The Prize Turkey

I should have noticed the warning signs, as I perused the eBay listings, via cathode ray on the dial-up internet computer in my pub office, back the early 2000s.

Austin Gipsy, 1964, some history, ex-Chipperfield’s Circus......

I was smitten; being an avid Series I Land Rover nut, sampling Austin’s slab-sided, all steel creation had been a long held ambition.

My budget was limited and so the above mentioned former circus hack gained a new clown owner.

It was rotten, oh so rotten. Where weld ceased and original car remained was anyone’s guess. This thing must have commenced its decay trajectory while still on the production line.

But it was a charming little machine, with its knocking Diesel engine and questionable looks and so I set about working on it.

I got it up and running and then popped it into the garage, next door to my house, in the hope that they would make quick work of the welding.

Weeks later, the task was still huge and with funds now depleted, I deposited the old rotter at my pub’s yard.

A fortnight later, with renewed enthusiasm, I went to start it up , in order to move it into position for continued work, only to find the engine seized solid.

And so with that, dear reader, I threw in the towel. I cannot for the life of me remember to whom, or how I sold the contraption (I think its registration number was something like ADC 124B), but as I sit here recalling my biggest turkey, I wonder if it managed to cling to existence, or whether its goose was truly cooked.

- Fuzz t