Post pics of your other cars...

Love the story of the Alpine - particularly as it's a Series III; my current employer is not really into 'old' cars but on a whim bought himself a project Series V followed by a scruffy runner because his father had one from almost new (although it too was a Series III - and in pale metallic blue!). This led him to add Alpine to his eBay search list, so he was often to be found scouring the items for parts - imagine his surprise when he turned up his Dad's old car, now red and very rusty, but complete with the original reg. - what were the odds!!

As for the other 5 Isis, none are as pretty (?) - but at least 2 will grace the street one day; there are 2 fit for spares only (and the easiest way to store spares is bolted together) but I have 2 very rare 'woody' Travellers and a very low mileage saloon that was written off in 1976. I'm happy to post pictures if you haven't seen enough already...

Then there's a couple of Morris Minors - one of which is a Minor Million - but not everyone is perfect.

 

More pix please.

Your boss's Alpine story is one hell of a coincidence - maybe the Alpines a "coincidental" cars because finding ours was one also (wasn't going to bore you with the full story but feel I have no choice now).

When we were at the Silverstone Classic a few weeks ago I asked my partner Simone why she didn't ever want to drive any of the classics we have to which she replied "they're your cars and I'm way too nervous to drive any of them - maybe one day we can get something small for me". We discussed what she liked and there were 2 cars, the Alpine and 1970's Mercedes 280SL.

Mentally I was already thinking ahead, my thoughts going something like this:-
"280SL = £50-£80k = Yeah, right!"
"Alpine = £3-£10k = may be do-able"

I'd always loved "big wing" early Alpines but had no idea that this style covered MK's 1,2 and 3 and that 3 were the rarest.

The night we got home from Silverstone I was driving through a trading estate 3 miles from home and drove past the alpine which was parked up on the pavement behind a low loader. I did a total double take and couldn't believe that I'd seen one of these cars the day we'd discussed them so backed up, parked and had a walk around the car which was lovely. I asked the low loader driver if the Alpine was anything to do with him and he told me it had broken down and he was dropping it off to a classic car specialist on the estate (I had no idea that this guy was there).

I got the owners number from the low loader driver who I called straight away who said the car may be for sale but was asking too high a price. He told me that he'd only just bought the car and it had packed up almost straight away (I later found out that he was a bit of a knob and was trying to back it to the private seller for a full refund because it wasn't "immaculate" as advertised).

I said I'd go and see the car at the specialist (turns out he does mainly Alpines and Tigers) and that the fuel pump had packed up but we looked at the car on his lift and it was very good indeed and had been owned by one family from new - the history and mots going back to almost day one were in the boot and made very interesting reading. Turns out the car was fitted with twin Weber 40's (my kind of car) and had a rallying history.

I called the seller and agreed a sensible price subject to a test drive and "thumbs up" from the dealer.Cut a long story short it needed a couple of hundred pounds spending on it mechanically so eventually negotiated a revised price (VERY painful with this guy who was hell-bent on taking the people he'd bought the car from to small claims court), paid the guy by bank transfer and left the car with Dave the specialist to sort the odds and sods out while I was away.

Simone's either going to love it or kill me for buying another car - if you don't see any more posts from me after Nov 29th (Sims birthday) you'll know which!

 

Love the Dodge but the Holden is spectacular !!

What's the story behind these cars - have you been into racing long ?

And yes - of course I bloody well do !!!

 

bonsoir voici nos voitures
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=269&u=10044761
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=253&u=10044761
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=60&u=10044761
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.php?i=51&u=10044761

 

pourquoi je n arrive pas a voir mes photos !!!

 

Beautiful cars. What is the car in the last photo ?

 

sur la derniere photo c est un
DB HBR5 de 1959
voiture de course avec coque en polyestere

 

Russell,
Stop taking dinky holidays in Europe and come over to have some real fun with us Aussies. We know how to play and have the roads for it.
Holden is Alloy body, hand beaten and built in 55 for competing in AGP. NO ACCIDENTS its whole life (not driven hard enough). Was on the cover of Vintage Racecar (US mag).
I am a relative newcomer to racing - started in 74 with a Lotus Super 7 which I still have.

 

I've always liked the look of the Panhard in picture 1, but my question concerns the identity of the second car which also appears to be a Panhard but the model escapes me - we're obviously not seeing enough french cars this side of the Channel!

That's a nice collection whichever way you look at it.

Congratulations.

 

la bleu ciel est une panhard dyna junior cabriolet

 

I'd like to see some more pix if poss. And I'm not sure if 39 years of racing still qualifies you as a novice but I'll let that one slide.

I'll make it to Aussie one day, fingers crossed.

Do you still need to commit a crime to get there ?

 

Hey Russ
Thats why Tassies over there in the first place he did commit crime he stole all the 400s and the punishment is open roads and fun lucky b*****d lets commit some crime and get over there.

 

Russ & Alistair,
Not necessary to commit a crime - it just makes the fare cheaper.
You will have to bring your own 400 though - I don't have any spares....

 

I'll steal one - kills two birds with one stone !

 

Is that fellow really the oaf that appears on the television?

 

if by "oaf" you mean me - yes that's me.

Compared to the usual things people refer to me by I find being called an oaf quite complimentary !

 

or do you (as I suspect) mean Mike Brewer ?

You know, he's actually a really nice, friendly guy with a genuine passion for cars. They're a good bunch of blokes who sold us an excellent car so no complaints our end.

 

I love those Wheeler Dealer guys. My 8 yr old and I are always saying 'old out your 'and; you've got yourself a deal!
Great collection, Russell.

 

Oaf is an underused word on this side of the pond but I don't think that either Mike or Russell fit that definition. Mike Brewer on the show is pretty theatrical but that liveliness is what is needed for that role, otherwise his part would be pretty dull, actually.

It's a fun show even though the "profits" are totally fictional when a price for the actual labor involved that they neglect to mention is added in.

 

Love this man, no flies on Russ - but you can see where they have been!
Look forward to the visit.

 

I discussed the "profit" aspect with them while filming on the day. Their point is that the idea is to show John Q Public how to make a profit from buying, fixing up and selling on a classic car - the profit comes (in theory anyway) from the fruits of your own labour.

When I pointed out that John Q Public doesn't usually have access to a fully equipped workshop with lift and every tool you can think of plus a fully trained sidekick in Paul Brackley (who actually finds the cars and does the majority of the work offscreen) Mike just smiled and said "it's just a TV show".

Can't argue with the mans honesty.

 

There is no question that it is entertainment and fun to see the cars and the work that gets done and I'm fine with that.