good morning i am looking for my old buggy. built in 1971 and still on the road. was built from a 1959 oval  window beetle. i have lot of build pictures and it was built on a budget in a council lockup. so a DIY job. i love to fine her,, after all these years. i am now 75.... so bit of an old codger  but still restoring cars. latest a classic mini.
if the owner of SMJ 487J is on this site please give me a shout so we can have a chat abought the old buggy..cheers sparky john

Great story John.

Quite a few eye catching features eg those head lights are huge and I've not seen such narrow and high backed seats like these before.

I'd love to see a few more of the older/period images

thanks hugh.. back in 1971 ..buggys very thin on the ground..and me and my buddy BEPPO. we just made it up as we went along..wheels we had 8" spacers welded in and XJ6 tyres. seats looked like 2 nuns sitting in the front from the back view. after completion and registered as a new vehicle. [unreal to day] we planned a trip to cornwall and that took 12 hours to newkey.. had a week there sleeping rough .no accommodation..in those days you just did it..nothing really planned.. i have a lot of build pictures.. i was the welder and gas welded the buggy. on hired gas set up £5 for the weekend.. very diy..as i was a charge hand at lancer boss [auto electrical] harness was no problem.. nicked at the gear and made a custom harness in my mums front room ..very council stock work.. we all did this stuff.. rebuilt engins in the kitchen.. i even took a piano to bits in mum kitchen.. brilliant days.. had a good old mum.. bless her.. now if i can find the owner of smj 487j.i can share all the info and pics i have ..be nice to get a bit of history of the old buggy in the lase 50 plus years hugh.. i will dig out some pictures of the build.. it was all new then ..

trials..back in 1971..

finished and on the road.. but tax in the post as allways back in the day.. 

Nice authentic photos of a classic basic in the right sense of the word. I guess those seats stopped being made as they were too tall for most modern cars and blocked the rear view ?

Fingers crossed some on here know where this - I see from the Gov site it is now red.

yep its red now.. was green metal flake.. we purchased the body from some maker in london.. and took the body home on the top of my mini van.. that was sketchy.. many thank hugh... i am still restoring cars ..latest is a classic mini . 300 hours on the mini..

 

A tidy tasty Mini. Your talents need to restore a buggy now!

Welcome aboard - some good historical pictures there

Lets hope the members can help track it down 

thanks guys ..i love to find her and if possible buy back.. i this we sold in 1971 for £250..?.. great site and brings  back a lot of stuff we did back in the day..