ALLWAGONS
Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2000
Posts: 4186
Location: Pasadena CA/DTLA soon China
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 Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2018 10:30 pm Post subject: Martin's Tin Litho Variant |
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I found this tin litho squareback about 10 yrs. ago at one of the Ed Economy toy shows. I had been looking for one for years, had seen them on ebay and on the web, but never one within my reach. I was excited to find this little car, but it was kind of bland, the colors didn’t really stand out, so I decided to put it on the shelf with the other tin toys.
Browsing through The Samba, I noticed on the toy section, toy cars being brought back to life on the “tunnel”. I looked up the user and after reading tons of posts of car restorations and restor-versions, I found out it was HacksawBob AKA Mr. Bob Gilmore from “in-scale” from way back in the day!
I decided to contact him, not knowing if he even did outside work. It seems he restores his own toys only, but I decided to give it a shot. I sent him an email asking him if he did any work upon request, and how much it would cost? His reply was, tell me about yourself and your toy car.”
I explained to him I was the proud owner of a ’65 sunroof variant, that it was my dream car and that it took me a good 20+ years to find all the parts to restore it. Even though I’ve owned other VW models, a ’65 sunroof Variant was my very first car. So, this one is special.
I told him I had always admired his work, that I had read many of his articles, and if it was possible to replicate my car on this little tin wagon? He told me to send it and he would look at it. He said it would take time. A few weeks later he sent me pics of the tin car in his workshop.
Later on, he sent me a sneak peek of the car fully disassembled and the body painted ruby red like my car and told me to stand by as it gets cold in Arizona and he only paints when it is over 75 degrees. I took the liberty of asking him if he could add a mock sunroof and he said Yep!
One day I came home and got a box from Hacksaw-bob, sure enough it was an exact tin replica of my ’65 sunroof variant, from the sunroof to the license plates! My wife said I looked like a kid on Christmas day! Well, it was Christmas for me.
But wait, I received the car and did not pay for it! I immediately emailed him to send me a bill, so I could pay him. His response was “it was a pleasure to work on this little car, enjoy it” Man it doesn’t get any better than this!
I just found out he and my good friend Ivan, have been best friends for over 40 yrs! The circle is complete now,
Thanks Mr. Gilmore!
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I'd be UNSTOPPABLE if not for Law Enforcement and PHYSICS.
I recycle old cars and parts, other than when I rot, that's as Green as I am going to get.
Thanks to my Tesla driving neighbors, I feel more relaxed driving my SUBURBAN and old VW's.
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Blue Baron
VW Aficionado
Joined: June 16, 2006
Posts: 24044
Location: Southeast USA
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| Posted: Wed Feb 21, 2018 11:50 pm Post subject: Re: Martin's Tin Litho Variant |
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That's our Hacksaw BoB. Nobody does it better!
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We are striving for perfection, to make our cars run forever, if possible.
Heinz Nordhoff |
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