davidwjones wrote:
>
> The best experience I had was the first time I went to get my BT7 inspected
> when I lived in NJ...
I love license plate stories.
It was 1967 and I had Grannies '56 Pontiac shipped at great taxpayer expense
from
New Jersey to the Philippines for my tour with the Air Force. The Canal was
closed and it went around the long way.
I always wanted to build a car and found a sympathetic Jitney builder in
Angeles City, Cencio Turla was a master with a hammer and torch and I spent
many
hours shortening, lowering chopping and welding the Pontiac into my version of a
'30's vintage SSK Mercedes roadster. Military plates were no problem.
The big problem was getting it registered in the US, fortunately I was
assigned to Alabama and after another lengthy sea cruse the "56 Pontiac
Roadster" arrived in Montgomery and I needed plates. They thought the name was
a bit of a stretch but I was refused because they couldn't find the chassis
numbers (they were still back in the Philippines with about 3' of frame that was
cut off). No problem, a quick run back to the base and I zipped off the
numbers
on a Dymo labeler, stuck them on the frame and hit it with flat black paint.
1/2
hour later I had my plates, Love those Alabama State Troopers.
I shipped the car to Germany for 3 years where the locals were surprised
when
they saw an "Old-timer" burn rubber in all 3 gears.
At 1600 pounds with a 316 V8 in front it was a hoot to drive. Another sea
cruse
when I brought it back to New York where my Dad drove it for a few years, NY
DMV
let me register it because of the Alabama plates.
I figure this car had more miles riding the oceans on the deck of a ship
than
on land. I still have all the plates but have no idea where the car ended up.
Rob Westcott
'55 Healey (also a hoot to drive)
Check out the new British Cars Forum:
http://www.team.net/the-local/tiki-view_forum.php?forumId=8
|