Unfinished project cars - 'What do you reckon?'

By: Glenn Torrens

Date: 04.05.2023

Glenn Torrens on abandoned projects

Bloke on phone: "Hullo! I’ve just bought a Torana to do up. I had one when I was a kid, you know… (happy laugh). Anyway, I’m looking for some straight rust-free doors; painted white with chro…"

Bloke at wrecking yard: "Got none. All gone."

"Oh… but you sell Holden parts, don’t you? I thought you’d have some…"

"Yeah, I used to have lots. Last set I sold about 10 years ago… I think I got a coupla grand for those. They were pretty good, too, and didn’t need too much work."

"Coupla grand?! But I already paid 25 grand for the car. My wife and I made an investment…"

"Uh huh… And what condition are the doors?"

"It doesn’t have any – that’s why I’m looking…"

"Maybe that’s why it was so cheap…"

That’s more or less the type of conversation I’ve heard several times recently at my local wrecking yard, Classic Oz Wreck. Similarly, that’s more or less the type of circumstances many people have found themselves in recently with restoration projects. It’s a situation that has become more common since the virus, which seemed to unleash a ‘follow your dreams’ outlook in a lot of people. But with enthusiasm and inexperience blending to create unrealistic expectations, the decision to follow these dreams has resulted in a nightmare for some.

Yes, there really are people who think there are Torana doors – or other now-scarce items such as Falcon Hardtop glass or early XR6 nose cones or Senator bumpers – in their choice of colour, stacked, racked and packed ready for immediate delivery, decades after these models were popular.

Another example: I must have seen two or three dozen (yes, I really wrote dozen) unfinished VW Kombis advertised in the past year or so. They were being sold by once-keen but now sadly disappointed owners; silver-haired ex-hippies who were looking to relive ‘the good ol’ days’ or bright-eyed young wannabes who thought living the #Vanlife of carefree sunny days, perfect sparkling waves and happy Labradors chasing frisbees on the beach would be theirs to enjoy with little more than a few phone calls, some parts delivered from an online supplier and a couple of months’ work from a shop they’ve promised to give great reviews about.

Ummm… No.

Instead, these people have been face-slapped by the fact their ‘complete but has minor rust’ $10k bargain buy is actually a big-buck brain-ache they can’t bankroll.

Some of these unfinished projects – and I’ve seen cars as varied as Commodores and Falcons; old Jags and Land Rovers as well as Kombis – have been enthusiastically and comprehensively disassembled by their eager new custodians. That means the vehicles can no longer be driven – or even pushed –cross onto a trailer. Some have been bead-blasted back to bare metal ("oh, it’s probably best to see exactly what you’re dealing with," is common but unwise online advice…) so the vehicle is corroding closer toward being ‘not-doable’ with every misty morning.

With bits in boxes and bags, there’s a big chance of parts being missing. Sometimes, too, the cars have been hacked or chopped for an engine transplant or a smoothed engine bay or mint wheels, bro, so essential hardware or equipment such as crossmembers, heater/demister plumbing and rear wheel arches are missing or modified… and that’s all because someone thought they would build a world-beating show or race car, at home, for $25k.

I guess the only positive from all this is, right now, there are some absolute bargains out there if you have the cash, the space and (most important) the project management and assembly skill the sellers of many of these unfinished projects don’t have.

Yes, these sellers are saddened by their broken dreams. But for me what’s even sadder is that many of these unfinished projects won’t find a buyer…

And that means many of these cars will never again see the road.

From Unique Cars #476, March 2023

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