B8/15

Following is an email from Peter G which is mainly in response to the discussion begun by Simon P and relating to the identity of the coupe in the 3rd photograph he supplied.

John,
It's difficult to use the indicators as a pointer to the car's age. B8/90 has Cortina blinkers as well as the full moulded bumperetted rear as has B8/15. B8/62 is the same also - all rebodied or partially rebodied cars.
B8/(F8)/21 also had bumperettes when I saw it in Tassie in the 80s, now removed.
- see attachments.

B8/80 has a separate rear panel with bumperettes moulded in - from the factory??

Two of the Fibrecar sports, Murphy and Hallang, have Corina indicators, moulded rear panels and lack bumperettes. The Murphy car was changed by him after he bought it from Ken Rowland. I had the body for the Hallang car changed by Royce to Cortina front and clean tail when I commissioned it. I also had the earlier dash panel (steering column) moulded in, this probably suited Rex when he transferred the mechanicals from B8/3 on to it.

Peter.

I do agree with Peter that there is no way of checking the age of a Nagari by certain features as owners change things by taste or necessity. What I really should have said was that the car in the photo had MGB blinkers and therefore couldn't be Merryn's because hers had Cortina blinkers (well, last time I looked anyway). By the way Peter Marr sent an email identifying the third car as Meryn's as well.

Going through the cars mentioned one by one....B8/90 was the car that Kevin Cociani pranged badly and Bolwell made him a new body. It came with the new rear treatment of course because that's how they were by that stage. We all know how meticulous Kevin is and he had a preference for the Cortina blinkers. He even moulded his own lenses. I can't tell you about B8/15 but presume it had accident damage some time in its career (most have, all of the original ones are way over 30 years old now). B8/62, the ex-John Katona car, was later fitted with a Fibrecar body and, let's face it, once that happens they can take any configuration. Number 21 is a Fibrecar reproduction anyway and I did hear that the Tasmanian former owner still has the old bits tucked away. Yes, B8/80 was a factory built car but I do recall that it was restored by the second owner (Guy is the 4th I think) only 10 years after it was built. And finally, the last 2 mentioned were Fibrecar versions as well.