The real B8/82

B8/82 left the factory as a coupe painted Condor Green and was sold new to a Sydney buyer. It later became two-tone black and gold and here's a photo of the car taken by Mark Cleaves in the early 80s, for sale secondhand, at John Thompson Performance Cars on Parramatta Road, a sports car purveyor of the era. So many Nagaris passed through those premises it was uncanny.

This car was bought by a young man who subsequently smashed it up rather badly. The wreck was bought by Tony Briton and here it is in his carport in Canberra.

Tony took the remains to Fibrecar and he and Royce rebuilt it. The blue back section in this picture was from another wreck found on a farm in Yass, I thought, although Peter G tells me that it was a Nagari racecar. That's Tony working on the car at Royce's. I was told that the body remains in the background was another Canberra car (Bob Henry's B8/48) which was turned by Fibrecar into a yellow sports, but it could just as easily be B8/107, yet another silver coupe originating in Canberra that is now a red sports living in Sydney. Both cars were accident damaged coupes acquired by Royce and rebodied as convertibles.

Anyway, B8/82 became a "silver coupe". I'm not sure of the circumstances but it was acquired by Dave Jackson of Melbourne who's had it for many years. That's Dave walking towards the car and nearby is Peter Bartolo (the Victorian Peter Bartolo - ex B8/35). During the rebuild the car acquired a bonnet with the old style narrow bulge.

The final photo is of the car in Peter G's old garage, now sporting the yet unpainted more appropriate bonnet.