Saturday, January 24, 2009
Missed opportunity
In the 70s (and early 70s at that) I was asked by this man I knew at the time who had a block of flats just off Anzac Highway to come and remove this car that was left behind by an old tenant. This was a very basic 2-story block of flats and this car was in a carport down the back. The tenant had left no forwarding address and had presumably done a runner. "What do you want me to do with this car?" I asked. "If you can make use of it, then it's yours" was the reply. It had been there for about 9 months, taking up room and the tyres were flat. OK so around we go to have a look and under the dust was a lime green Lamborghini Muira. Being very straight and conservative as well, and having a wife who was even more so, we started thinking of the negatives, like 'it's probably been knocked off' or 'the owner might have been knocked off' or 'if something is broken we probably couldn't afford to fix it' and 'what problems are we going to bring on ourselves?' and so on. In the end it all got too scary for us and the landlord got a scrap metal dealer to come and take it away. Some years later a Muira turned up in the Birdwood Museum. It's the same limish green and to this day appears unrestored. I often wonder if it's the same one. They aren't all that thick on the ground in SA. I don't know its history. I must find out.
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5 comments:
John! What a tragic mistake. My love for Bolwells came first from riding in a Muira (at very high speed) with a friend's father who also had a 351 Nagari.
Didn't ever imagine I could afford a Muira, so I settled for a Bolwell, and that was probably a very smart decision since I had most of the fun but none of the hassle.
But if somebody asked me to take one away for free...
Since when have you been conservative Lowie?
Darryl Grey, a researcher at the Birdwood Mill, has emailed me the following:-
"Dear John,
I refer to your query about the Lamborghini Muira S in the National Motor Museum which has been passed on to me for reply. It is owned by a local (Dr. J.Friedkalns) and according to our information it was purchased in 1978 from a dealer in Sydney after it had been imported from the UK. It is reputed to have been previously owned by the UK model and film actor Twiggy. The original car was built in about April 1969 and features a transverse mounted V12 engine.
If you would like any further technical information please let me know.
Yours faithfully,
Darryl Grey."
So that wasn't the one after all.
Peter G writes:-
"I can understand your regret at passing on the Lambo, IMHO the best looking car ever. I passed up the opportunity of purchasing an XYGT HO Phase III in 1981, the dealer wasn't offering enough incentive for me to trade my 240Z, 6 months later I was still cashed up to purchase B8/60 and I later modified the Z for Club Racing. I think these 2 cars provided me with more enjoyment than the HO would have, probably in hindsight not the most financially rewarding decision, in light of the values HO's have attained in the last 2 years, but money isn't everything, is it?"
I agree, Peter, they must be the best looking thing alive.
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