Bargain Buy Blog 25th November 2013

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As usual, my weekly trawl through the damaged vehicle auctions at Turners reveals an interesting gem. This week I found this 1977 Holden Sunbird that’s been working out. It also may have taken too many steroids if the burst fuel lines are anything to go by.

This Sunbird started life as the runt of the Torana range. It had the four cylinder Starfire engine that wasn’t great and had a pretty basic trim level. As you can see, this one got sick of having sand kicked in its face and embarked on a bulking up program. It now has a 6.5L Chevy V8, racing seats, harnesses, a roll cage and much more. On the outside it’s got flared guards, bonnet scoop and fat wheels. Clearly somebody has spent a fair sized wedge of cash on this car.

But there’s a catch, as you’d probably guessed, being that it’s in a damaged auction and all. The registration has lapsed and the engine won’t run.  This may have something to do with the burst fuel lines. So it would be fair to say that another sizable wedge of cash will be needed to get it back on the road and track. But it’s still very much a potential bargain. At the auction estimate of $7,000 – $8,000 you’d be lucky to buy just the engine, and the rest combined has got to be worth more than the estimate. Question is, do you feel lucky? The car is located at Turners North Shore and is up for auction tomorrow (26/11/13) in the Central and North Island combined damaged auction.

Of course we can’t show you a troubled Holden without also featuring a Ford with issues and we know there are loads of Escort fans out there.

This 2L Escort clearly had more power than brakes and is probably toast. But there is a feast of great parts there, not least the 2 litre engine which might just have survived. This car is located at Turners Hamilton and is in the same auction as the Sunbird.