You never can tell... one for the petrolheads here

Back story: I made a (non-car related) purchase from eBay and went to collect it a earlier last week.

The seller turned out to be a young bloke who lived on a farm, nice enough feller but came across as a bit 'gawky'. Whilst sorting out my payment I mentioned that I'd seen he was also selling some car-related signs on eBay and I asked if they were a hobby of his. "Not really, I'm more interested in cars than the signs" he replied "would you like to see what I've got?" Expecting to see something a bit chav-like, I agreed but told him SWMBO & I were on our way to a function and that I could 'only spare a couple of minutes...'

Thirty minutes later I got back into my car - and to the wrath of SWMBO - but I didn't care. And here's why:

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...spmp1u357.jpeg



http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps0800kpv8.jpg
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...psai5ni6vk.jpg
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...psmhy0dq7n.jpg



http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps20fjimjc.jpg
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...psq63mtjmn.jpg
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...psyp7iourj.jpg




http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...psn0wbicsm.jpg
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps2qbt1tdk.jpg


http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...psputetjcw.jpg



http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...psfaoeh9yg.jpg


http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...sbhafv4yb.jpeg
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...subld1h5z.jpeg
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...psjvrcqd5n.jpg


That was the first barn he took me to, he has others and needless to say his new found friend ;-) will be going back to see him again!

You never can tell...

R

I would still be there. Very nice cars

Very nice. Next time I take it you'll be going alone? :yay:

Wonderful way to spend an afternoon, a great find.

Excellent! Looks like something off 'shed and buried'!

You barely showed the XKE!!

Brilliant! I vote for a free 'membership' to this forum for the guy with that collection! I bet he can tell a story or two (three, four...).

I come across small collections in barns from time to time. None of them so eclectic as this one. Far more delipidated in most cases. More in a style like American Pickers. The find you show is almost worthy of a small museum!

I wouldn't mind seeing more of this with a story per car as well!

Menno

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ron Jr

You barely showed the XKE!!

---

Or the E Type even

Very good. I would to love heard the story behind the Cosworth Escort given that it has a sun roof.

Plus I wonder if the Lotus Cortina (mk2) was originally in the Golf Leaf colours.

Wow!!! Great collection!!

Good Lord above.

Reminds me of when I worked in a car parts shop many years ago. We used to have a guy come in and buy bits and bobs. Drove a Metro van, always dressed in paint splashed tracksuits. In short, a scruffy bastard.
However, he turned up one Saturday in a bright yellow Diablo. Turns out he had a matching red one too.

Fantastic. Wow factor indeed!

Ta for sharing.

Jim

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hilly10

I would still be there. Very nice cars

---

If I wasn't married so would I.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Damo

Very nice. Next time I take it you'll be going alone? :yay:

---

See above.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ron Jr

You barely showed the XKE!!

---

Hi Ron, good to see you on here again ;-)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hilly10

Or the E Type even

---

We never even discussed it. He was mostly keen to talk about the American pickup (which was the least interesting to me!), it'd been a complete restoration but all the paintwork and the engine bay had been made to look old & worn.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andyg

Very good. I would to love heard the story behind the Cosworth Escort given that it has a sun roof.

Plus I wonder if the Lotus Cortina (mk2) was originally in the Golf Leaf colours.

---

I'd never even seen a Escort Cosworth before, it's been set up to run the quarter-mile in 10.2. I think this is it running 12+ at Santa Pod before a number of further modifications:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS4Aax-3IKg

I believe the Cortina was totally original, it was weird sitting inside it as I'd had a Mk2 back in the day (non-Lotus).

The black Daimler is supposed to be the only one ever made in the black paint/cream interior and with a sunroof, the original owner specified white-walls and continued to do so throughout the life of his ownership.

It was one of the last built in 1967 and the milage of 38,000 is verified: for 14 consecutive years it clocked 22 miles per annum - the round trip to the MOT station.
http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...psjlbx9l88.jpg

I'll post more stuff when I next visit, hopefully this coming weekend.

R

I just can't get excited about old Fords unless they've got a V8 in them, so the Mustang is my favourite.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Caruso

I just can't get excited about old Fords unless they've got a V8 in them, so the Mustang is my favourite.

---

Horses for courses, but unless it's was a Shelby or Boss Mustang, it is perhaps the most ordinary car there. It its also most likely the slowest and cheapest there especially if it has a 289 engine. :smug:

Thanks for sharing that Ralphy. As a classic Ford fan, that's put a smile on my face.

That's great!

I called in to see a neighbour the other day and was taken round a couple of his sheds/garages/workshop. He has a huge number of spares for sale, all NOS, from things like an Austin Seven drive shaft to bits for 1990s Rovers and Hondas. Most of it seems to be service parts and he has it all on a big spreadsheet if anyone is looking for anything specific. I'm taking the Healey there at the weekend hopefully, to replace a few modern and inferior replacement bits like wiper arms and so on. He has some very interesting cars and memorabilia but it's not my place to post pictures without his permission (not having a pop at you, Ralphy).

My dad raced an excort twin cam when they were new, if only he hadn't sold it!

- - - Updated - - -

My dad raced an Escort twin cam when they were new, if only he hadn't sold it!

Hmmm
The mk1 Escort with the n/a cosworth engine looks fun!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Foxy100

That's great!

