Dirk Parker – 21st Birthday Gift
Words & Pictures Dirk Parker
Having bought and restored a barn-find ‘1972 VW Beetle Karmann’ for my son’s 21st birthday, it was always my intention to balance things for my daughter, Francesca. I had thought about a Figaro for some time and I then came across this car in an auction in South Wales. Due to the distance and the close proximity of the online auction starting, I only had chance to read the details and view the pictures (which of course made it look good) before bidding started. I had to take a chance!
The car had been imported into Dublin in 2005, was later moved to South Wales and then was stored in a body-shop, with a view to being renovated. Fourteen years later, when the renovations had been relatively unsuccessful and the owner had decided to clear his stock, this Figaro ended up at auction.
It was a general car auction not a specialist auction, so I didn’t think it would go for much but when bidding started, the inevitable happened. Two or three people were clearly after the same item and I wondered if one was a Figaro dealer looking for parts? Having have first-hand experience of finding parts for other classic cars, I can understand the desire of buying a write-off (or barn find) as a swift return selling parts would be guaranteed. Anyway, after winning the bid and it was then that the pain really began. The engine was a non-runner; it had no MOT; it turned out it was a non-EU registered import (NO NOVA clearance or registration number); the radio/tape/CD player was defunct; the leather seats and the interior was in poor condition, not horrendous but the back bench seat had battery acid burns the front seats were well worn; and whilst the body was sound (phew) it had so many dents and dinks in it that it looked like it had been in a shooting gallery. She required a full body renovation and respray! The costs mounted quickly, particularly when trying to find replacement parts – the new front and rear bumpers cost over one third of original car. And so it continued… and still continues! The spend quickly exceeded the purchase price of a low mileage original car, still with a number of items outstanding. Whilst it’s been a ‘Labour of Love’ its return on investment measured in monetary terms has been a disaster!
The solace in this story is two-fold. Firstly, that car’s true value can only be measured in the excitement, smile and delight on my daughters face when she received the car, this was worth every penny. The second, is that we have rebuilt another Figaro to be roadworthy instead of breaking it up for parts, which I have to reiterate would have been a more lucrative proposition. I intend to finish the car in the next two months, registering the car in January (the Nova clearance received Christmas Eve) and then fully hand the Car to Francesca for her to use this spring for her to enjoy forever!
I want to thank Kevin for his helpful and patient direction on so many basic and probably frustrating questions, it has been greatly received and I am truly impressed with the knowledge he has.
