rent or what have you and the site gets cleared. IIRC there was a collection of mazdas in recent times?

[Schaefft]

45 minutes ago, HMC said:

There are instances out there of hoarders amassing low volume curiosities and then not paying rent or what have you and the site gets cleared. IIRC there was a collection of mazdas in recent times?

Do you have a link?

[AnthonyG]

@Schaefft, I don’t think they were low volume curiosities but someone did accumulate 10-15 Mazdas, mainly mainstream ones like 323s, 626s, dating from roughly 1980 to 1992ish. 

When storage was lost, there was then an attempt to sell but all in one lot or something, I think they were all scrapped in the end but I don’t think there was anything as rare as a Cosmos. Possibly a Montrose coupe?  There were a couple of 323 Turbo 4x4s, which I suspect were the only two in the collection with any real financial value. 

It’s like the ‘Vaux-haul’ of @Six-cylinder of two-three years ago, if the 6cyls hadn’t been looking for a Manta coupe, and willing to buy the other 7 or 8 cars that came with it, all of them would have been scrapped. 

[warch]

Alan Partridge : These are all Bono's.

Sonja : All these cars?

 Alan Partridge : Yeah. He's got the biggest collection of, hatchbacks in the country.