1971 GTV

 

After the ’69 GTV fell apart, I was left with a fresh motor and transmission, with nothing to put it in.  I embarked on a search for a clean shell, and found this one, less than an hour away from my home.

 

The original owner had bought it in 1971, driven it until 1974, at which point he removed the cylinder head to convert it to carbs.  The owner of the shop disappeared one day, along with the cylinder head.  The car then languished for a few years, the owner sold it to a younger guy who stripped it to change the color, he gave up on it and sold it back to the original owner, who left it in storage yet again.

 

In the early 90’s he dug it out, took it to the body shop, and made arrangements for painting the car, including paying for it in full.  (At some point the rockers had been replaced, I can’t determine whether that was when it was originally stripped or as part of this more recent activity..)

 

At any rate, no sooner did he begin to make progress than his business started to tank, so the car had to go.  I ended up paying less than he had paid for the paint job.  Not too bad.  Of course, as soon as I bought it I discovered the rebuilt engine from the ’69 I intended to put into it had seized, so it was off to Glynns again for a complete rebuild, along with rebuilt Ingram pump.

 

Over the years I assembled all I’d need to put it together, but never really got the time to finish the job.