A casting I really like FEP Lotus

[jimgallegos]

I like this model.

[matchboxtom]

I like it too.

[motorman]

Me no like!!......too modern for me

However great for the young collector like my son!

[nickjones]

At least Matchbox are making some realistic looking castings again, Three cheers for that.

[Tinman]

I had a 1:1 Europa back in the day, it was Canary yellow. One of the least reliable cars I've ever owned, something was always breaking or failing.

One particular incident left me stranded at Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral). There were some long straight roads in the middle of nowhere and it wasn't uncommon for some of us to exceed the posted speed limits on such roads. I had the Lotus flying along about 100+ MPH when I blew a radiator hose. I didn't notice the problem right away and as a result, I left a huge steam cloud in my wake (and also quickly lost all the coolant).

While sitting (still in the middle if nowhere) and checking out the problem, I was deciding if I should start walking or wait with the car. Shortly, a KSC security officer pulled up and asked if I needed help. He told me he'd been sent "out this way" due to someone spotting smoke from a possible brush fire.

I told him I had laid down a smoke screen of steam about a mile long and that's probably what they had seen. He asked me how I could drive that far without knowing something was wrong. I confessed that I might have been exceeding the posted speed limits when the hose blew.

The officer proceeded to tell me a story about how Gordon Cooper pulled up to the Security Gate one morning and he had a Goose stuck in his radiator grille. The funny part about it was that it was the ass end of the goose in the grille, Cooper had overtaken the bird at significant speed on his way into the Cape.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

What wonderful images you have created Tinman and for future Lotus owners, remember what Lotus really means...LOTS OF TROUBLE USUALY SERIOUS...

Ghosty.

[Tinman]

Ghosty, I got rid of a green Fiat 124 Spyder for that Lotus. The Fiat was a better all around fun and attractive car and far more reliable than the Lotus was (reliable and Fiat, two words rarely found in the same sentence). I guess everyone eventually wonders about "Lotus" and some of us think they should experience one. But then there's some of us who need to learn lessons the hard way too.

I thought about you the other day (but not soon enough). I just got rid of a bunch of RR service bulletins and tech manuals from the 1970's up till '82. However, mailing all of the stuff overseas would probably have been expensive. I was factory trained on RR here in the USA and when the dealer ship closed in 1982, I took all of the bulletins and manuals (and a ton of microfish) for RR, BMW and VW. I sold off all of the VW and BMW stuff about 10 years ago (I had VW bulletins and manuals going back to the late '50's), but the RR stuff was still sitting around.

Warning: further off topic, I woke up one day in 2005 and decided I never wanted to work on another VW. I started in my tool chest and pulled out a bunch of special tools made for the VW. It was a wide range of tools with everything from reamers for King & Link pin front ends, to special wrenches and drivers and seal installers. Special pullers for all manner of things. a transmission gear set up jig, engine stands, meters, etc. You name it and I had it. I placed an ad on a VW forum and within 48 hours I was contacted by the owner of a shop in California. We talked on the phone and I emailed photos of everything. He was very interested in the two PTO industrial engine mounts I had for the VW. He asked if I had any other parts I wanted to sell.

I told him I did have a bunch of rebuilt and New Old Stock sitting around and that I'd like to get rid of that too. All of it was from the 1950's and 1960's. I sent him a photo of a rebuilt 36 horsepower engine with chrome sheet metal and told him about all the manuals, service bulletins and microfish. He booked a flight to Florida and was here a few days later.

I was unsure what some of the stuff was worth as I had been sitting on all of it for a long time. I called up a buddy I worked with in the early 70's (he was now working for a Porsche - Audi dealership) and he came over to help us go through everything and set a price. I remember both of them finding this old VW accessory tool kit, it was a round tool kit that went onto the spare tire and was held in place by the hub cap clips. It was brand new and completely intact (every tool neatly in its place) ... both of them nearly started foaming at the mouth. There were accessory VDO gauges, ancient parts for 25 & 36 horsepower engines, old roof racks for bugs and transporters (on and on, but I only kept what I thought was the cream of the crop).

To make a long story short, I made one package deal for everything and we packed it all up into a container to ship out to California. I never would have guessed I was sitting on a gold mine of old stuff. I knew some things were hard to find and getting rare, but the value far exceeded my wildest expectations. It was only when I took the certified check to the bank and put it in my account that it became real.

