Seriously?

[Steve 940]

Well that's been a rather informative day, albeit disappointing, but a lesson learned.....

Down to Poole last night with beavertail van, in readiness to pick up the blue 145 that BB posted that was on FB. Thought I would swing by where it was being kept to check route etc.

Cursory look around in the dusk, hopefully without looking too shifty all looked OK as expected, apart from grille having a few more dents than photo appeared, and 2 flat tyres that would complicate loading a bit, but no drama.

Text sent to vendor as we had indicated a first thing pick up around 8am, then he asked for 9am due to family emergency.... first alarm bell should have rung, but life/stuff does happen.

Anyway got there around 8:45 this morning, other guys in bodyshop said he was due in at some point.

With time to waste, I was looking closer & closer at the car, and every time I looked, more giant warning signals were screaming walk away. Too many problems to cover here, but the whole car had obviously been there for a few years, as a large green patch on the tarmac, windows left open........

Anyway, time got to 9:30 and still no contact, so I had to decide..... In the end, I swallowed my pride and had to admit to myself that it was not the ideal vehicle for me to start restoring as a first attempt.

Lessons learned, as whilst my time was not an issue, I still had lost deposit, hotel, van hire and diesel.

Only upside, was that Alan had posted about a 240 windscreen trim he had going spare and for free with clips, as these may fit the 140, I'd arranged to pick it up on my way back this afternoon. Bugger now, is I have a nice screen trim set, but no car

Oh well, quest continues??

Cheers
Steve

[Moomoo]

Sorry Steve , I followed your post error!🤨

[Laird Scooby]

That's a bummer Steve, sorry to hear that!

On the upside, his "family emergency" gave you more time to look the car over and discover it waas a basket case, better than getting it home and then discovering that!

I'm sure something better will come along - don't forget that everything happens for a reason, even if you can't see it yet. Look on it as not only a learning curve about possibly dodgy sellers and a familiarisation of the beavertail ready for next time!

You also have a nice screen trim set, first part down - now how did that Cadillac song go again?

https://youtu.be/HNU9nNY-v0g

[Steve 940]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

That's a bummer Steve, sorry to hear that!

On the upside, his "family emergency" gave you more time to look the car over and discover it waas a basket case, better than getting it home and then discovering that!

I'm sure something better will come along - don't forget that everything happens for a reason, even if you can't see it yet. Look on it as not only a learning curve about possibly dodgy sellers and a familiarisation of the beavertail ready for next time!

You also have a nice screen trim set, first part down - now how did that Cadillac song go again?

https://youtu.be/HNU9nNY-v0g

Hi Dave,

Many thanks, wise words, and yes I think after the long drive back, mulling this escapade over, I have dodged a major pain in the A**.

Need to curb my enthusiasm

Cheers
Steve

[Steve 940]

Originally Posted by Moomoo

Sorry Steve , I followed your post error!🤨

Cheers Andrew,

Well I probably just need to stop looking so hard, concentrate on my workshop build, and a good one might just crop up a bit more locally, (oh if only...)

Goo point about an area 'viewer' however, one persons view of a car could be very different from another's.

Cheers
Steve

[Moomoo]

I can become obsessively blinkered!

Sometimes a step back is a good idea, not always easy.

Churchill said something about the further back you stand, the further forward you can see!🧐

[ITSv40]

Yes indeed, it does sound like you dodged a bullet.

I just don't understand the psychology of some sellers. Here we have a person who you would think is keen to sell - a buyer who is seriously keen, travelled a 100+ miles? With a beaver tail ready to complete the deal and the seller cannot be a*sed to turn up to complete the sale.

Unfortunately we have all been there. When I was looking to buy the Rolls I answered an ad in Exchange and Mart - shows how long ago it was - car advertised as immaculate with history etc based in North London. Had conversation with the seller and all sounded good and arranged to go to view. Arrived to a semi in Wembley and was shown to the rear garden. At the bottom were four scap cars - the seller announces, 'there they are, take your pick'. I responded by saying there must be some mistake as I had come to see the immaculate one. He responded by saying they will all be immaculate when
restored. Needless to say I made my excuses and left and had a miserable drive home on the M1.

Edit: Regarding the screen surround that will fit 1971 onwards as the screens were bonded and the trim clips in around the glass flush with the bodywork. Pre 1970 the screen has a rubber seal with a decorative trim set into the seal. the whole screen is fitted by the traditional method of a 'fairy liquid' lubed string. The seal stands proud of the bodywork.

[BicycleBoy]

Sh*t, sorry Steve. That's two buckets of rust I've thrown at you now...

[Steve 940]

Originally Posted by ITSv40

Yes indeed, it does sound like you dodged a bullet.

I just don't understand the psychology of some sellers. Here we have a person who you would think is keen to sell - a buyer who is seriously keen, travelled a 100+ miles? With a beaver tail ready to complete the deal and the seller cannot be a*sed to turn up to complete the sale.

Unfortunately we have all been there. When I was looking to buy the Rolls I answered an ad in Exchange and Mart - shows how long ago it was - car advertised as immaculate with history etc based in North London. Had conversation with the seller and all sounded good and arranged to go to view. Arrived to a semi in Wembley and was shown to the rear garden. At the bottom were four scap cars - the seller announces, 'there they are, take your pick'. I responded by saying there must be some mistake as I had come to see the immaculate one. He responded by saying they will all be immaculate when
restored. Needless to say I made my excuses and left and had a miserable drive home on the M1.

Edit: Regarding the screen surround that will fit 1971 onwards as the screens were bonded and the trim clips in around the glass flush with the bodywork. Pre 1970 the screen has a rubber seal with a decorative trim set into the seal. the whole screen is fitted by the traditional method of a 'fairy liquid' lubed string. The seal stands proud of the bodywork.

Many thanks ITSv40, and your recollection of the E&M at least made me chuckle. The joys of buying used motors pre t'internet.... postcard in newsagents window etc etc.

Many thanks regarding the clip info, most helpful.

Cheers
Steve

[Steve 940]

Originally Posted by BicycleBoy

Sh*t, sorry Steve. That's two buckets of rust I've thrown at you now...

Ha Ha, nicely put, but there's only one muppet to blame for being so single minded (dumb), although the FB link is quite handy as yet another place where I can waste my time 'just looking' and then find that the whole morning has disappeared

I did try to 'join' the 140/164 group, but request gets rejected by administrators because I haven't got a photo thingy on my profile.... is that really 'a thing' ????

Cheers
Steve