I personally flew to Canada to view this car then import it back to the UK where it arrived in late October 2015. It's been in my dry garage and then my dry industrial unit ever since and I have held off starting to strip it down because of work commitments and then a major relocation of my house, business, cars etc....from England to Wales over the past year.
Having taken on a 30 acre property in the last year, which needs a lot of work (and time) as well as trying to run my business, I have realised it is going to be many years until I am really ready to give this car the justice it deserves.
Seeing the photos in this post makes me just want to pull the plug on the advert and keep it mothballed, but the reality of life 'on the farm' is making me more and more conscious that it will probably be better off in someone else's care. Selling it seems like the right thing to do, even if it doesn't feel like it.
The car is a 1968 912 SWB LHD Canadian car. VIN: 12804849
It it not registered in the UK yet, but I have all the import paperwork, Canadian title documents, customs paperwork, all important NOVA letter etc...
The car is missing its engine (apparently the car was bought to donate the engine to a 356 project in Toronto) but it does have the original gearbox which I believe to be a 4sp. I have access to a 5sp 901 box too which I could add into the deal for a little extra?
The front bumper is an RS style GRP thing which ideally needs removing and replacing with a proper metal one. I happen to have a good, very solid metal one that is included in the sale (no photos right now).
Apart from the engine, the car is complete from what I can tell. A window scraper trim and rear bumper trim are missing in the photos, but these are inside the car where I put them for shipping. I also have the original orange bar front badge which I removed prior to shipping because I heard these sometimes disappear en route? One pin is missing from the back of the badge, but it's in otherwise very good condition.
The car has rust, but after going over it fairly thoroughly, this does seem to be mainly confined to the passenger (right hand side) floor and the front suspension pan. The passenger floor has been repaired in the past with a flat sheet of steel and the front suspension pan is pretty rusty.
HOWEVER, while I was in Canada, I visited the lovely people at Restoration Design and bought some of their panels. Being thorough, I bought a complete floor pan (full front and rear half panels) as well as the full front suspension pan kit. PLUS I bought a pair of outer sills, which not needed from what I can tell, but I was going to cut them back and inspect inside, so thought it best to buy replacement ones while I was at it. I also bought a rear shelf panel because the original one, although not rusty, has been cut for speakers, so I bought this to return the car to original. ALL the panels mentioned are included in the sale, that's over a £1,000 of panels included and, from what I can tell, everything and more that's needed on the rust/welding front?
The car has been painted. Originally light ivory (colour on A pillar plaque: 6804 and confirmed by looking at paint layers inside passenger door aperture), it's since been painted sepia brown, bright red and then black. I was going to have the whole shell dipped and stripped then put in the new panels before painting it (colour undecided) but thus far, nothing has been touched. It definietly needs painting properly and therefore ideally, needs fully stripping to do so.
All other areas of the car appear very good. No significant areas that are cause for concern? There are some holes in the engine lid where someone bolted a whale tale, but this has since been removed (and left in Canada) and there are a few minor dents in the bodywork, but nothing bad at all and it's actually remarkably straight for a 1968 car.
I had the car inspected by Randy from Whale Tail in Toronto who commented on how remarkably solid, straight and tidy the car was overall, he even offered me a very nice sum of money to buy it there & then but I declined because I had no intention of selling it, especially less than 48hrs after landing in Canada to buy the thing!
The deep six (with hearts) Fuchs are genuine but I've not yet checked the rears to establish if they are a matching set? They certainly all look of the same age/patina/weathering. The tyres are heavily cracked and certainly not worth keeping except to help roll the car around, which it does really easily.
The only parts I think are missing (other than the engine) are the mirrors and wipers. Everything else appears to be there.
The headlights are, from my very limited knowledge, slightly later than 1968 but they are RHD (UK) pattern H4 and are literally like brand new inside.
I would encourage anyone to come and see the car, have a good long look over it and inspect any part. I've nothing to hide and I am pretty sure you'll all know more about what you're looking at than I do? The car is located in south west Bristol (near the Bristol City football ground) where I have a 2 post lift, so with some shuffling around can put it up in the air for detailed inspection underneath. I live in the Brecons now, 2hrs from where the car is currently stored, but I am happy to head over for a detailed viewing with some notice.
I don't have millions of photos, but if needed I can head over to Bristol and take some after next weekend (after the weekend 27th-29th July) I'm afraid I can't do anything before that.
Here is the link to the thread about me going to Canada and also getting it back to the UK: http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/184 ... ato-buyers
I am looking for £20,000 for the car with all the repair panels, the genuine steel front bumper (not pictured) and car spit/rotisserie which I was going to use for restoring it.
I am happy to deliver the car anywhere in the UK if my costs are covered (i.e. fuel cost, tolls, ferry costs if needed and a bite to eat if it's a long way away) but it'll certainly be cheaper than paying someone to transport it!
I am sure there are things I've missed but please do PM me if you're interested. I'll be devastated to see it go but it must and I'd like it to go to a good home.
There are some more detailed shots of the car that you browse at your leisure here: http://s74.photobucket.com/user/bruceho ... t=3&page=1
Also, in the photos on the link ^above^ you'll see water in the passenger footwell. This is where the window had been left open for two weeks while it was at the docks in a very wet October! I immediately put the car in my garage with a dehumidifier running inside the car and within a week it was completely dried out. It hasn't seen any water/rain or even the outside world since.
Any questions, please feel free to ask.