The Dark Wob

Ah Back to the 50's show I guess? When I first visited the US in 1979 I went to the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in that very fairground, was quite surprised to find an immaculate Mk1 Consul in the For Sale area and a very tidy 100E Anglia trundling along in Minneapolis. Some nice vehicles but I really loathe a lot of those rat rods, very few seem to be well thought out. I have been to a few shows there courtesy of friends in Winona but have no plans for a return visit.

DodgeRover wrote: ↑Mon Jun 20, 2022 10:59 am Does the Vermont title loophole still exist and can it be used by non residents? Keep spotting things where the title has been lost, I'm assuming it they've changed hands a few times since then getting a copy of impossible?

It still exists. Wish I had known about it. Minnesota wanted me to have a bond against the Porsche 911 garage find I owned. In the end I sold it on with bill of sale and the next owner titled it.

This is the loophole as it currently stands:
https://cartitles.com/how-to-use-the-ve ... cle-title/
Note the need for VIN inspection.
Check up on the paperwork. Perhaps the existing owner might be willing to do it (if they even know about it) or perhaps we could sort something (but the eyes on the VIN and the 4-6 weeks could be an issue).

Scruffy Bodger wrote: ↑Mon Jun 20, 2022 12:32 pm That's one heck of a turnout by the looks of it. The money spent on that lot is astonishing. I also love the fact that they can get away with all sorts, how many exhausts running straight from the manifold with no silencers?!

As for Westfield https://westfieldavs.com it appears they branched out into autonomous vehicles, talk about opposite ends of the spectrum.

‘Early’ cars seem to be immune to so many rules and regs. You can even build a brand new hot rod, in the style of something old, that gets you around modern requirements- like bumpers!

As for the money, car build costs here can be crazy. $7 -$10k for a soso paint job (no prep included) is pretty much across the board now. There are a couple of places that will do cheap blow overs, but nothing that even Stevie Wonder would be happy to see.

I saw that only part of the Westfield company was in financial trouble. Amazing to think a car company that has sold many thousands of cars has just £25k cash reserves. Shame we can’t get Elon to invest. A true EV 7 would be great fun - even if the range was limited to say 70 miles.

I did see that Caterham had spent $1M on replacing the old Sprite caravan rear lights with a new LED system. Type testing must cost a fortune as the molded parts could have been in the £100k region at most.

59Impala wrote: ↑Mon Jun 20, 2022 6:17 pm Ah Back to the 50's show I guess? When I first visited the US in 1979 I went to the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in that very fairground, was quite surprised to find an immaculate Mk1 Consul in the For Sale area and a very tidy 100E Anglia trundling along in Minneapolis. Some nice vehicles but I really loathe a lot of those rat rods, very few seem to be well thought out. I have been to a few shows there courtesy of friends in Winona but have no plans for a return visit.

Wow! Back in 1979, they must have still been pretty firm on the ‘no later than 1959’ rule.

It’s weird. I keep looking for a nice Karmann Ghia - sometimes on thesamba, and 9 times out of 10, if I like the look of it, it’s a UK car. There is something different about the styling and the quality of work that seems to be different, but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.

Bit bloomin hot here today…

It was only last week you moaned about snow.

https://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/catego ... 770467721/

The same people who built my kit car did a chassis for an electric conversion but I'm assuming it's old tech. Only really suitable for hill climbs and short sprints, the battery technology still needs a big jump before it'll be feasible. I can't see one getting Chapmans blessing any time soon.

Depressingly, every year but one that I’ve lived in Minnesota (going on 18 years now) it has snowed on or before Halloween.

Scruffy Bodger wrote: ↑Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:46 am https://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/catego ... 770467721/

The same people who built my kit car did a chassis for an electric conversion but I'm assuming it's old tech. Only really suitable for hill climbs and short sprints, the battery technology still needs a big jump before it'll be feasible. I can't see one getting Chapmans blessing any time soon.

Which kit do you have? I thought I was the only one with the affinity to drive something that needs constant spannering!

One of the AutoX guys here in the Twin Cities has a Berkin - a South African clone of the Seven. He has just dropped his engine for an electric set up. Not sure how far he has got with it, or even what he is putting in it. I really should check - but as always, the fuel storage, is probably going to weigh more than all of the rest of the car!

Yeah, weight in a 7esque car just doesn't seem right does it? Saying that my early Sprint wasn't exactly light as it had a Cortina front end on it and a substantial chassis.
As a firm they didn't mind trying new things Kids spoiling your 2 seater fun? Take the little fuckers with you lol Mine was my only car for a number of years. It's sat rotting into a field now, it must be 7 or 8 years since I've even seen it, I think it's still there?

I had a moment* in there show car years back. I'd driven it to a meet in the dry but when we went out later the road was wet. I hadn't looked and it turned out the rear tyres were getting near their limit. The back end broke free after accelerating over one of hose grippy strips they put on the road. It went VERY sideways with oncoming traffic. I can't even remember correcting it but it was an interesting* moment, it was running a 2 litre zetec with Jenvey throttle bodies so had a bit of go.

That roll cage looks fine for rear passengers too