Quote Originally Posted by Grant Ellwood View Post
Larry Small, a car dealer from Takanini, aquired the Tanner Firebird circa 1980 and brought it to my place in Mt Maunganui. The intention was to run at one of the Baypark meetings. Larry was quite a character, he neglected to bring any ramps so we backed it up to a sandhill on Marine Parade and drove it off the trailer. My elderly neighbour thought the roar was an earthquake/tsunami and apparently had a "turn". Anyway, to cut a long story short, I checked the car over and it was obviously in poor condition, cracked front discs, rooted tyres etc, I decided I didn't want a repeat of jumping the fence at Baypark so Larry took the car back north,probably sold it to the party guys in Gerard's post.
Brilliant description Grant! Its fascinating the roller-coaster ride some of these cars take during their lives. They start out as state of the art, all shiny and beautiful, and draw big crowds. As time goes on, and they lose their competitive edge, their values plummet, and eventually they get to a point where they're not much good for anything, and hold very little value. I love Gerards description earlier in this thread of the former Joe Chamberlain/Dennis Marwood/John Riley Camaro when it had hit rock-bottom: "I once saw the Camaro, rattling through Mt Wellington in Auckland in the early 80's, trailing a cloud of blue smoke with a crowd of young party groupies on board. It looked like heading to a quick demise at that junction". And then, eventually, interest in them begins to build again, not because of the duties they can perform on a race track, but because of their historical significance. And their values begin to rise again, they get bought by the right people who restore them and cherish them. And once again they become the centre-piece that draws a crowd.