New, unregistered Irish-bought car from 1976 - where do I start?

Thanks for that info Macplaxton - and for the links - looks like a good starting point - appreciate your help

I'll post pics as soon as I can - At the moment the car is still well and truly covered and parked at the back of a (thankfully dry) shed surrounded by other dead (but, unlike the peugeot, very used and invariably rusty) vehicles. The old man could not get rid of anything lol.


Last time I looked at it (a good few years back now) the body and interior etc were absolutely perfect - it even had that 'new car smell'!! Mechanically I don't yet know what will need doing - obviously after years and years of just sitting there, lots of things would presumably be seized up. I'll just have to get googling and hopefully find someone who knows what they're doing when it comes to bringing something like this back to life.


Definitely an interesting project though and one that I'll update on this thread on as I navigate my way through it.



(Oh and as for the question as to whether my dad was rich. The answer is not really, just a bit eccentric!!)

Titzon Toast wrote: »

Pics OP. Give us pics please.

lol - okay - I'll see what i can get - lack of light and space may be a prob but I'll try my best!!

unkel wrote: »

What age were you when that happened? Do you remember? Did he just go out and buy another brand new car? What did he do for a living that he could afford that, old money in the family or a really good job? Afaik there was no car financing back then, you needed to buy the car for cash. Not meaning to be nosy / prying but this is a fascinating story

He was a genius, a hard worker, an entrepreneur (before the word became trendy) and thrifty as hell when it came to watching the pennies. As an electrician and a electrical shop owner in the 1960's (Around the time of full rural electrification) he was in the right place at the right time. TVs and radios were his forte, but he'd buy and sell anything - electricals, hardware, bikes, motorbikes, household stuff, clocks, you name it, he'd stock it and sell it. And not only could he sell stuff, he could repair pretty much anything too (especially in the days when electrical goods were repairable).



There was certainly no old money in the family - to be honest there was no money at all, as his Dad (my grandfather) died when my Dad was just a kid, which meant he was packed off to some industrial school in Dublin during his teens while his mother tried to make ends meet by running a very small farm (12 acres) on her own. On finishing school he got a job in a shop, and when he was refused a raise that he asked for after a couple of years, he decided to bite the bullet and go for things on his own. He managed to talk his way into getting a dealership (from Bush or Pye or one the popular electrical suppliers at the time (early 60's)) and by working his arse off over the next few years and steering clear of debt when he could (that was his big no-no!) he made a success of things.

I would have been 4 in 1976 so I've no memory of him buying that car, nor am I 100% sure why he never used it. He always had lots of 'stuff' around the place by then so an extra car wrapped up at the back of a shed wasn't that unusual!!. He was always repairing things, old motorbikes or gramaphones or furniture etc with mates of his, maybe buying old Ferguson tractors for no apparent reason, there's even a couple of boats lying around though he was **** scared of the sea. Buying, selling, fixing, repairing.... that was what he lived for. And he could turn his hand to anything, from plumbing to electrics to building (and also to things of a more artistic vein like acting, painting and poetry.) It was only in his latter years I really began to appreciate him for the (sometimes eccentric but always likeable and dependable) genius that he genuinely was.


I miss him. We all do. It would be a lot more fun to be getting his gadgets and his gizmos up and running if he was still here. He'd know what to do with them, you see. That was the thing with him, he always seemed to know what to do

Bitten & Hisses wrote: »

Thing is, this car with its back story might be most valuable if it was displayed as-is and never touched!
(Not that I think it’s the best approach, just might be the most financially rewarding)

Yeah - I was thinking that recently. I mean, the minute it's registered and used on the road and stuff it just becomes another car .. .albeit an old one. The novelty of it being brand new, untouched and 100% original is what's interesting about it. Perhaps I should get two 'FOR REG' plates made and keep it that way. Just focus on getting it running and not worry about the tax/reg side of things.

galwaytt wrote: »

Must pop over again. Mustn't leave things unsaid. Life's too short.

That's lovely Galwaytt.



I never thought my post would turn in to an 'Eccentric Dad Appreciation' thread, but I'm glad it has. It seems there were (and still are in your case) quite a few geniuses, nut jobs, and hoarders out there. I think we owe it to them to uphold their legacy into the future by ignoring logic and rationale, hanging onto as much junk as we possibly can and trying to fix things wherever even vaguely feasible.


Do that, and I'm pretty sure there'll be a few ould fellas smiling down on us