I had just married my current wife a month before this and she was looking into refinancing our home at a lower rate. She had checked the balance in the savings account and called me up to tell me that she thought the bank had made some kind of error. When she repeated the amount showing as the balance, I said that it was correct. She asked If I had robbed a bank or something and I told her; "that's what I got for all that old VW stuff that was cluttering up the back of the shop." From that point forward, she's never again bugged me about all the stuff I've hoarded over the years.

Warning, even further off topic: In the late 1980's into the early 1990's I had a Federal Firearms License and used to specialize in selling firearms to law enforcement (and anyone who wanted a firearm). I took to buying interesting used firearms, turn of the century firearms, WWII military rifles from various countries and some popular shotguns of various age. I had a few assault rifles but only ones I found interesting. All of these were stored away and I seldom paid any of them much attention. My father had a large selection of hunting rifles, shotguns and some pistols which he had given me shortly before his death. I piled all these firearms together with the ones I had already collected and it looked like a small armory. Out of sight, out of mind.

In January, I get a phone call from an antique dealer who was interested in buying a Matchbox toy collection and was looking for assistance in placing a value on said collection. I offered to help him out, besides, it's always nice to see another collection. When the dealer introduced himself, he hands me his card. On his card it notes that he buys antique toys, jewelry and firearms. After we viewed the collection that was for sale, I mentioned I had mostly sold off my collection but he was welcome to pick through what was left of my stuff. I also mentioned a had a couple of firearms too. He gave me a short list of some shotguns he was looking for and I told him I happened to have three of the ones he was seeking.

After showing him the three shotguns (he bought all three), he asked if I had any other firearms. I decided to show him the whole lot of accumulated stuff. He was a little dumb founded that I had so many nice firearms and all of them just stored away like old furniture. He asked me to give him a price for everything. I did some research and we quickly settled on a price we both liked. This all happened while the wife was out of town on business (she's always out of town on business).

I decided I would spend a little of this latest windfall from "old stuff." I went out and bought a huge flat screen Smart TV complete with 3D and all the bells and whistles. I bought this 500 watt surround sound system and a nice entertainment unit to house everything. I got Hulu Plus, Netflicks, Amazon Prime (all that crap) and set up my tablet to run the TV.

It all arrived and I set everything up while she was out of town. When she returned home, she came in to discover me on the couch watching James Bond in Skyfall at about 100 decibels. Her first question was to ask if I had gone insane. I told her I had sold all those old guns to a dealer and decided to spend some of that money. She quickly pointed out that it would be nice to save a little of it to the retirement account instead of spending it all.

I said; "go check the bank balance, I only spent a little of it." About a week later, she brought me an advert for some cosmetic surgery to make her look more youthful. She asked if it would be OK to spend some of the latest found money on the procedure. I told her I love her exactly the way she looks now and besides, that's what that collection of wine is for ... after a few glasses, everyone looks younger. She did find that funny but I did have to shell out for a Spa day.

If anyone is interested, maybe sometime I'll tell about the 1958 VW double door Transporter that I had parked and was using as a "storage shed" at my fishing cabin. I got a call out of the blue by someone who had researched the vehicle title records and wanted to buy the old Transporter. Another case of being stunned at the value of what some old thing was worth. Needless to say, I bought a ready made storage shed for the fishing cabin and sold the old Transporter. Still, it's another pretty good story. Sorry to everyone for rambling on so long, the years just seem to be flying by and it doesn't seem all that long ago (at least not to me) that I was driving that Lotus Europa. And sorry to Jim G for going so off topic on his thread.

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Tinman, thanks for the insight into someone who has a habbit of aquiring and storing just the right stuff, that other collectors are searching for, just amazing. I just hope I have been lucky, to sit on all the 'right stuff' all these years with my Rolls-Royce clobber!!!

Ghosty.

[motorman]

Joe, One day i hope to share a few beers and a few glasses of Scotch with you of an evening, for i will tell you this, i could sit and listen to you recounting your wonderful memories all bloody night. What an amazing post. I was hooked from the first line. Thanks

P.S Have you ever thought of writing your life story? I think it would be a very interesting and hugely entertaining read.

[Tinman]

P.S Have you ever thought of writing your life story? I think it would be a very interesting and hugely entertaining read.

I'll start from the beginning:
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, on a dark and stormy night, a male child was born to a poor but proud peasant couple."

Maybe that's starting too far back?