When I was ~16 years old, I got a book (Cars of the World, which I still have), from which I learned about Ledwinka and his Tatra creations. In its introduction to the section on Czech cars, the author wrote… Czech car design is notable for its lively imagination, disregard for conventional designs, and a deep reverence for Hans Ledwinka.
While there was definitely cross-pollination between Porsche’s and Ledwinka’s designs, I have read in more than one book that Porsche copied from Ledwinka much more than Ledwinka copied from Porsche. But… who knows for sure?
Speaking of Czech technology, Nazis, and Czech cars, let’s not forget about the Skoda company. While its cars weren’t quite as revolutionary as Tatra’s were, the Skoda company excelled in metallurgy, and it’s said that one of the reasons for the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia was to obtain Skoda’s expertise in steel alloys, particularly its armor plating, which was superior to that of the Krupp company.
When I was in Prague in the late '90s, there were always one or two Tatra taxis sitting in front of my hotel. The more modern Tatras were just as “different looking” as were the Tatras of the 1930s. This is a Tatra from the '50s:
Looks like a quality shop. Too bad she’s not still there, it’d be fun to have somebody there take a look at that Bavaria and toss off a rough restoration estimate, to their lowest standard.
Knucklhead Diy’er here, w/ No 70’s BMW experience but I do own a 70’s vehicle I mostly diy r&m. If gasoline engine, no turbo, and MT, this could be an enjoyable diy’er project. Hard to justify $$-wise if paying a pro to do it for you. Best bet if that’s the case is to buy one already restored. If it has A/C and you need the A/C to work, plan to add an extra $4,000 for that. For the car in the photo, Varies widely by the car’s current condition, but I’d guess it would take a semi-experienced diy’er 100-200 labor hours and $18,000 in replacment parts. Presuming enigine needs no more than a simple rebuild.
That’s all to completely strip it down, remove paint, fabricate dozens of patch panels, weld, grind, prime, paint, replace interior, rebuild engine, etc, etc? Did you see all the rust holes? 200 hours is 5 weeks of work, full time. I’d multiply that by 10 for an amateur who’s learning by doing.
Even using your estimates, they’ll spend $27,000 on buying and fixing up that car, when they can buy one in good shape for that amount of money.
She moved on to a 1000% better job out in CA. My regret is that I didn’t manage to visit while she worked there. I could have gotten a tour and hung out at the shop! Actually…I probably still could. She left on good terms, and they were nice enough folks. Hmmm…maybe next time I’m out there.
I was thinking about the Draguar when I wrote the response. IIRC it has a high rise manifold. If the OP buys that hulk a hole in the hood won’t matter.
No high rise, the '74 Jaguar XJ12, they had to cut a giant hole in the hood to install the Weiand 6-71 supercharger and twin Holley carburetors on the 350ci Chevy V8 that was already installed in the car when they bought it for $1,000.
For those that have no idea what we are talking about…
Many of my older colleagues told me stories of how sometimes the only economic way to keep european luxury cars running was to dump the original powertrain in favor of american muscle
apparently, this was . . . relatively . . . common in the 1970s and 1980s, but I don’t have much of an opinion, as I was too young to be wrenching professionally during that time
Maybe some of the other regulars will chime in?
As for the fires . . . thanks for the concern. My homes are safe, but it seems there is currently nowhere in the Los Angeles area that isn’t somewhat close to one of the various fires. I’m not in an evacuation zone, but I’ve packed stuff and would need to grab the animals
I think SBC swaps into the Jaguar XJ6 were especially common, maybe even kits available for that. Unfortunately, the Jaguar engine was actually one of the most reliable things in the car, all those other parts were the problem.
edit - just googled “Jaguar XJ SBC swap” and found a lot of kits still out there.
I’ve seen more than one 60’s-70’s Jaguar with a Chevy powertrain. Either the 250 inline 6 or SBC backed up by a THM 350 is a fairly easy conversion.
One of the guys on my team lives in La Canada and he is packed and ready to leave if needed. My 80 year old mother is in Torrance and while she is concerned about smoke and ash I figure she’s safe where she is.
I’m on the east coast. so not affected. But I was browsing photos. I saw a shot of a couple of older folks wearing respirators - like serious ones you’d use for painting CARS. And I was remembering my area getting overrun a year or two back by smoke from VERY DISTANT Canadian wildfires. I can’t imagine what it’s like around those LA fires right now.
Anyway…I have a respirator as I’ve sometimes been a painter (residential/commercial buildings, not auto), and was thinking about getting a second one to have around for my wife for life’s weird contingencies.
So the random thought/point of this is, I wonder if you’ve thought about making sure your mom has a decent respirator on hand. (And anyone else who’s in the smoke zone).
Thanks so much for your thoughtfulness and concern. We have been making sure she’s getting dinners and groceries delivered so her traveling is limited.
As for the respirator, the irony is she’s complaining about smoke outside and that she’s tracking ash from the fires into the house all day long…but the reason that she’s outside so much is that she’s keeping the windows closed and going outside every hour to smoke her Marlboros. So not quite sure how to address her air quality concerns…
LOL - literally. She’s 80. At that point, more power to her. I recall when my grandmother, a life-long smoker, was in her early 80s and my mom and her sister kept hassling her about the cigs, and I was just thinking, really!? She was early 80s, long-retired, and lived alone. Her only joys in life were basically M&Ms (but never the brown ones?), crossword puzzles, and smokes. Let her do her thing, I thought!
Speaking of Jaguars, this pic shows Steve McQueen (plus Sonny & Cher) next to his brand-new XKSS. It was one of just 16 that were built before a fire destroyed the factory.
She’s 80. At that point, more power to her. I recall when my grandmother, a life-long smoker, was in her early 80s and my mom and her sister kept hassling her about the cigs, and I was just thinking, really!? She was early 80s, long-retired, and lived alone. Her only joys in life were basically M&Ms (but never the brown ones?), crossword puzzles, and smokes. Let her do her thing, I thought!
