The new owner set about working on the car but had to give up his workshop and decided to sell the car at auction with Bonhams in Dec 2023, almost exactly a year after they'd got it. For those of you interested, here's the auction listing (link still active at time of writing): https://carsonline.bonhams.com/en/listi ... 50527ca2f2
The auction listing was attractive!
Amongst the eye-catching description:
"This is a very early production MK1 and as such very rare, with only a handful known to still exist."
and
"We don’t know why it was taken off the road but the reasons were probably benign because it emerged in a surprisingly good condition. Sure, it needed a little bodywork but much less than you’d imagine. Some mechanical work too, but the heavy lifting has now been done, which leaves its new owner with the job of finishing it."
That last bit really caught my eye. A car with all the bodywork done? Just needed finishing? Brilliant!
The description continued:
"Choosing colour and trim and the final mechanical specification, which is the best bit, of course. You could keep it as it left the factory, in which case the certificate issued by the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust would prove invaluable in confirming the trim and colour as well as corroborating that this is a ‘matching numbers’ example."
Superb!
The description continued:
"The seller has fitted a few new panels but only a few because that’s all that was needed. New wings, of course, plus A panels, a rear valence and a narrow strip on the boot floor."
This just keeps getting better! An original car with just a few new panels. Sounds perfect.
But the write-up didn't stop there as it added:
"This means your winter project will comprise getting it painted before painstakingly fitting it all back together and how lovely would that be?"
I checked over all of the images. Everything looked just great. I had a niggling voice in my head that said "Buy an abandoned project, buy someone else's problems" but I overrode it. This was a project I could get my teeth into.
My other half was always going on about her first car - a Mini - and so I thought I'd surprise her and buy this.
And so, I bid, and won the auction with a final price of £4,340 including the buyers premium. I thought that was a great price.
Then I had the car transported to my home and ... oh dear
It was immediately apparent that there was no way this car was as described, or as photographed. And therein lies the caution in my tale.
The cabin floor - both inside and out, the boot floor, both inside and out, the exterior of the sills, the toe board, heelboard, wheel arches and interior of the inner wings were all covered in a dull black underseal that I later found is called Tetrosyl Tetroseal. It may protect well but it doesn't photograph well.
It did a fine job of filling gaps and distracting the eye. The best way to remove it, according to Tetrosyl, was with white spirits. I spent hours and hours with the stuff and countless rags. The more I cleaned, the less happy I became with my purchase. In the end, I decided I simply couldn't clean it any more and sent it away to be bead blasted. This is probably the best £1,000 I spent on the car so far.
When it came back, I could see the enormity of the challenge I faced and it was not for the faint hearted.
The front wings, which had been newly fitted, were removed and discarded. Ditto the front panel. The inner wings required significant welding repairs.
The sills and cabin floor were too far gone and were cut out, being replaced with an M-Machine full floor.
The boot floor was like a swiss cheese and a jigsaw puzzle with holes and numerous older patches. The whole thing was cut out and replaced with a single new heritage panel, suitably modified to match that of an early Mk1 car. Also added here were a new valance and valance corner panels with floor strengthening plates.
While we're at this end of the car, the boot hinge and two end panels had been replaced but I couldn't get the boot door to sit right and the welding had burned through in places leaving some interesting damage. In the end, I bought a full heritage hinge panel to see if that will address the problems but, if not, I'll be back to M-Machine for a full boot opening panel.
The companion bins both had rotted out at the base and are both being replaced. The wheel arches have too many patches and are too frilly. They're due to come out shortly.
The rear quarter wings, with filler removed when blasted, were so badly repaired that they'll have to go and be replaced too.
Finally, the doors just don't fit right and the pics even managed to disguise that. They also didn't have the pipe work to drain water away. I've ended up buying new ones as well as replacing one of the door steps (and probably the other too.
In short, the car is now in a less "complete" state than when I bought it. It's taken me a year to undo a lot of stuff that I wasn't happy with and build it back up. There's not a lot of the original car left and that makes me sad but that's the way it is. At least the roof is original. Oh, and the bonnet. And the rear quarter windows, windscreen and rear screen. Everything from the waist rail upwards, really.
I've included a few pics below so you can get an idea. This is the car after it came back from blasting where extra care was taken to use light media. I leave you to opine on the welds and numerous holes while considering the description of the auction listing given above. I'll just say that it's not the standard I would be happy with hence why I've had so much work to do.
Over the last year, I've asked loads of questions and have worked on the car almost daily since I bought it. Today, the car has fewer panels on it when I bought it. I've replaced, repaired, and fabricated panels and there's still a long way to go.
I've learned new skills, especially welding which I'm thoroughly enjoying. Car restoration is, so far, enjoyable. But I've never lost sight of the huge gap between what was advertised, and what I received.
So, here's the advice I would give anyone looking to buy at auction: Go and see the car in person. There's simply no substitute for using your own eyes. Don't believe the 'hundreds of photos from all angles' hype. The only angle you need to see it from is your own.
Good luck!
