My trip to B.C. and my curious mind

[protour_chevelle]

Soooo I just got back from B.C. today. Summerland and Penticton to be specific. It was my grandpappy's 80th so all the family was going out. I figured that this time around I was going to keep on doing what I have for the past 2 years.. The story begins....

So every year since I spotted this little car under a blue tarp I have always wanted to know what was under it. The 1st year I spotted it I had no clue what it was, only quick looks at it. Mind you, I could have spent more time because the property that the car was on, was just below my grandpas land(pics will be below). I asked the owner of the house if the car was forsale. I got the cold shoulder for the 1st year and forgot about it. When I left I took a closer look and it is an older Austin Mini Cooper(or is it Mini Minor?)

Fast forward to last year. I went over and chatted with the old couple to find out that the car is their son's that lives in Vancouver in an apartment. They knew that he did not want to part with it though. I was told that they were going to give him a call and see what he thought about selling it. They told me to come back in a couple days for an answer. Well those couple days were a bummer, no one answered the door. I wasn't going to give up quite yet!

Fast forward to yesturday. I went over and introduced myself(old people tend to forget). I told them I was over to talk about buying the Cooper off of them. They remembered who I was and told be that they got in contact with their son and that he was interested in selling the car. With several stories later, ranging from fishing trips, to Johnny Cash, to their grandsons calling eachother "fags" on the greyhound I eventually got a price. They said "Our son said that the car will not be seeing any change for many years, and when its time for a change it will be a pile of rust." So whats the price? FREE ;D

The engine was rebuilt some time ago, and the son started the car and drove it around the yard 1 day out of the year. I have no clue on the trim options, whats under the hood or anything else. Its a 4 speed manual(perhaps 3?). He has cut out where the rust was(which I don't care about, fiberglass fenders are planned) and has a little bit of work started. The car is complete though.

So now its time to find a truck and trailer that my dad and I can borrow for the weekend to pick it up. That or take a tandom axle aluminum trailer behind our Pathfinder in August.

The pics:



The moutain is called Giants Head mountain. My grandpa lives at the bottom of it, and has 8 acres or so of land on the actual mountain.

The pictures of the houses are my grandpa's at the base of the moutain and the small house is where I found the Cooper

The rest show the car.


-Matt

[vanzuuk1]

Next time , could the car be visible in the photos? Seriousl, those are cool cars, rent the original italian job and watch it for motivation.

[69rs]

The best kind of car is a free one!

[Bill Howell]

Nice find Matt, the hunt and find is half the fun. Good luck getting it home. One word of advise, go get it asap, before anyone has a change of heart.

[protour_chevelle]

Yup, I have to get out there freaking fast! lol. I couldn't pull the tarp off seeing that I was leaving B.C. to come home at 7am. Didn't want to wake the oldies.

-Matt

[landyacht67]

Would you be interested in selling it or are you going to build/drive it?

seriously cool car

Julian

[socalfandabodys]

My brothers best friend bought one during high school. Hes 22 now and he still drives it daily on Los Angeles freeways. He has a lot of suspension work done to it and a full carbon fiber front end. Heres a pic of it after my brother painted it. It was taken by a mini web site at a mini meet in Las Vegas.

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Very cool, Matt!! There's nothing better than a free car!! Like Bill said, go get that thing quick!!