I called in to see a neighbour the other day and was taken round a couple of his sheds/garages/workshop. He has a huge number of spares for sale, all NOS, from things like an Austin Seven drive shaft to bits for 1990s Rovers and Hondas. Most of it seems to be service parts and he has it all on a big spreadsheet if anyone is looking for anything specific. I'm taking the Healey there at the weekend hopefully, to replace a few modern and inferior replacement bits like wiper arms and so on. He has some very interesting cars and memorabilia but it's not my place to post pictures without his permission (not having a pop at you, Ralphy).

---

No 'pop' received, I had asked for permission.

R

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ralphy

No 'pop' received, I had asked for permission.

R

---

I had no doubt you had! I did take a couple of pictures of this chap's cars and huge number of parts but hadn't asked his permission to publish them on an open forum. I'll ask him next time I see him, I was in absolute awe at the amount of stuff he had, it must be in the hundreds of thousands of parts, all sitting there, all for sale but not being advertised with any effort.

Wow... beautiful collection of cars there..... I too would be in there for hours - great to see some vintage stuff preserved like that.

Mike :eagerness:

Wow - I wasn't expecting that (mind you, neither were you Ralphy!)

Thanks for sharing

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ron Jr

You barely showed the XKE!!

---

Transatlantic-speak for E-Type.........sold in America as the XKE for some strange reason, always sounds strange!

Amazing barn. some serious money tied up there too!

Paul

Yes there's a few ££££s knocking about in there. Very nice.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ralphy

The black Daimler is supposed to be the only one ever made in the black paint/cream interior and with a sunroof, the original owner specified white-walls and continued to do so throughout the life of his ownership.

It was one of the last built in 1967 and the milage of 38,000 is verified: for 14 consecutive years it clocked 22 miles per annum - the round trip to the MOT station.

---

It would have been one of the last 2½-litre V8 models produced but they did produce the V8 250 from 1967 to 1969 which had slim line bumpers, leatherette covered dashboard crash pad, alternator and twin air cleaners amongst other upgrades. The spinners on the wire wheels of the black one are Jaguar ones, Daimler ones are like a large three sided nut and need a special brass spanner to undo them. The steering wheel looks like a period Moto-Lita wood rimmed one and the sunroof appears to be a webasto one which I believe you could spec as a dealer option, they weren't fitted by the factory but dealers often did to brand new cars if requested. I've just noticed it also has narrow "Coombes" type rear wheel spats which weren't a factory option.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andyg

Horses for courses, but unless it's was a Shelby or Boss Mustang, it is perhaps the most ordinary car there. It its also most likely the slowest and cheapest there especially if it has a 289 engine. :smug:

---

True, but for me it's all about the sound of a V8.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by walkerwek1958

Transatlantic-speak for E-Type.........sold in America as the XKE for some strange reason, always sounds strange!

---

The XK120 was built from 1948 for export as cars in the UK were taxed to the hilt and the economy needed exports to help offset the massive debt run up in WW2. Jaguar were quick to realise the importance of the US market and it was probably the first post-war all-new sports car. Light, nimble and fast, the XK would have been a revelation in 1940s/50s USA, plus lots of GIs were exposed to European sports cars during the war. There's no coincidence most English race tracks follow the perimeter roads of WW2 airfields. MG's first post-war car, for example, was the TC, which was virtually identical to the pre-war TB, and MG was still making a pre-war vintage style car in the TF 10 years after the war ended. The Austin-Healey 100 was built for export (something like 90% or 95% of big Healeys were exported and most went to the US) but the XK120 had already been on sale for five years by the time the 100 went on sale in 1953, which was itself a year before the updated XK140 went on sale. Jaguar had a healthy big start in the US and after the XK150 it was most likely a natural progression to keep the 'XK' prefix.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Thewatchbloke

The steering wheel looks like a period Moto-Lita wood rimmed one

---

People often stick Moto-Lita wheels in 1950s/60s British classic cars because the original plastic wheels tend to crack and there's not much you can do other than wrap them in tape. What also tends to happen is people fit smaller Moto-Lita (50s/60s wheels were often a lot bigger), which makes the steering much heavier now we all fit radial tyres rather than crossplies and often also fit larger/wider wire wheels. The Mota-Lita in the picture above looks like a new one (albeit probably an original 1950s/60s pattern).

nice post, maybe there's a lesson for you there Ralphy, don't judge a book by it's cover - chavvy?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by K300

nice post, maybe there's a lesson for you there Ralphy, don't judge a book by it's cover - chavvy?

---

I hadn't judged him as chavvy but rather that his P&J would be chav-like: Corsa/Saxo, complete with loud exhaust and built-in disco.

As per my thread title, you never can tell.

R

Quote:

---

rather that his P&J would be chav-like: Corsa/Saxo, complete with loud exhaust and built-in disco.

As per my thread title, you never can tell.

R

---

there are many people in life about whom you can make judgements like that, but you would be surprised, best not to make rash judgements, best to keep an open mind about people and their interests :eagerness:

Good find though.

Wow, thanks for sharing.

My goodness, what would I give to have that garage space - I'd soon fill it with 'junk' as my wife would label it :)

...talking of which, lord knows what would happen to my car stuff in my man cave now, should anything happen to me!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andyg

Very good. I would to love heard the story behind the Cosworth Escort given that it has a sun roof.

Plus I wonder if the Lotus Cortina (mk2) was originally in the Golf Leaf colours.

---

Dragoon Red is a standard Mk2 colour.