A long overdue update...

It still amazes me that a couple years after my crazy idea I still get regular queries about what happened with the plan to start from nothing and buy a Ferrari.

Sadly (or perhaps that should be 'thankfully'), business happened. I have been kept so busy that I put the Ferrari for Free plan on hold indefinitely.

BUT... I did get a Ferrari... sort of.

In the business of finding cars for people (www.palmdale.co.uk) it was only a matter of time before I was asked to source a Ferrari, and yesterday we delivered our first ever Ferrari. A 458 Italia:







It may not actually be mine, but spending the day with it yesterday was just amazing!

Not having to pay the £205,000 myself was also pretty great...

The Saab has gone... for £500!!!

It has been a roller coaster ride!

The day after the eBay listing went live, I had a call from Dan at Paradise Club Classic Saabs asking if he could come and view the car.

He came that day, but as is often the case with experts, he found a couple of critical problems that I had missed, including 2 areas of rust and a previous bodywork repair. With this in mind I cancelled the auction as it was hardly as described!

However, Dan was not too put off by the work needed and estimated that he could sell the car once restored for £3-£4,000. We haggled a little, and agreed on £500! Yes, a car that was free, sold for £500!!!

Now things are getting serious, the next question being: What do I buy for £500 that is worth more? My initial response is that it needs to suit the current economic climate it should either be diesel powered or small and economical. Hhmmm....

Putting the Saab on eBay

Being a little bit of an eBay boffin I have written a very detailed listing and put the car up on eBay to start this Sunday night, and then end next Sunday night.

Once live, you will be able to see the listing at:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290283003699

I suspect that the eBay listing fees will total £29.75, plus I have ordered a new set of number plates for the car which cost £11.14 (the plate shown has been put on a retention certificate by John - the friend who donated the car to me). Finally, I ran a HPI Check on the car which costs £3.50.

This leaves a little over £5, and knowing me I will probably put £5 into the tank to turn off the 'low petrol' light.

As for what the car will sell for, I really have no idea! The auction has a 1p starting price and no reserve, so only time will tell...

And we have lift off... and a little cash!

The Metro has been sold, and I now have the first little bit of cash!

After calling around scrap yards and struggling to get the £30 needed to list the Saab on eBay, I decided to place an advert on the Pistonheads website:

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/classifieds/814825.htm

That did the trick! I had 6 enquiries almost straight away, but it was lovely Leanne who promised to have it picked up the next day, and on Tuesday she sent her son up with his flat bed truck.

And now I have the money I need to eBay the Saab!

Cost of car = £ 0.00

Expenses = £ 0.00

Sale of car = £50.00

Cash for Ferrari = £50.00!

A 2nd Generous Donation

The only way to describe how I feel about being given this little Rover Metro is... very touched.

I have recently been taking an evening class in Car Mechanics. One of my fellow students, Claude (who I originally met on a previous course), has a 'thing' for Rover 100s. He has bought two recently, and has taken the course to learn how to fix them up... both of them are rather ropey, which is not good because they are his daily transport.

This is the first one he bought and it failed the MOT on emissions, lack of brake lights and a couple of other minor things. The tax ran out last weekend and so he was eager to move it on.

Claude - I cannot thank you enough for your generosity. Just giving me your car like that has really touched me. Thank you!

The new plan is to scrap the Metro in order to raise enough money to eBay the Saab 900 Turbo. It seems wasteful to scrap a car just to pay £29.75 for an eBay listing (£9.75 for the advert, £20 for the Final Valuation Fee), but the rules are that I must start from nothing... and right now all I have are two unusable cars and absolutely no money in the pot.

Now all I need to do is convince a scrap merchant to give me £30 or more for the car...

Change of Plan! Hello, Mr.Saab

I have just found out that John Kelly, the best mechanic is North West London, and a wonderful wonderful person, has agreed to give me one of his own cars - a Saab 900!

This has actually been his own car for about 12 years and he has loved it always. Regretfully it has now fallen on harder times and currently it is jumping out of first gear and has also been vandalised.

BUT... it is a Saab 900 Full Pressure Turbo with an MOT and full service history. These are fast becoming collectors cars and have a huge following.

I should get it today and feel that I may have to abandon plans for the Metro...

All I Want is a Little Rubber!

Well, it has not been easy getting the first stage off the ground!

Finding some 12in tyres for the old Metro has proved difficult. Finding them for free has been impossible.

A couple of days ago my friend Seth figured out that there are actually lots of different wheels that fit the Austin Metro, and maybe I would be better trying to get a set of 13in wheels for free. If I can find the wheels, getting 13in tyres will be very easy as they are MUCH more common.

Seth placed an enquiry on the Retro Rides forum and we will see what comes of this.

In the meantime... a friend of mine (also my mechanic) has hinted that he may have a car for me. I should know about that within the hour!

A Very Stuborn Metro

With the help of my friend Dom, I spent an hour or so trying to resurrect the Metro (his car, his petrol and so zero cost to me!). Once rolling I can scrap it, get £60 and then start making some real money!



We started by trying to gain access to the car as there are no keys. It was amazing how with a screwdriver and a hammer how easy it was to smash the lock and open the door! It had probably been 7 years since anyone has been inside that car, but it smelled more like 70 years... We did find loads and loads of service history in the boot, though!

Next came the tyres. We connected an electric pump, however it soon became clear that all the tyres are completely useless as the rubber has deteriorated to leave huge great holes.



This has left me with three options:

1) Leave this car and find another one completely
2) Try and find someone who is happy to pay for the scrap value of the car, despite it not being able to be rolled anywhere
3) Try and find someone who is happy to give me a set of wheels for free

Hhhmmm... this is getting complicated!

A Free Car Has Been Found!

Well, it has taken longer than expected, but I have finally found my first car... and it really is quite bad!


This Austin Metro has been sitting 3 minutes walk from where I live for 7 years now, and the owner of the house has agreed to let me have the car for free!

The plan is to have the car collected by a scrap merchant and try and get the usual £60. However this one may not be so simple:

1) All four tyres are flat

2) The brakes have siezed

3) There is no V5 log book

4) There are no keys

The following photo shows not only how bad the tyres are but also that the car has sat there for so long, ivy has grown around the wheels!



So, I will have to pump up the tyres (assuming they will pump up), free off the brakes and break into the car (disabling the steering lock too).

And remember, I can't spend a penny on it!

How the Hell am I Going to Find a Free Car???

This is something that is going to be really tough!

There are cars out there for just a few pounds on eBay, but not being able to spend a penny on getting there or even advertising makes the whole first stage really tough.

I have decided to try and look for an unwanted car that is far beyond repair, sitting on someone's drive.

I emailed a number of BNI (www.bni-europe.com/uk) contacts last night, and I also wrote a letter to the owner of a house that is around the corner from me, which has had the same mouldy Austin Metro sitting on the drive for 5 years now. I just offered to 'remove it for free'.

Everywhere I go now, I keep looking on people's drives for 'dead' cars...