Our Touring Past

Hi Richard..
Just got home from a week away up the coast. I came home from Maroochydore via ESK, Gatton, Warwick and on down the New England. I dropped into a mates place and mentioned i was going to head over to a shed in the industrial area at the back of Muswellbrook. I had been there back in 2006 and had a look at an old van as well as a nice pillarless dodge with a 440V8 in it.
More than enough grunt to pull the chassis out from under any vintage van..
But that was not what i was chasing. Back in 2006 he had a beautifully restored 1959 two tone green Zodiac with a 2.5 litre 6 cylinder / 3 speed column change in the shed.

I mentioned the location tothe mate and by coincidence he had sold the bloke his house. He gave me the blokes phone number before i left to come home to Newcastle.
I rang the old fella just a while ago... He still has the Zodiac and YES ... it is for sale. As you know i have a 1953 A40 pickup in the shed. I mentioned it in conversation .. well bugger me drunk. He has 2 on his property. Both complete. one was driven there.. other one towed.... The price?? .. Very reasonable
So.... looks like at least 2 more Austin utes heading for Reddoville over the next weekend. ...
I am going to take the Zodiac for a test drive.. Its on full NSW rego .. and... wait for it...... it has a towbar

Now .. about those beers you mentioned on the first post in this section ..... not a bad idea really.. Stay tuned to this station for an update and some photos

Reddo

Hi Reddo. A lot of people run over chinamen & get all the bad luck.You on the other hand musta stopped & helped one along the way,haha. Yutes,yoots & more utes. Well you certainly aren`t going to run out of spares, that`s for sure.And looks like you`ll be a bit more busy than usual. Just hope your `vans don`t get upset with utes taking over their parking spot.Look forward as usual to the updates.Might even start a new trend - Austin utes & their caravans. cheers gordo

Hi Reddo.
Sounds as tho you may have to purchase the house next door just to fit it all in. The Zodiac souds like it would be a nice tow car but Im not too sure about the Austin utes, give me an FJ ute any day. Lucky the bloke wouldnt sell the last Austin ute you saw, as you would have had the market cornered on them then.

Cheers.
Richard.

Hi Richard..
I have been working on my modified FJ ute all day today. A local bloke came and had a look the other week. He didnt want any of that F#$d stuff on it so he asked how much for me to convert it all to HR running gear.
I ended up selling it with a good 186 .. 5 speed celica gearbox and HR disc brake front end.
The bloke has deposited a fairly substantial deposit in my account
Now i am stuck with the job of doing most of the conversion work i was going to do to it anyway if i had kept it

So there is some sort of incentive to get it up and rolling...One is i need the shed space and 2 is i need the money.
Here is a picture of the A40 in the shed....
It now has spark at the plugs but is not running ....

perhaps when i get the other "Austin Powers" homew i can have a good look at the timing and "Unleash the 1200cc beast"

hmmmmm i read somewhere about the Toyota 4ATEG or what ever they call it conversion..... ..
Bro has offered his spare 1620 MGA motor if i wanna stay "All British"

Oh yeah... called at a blokes place yesdy....i had a look at his finished very modified FJ ute he had a while back when it was passed in on ebay without a bid. .. Not home.. left a message

Geez .. i better behave myself TALKING about all these cars.. someone might get the wrong impression and think i am actually BUYING and SELLING them ..... Cant go to Jail for window shopping can you???
Stay tuned ...
Reddo

did I hear you say sell Reddo
I'm rather keen on the Austin

how much for a 'mate'

Hi MarkT
pm me if you are interested in the car.

Hear from you soon,,
Regards
Reddo