DDK - Die Deutschen Klassiker

I apologise for not having read this story through earlier! What a great tale - and what a great way to 'christen' the car! I know the Vegas-LA route well, and know it can be a bit scary at the best of times, with semis and trailers passing you at speed. Where in Huntington Beach do your friends live?

Anyway, enjoy the car and let us know how you get on in the UK.

KS wrote:I apologise for not having read this story through earlier! What a great tale - and what a great way to 'christen' the car! I know the Vegas-LA route well, and know it can be a bit scary at the best of times, with semis and trailers passing you at speed. Where in Huntington Beach do your friends live?

Anyway, enjoy the car and let us know how you get on in the UK.

There is a great place on the way near Yermo, outside Barstow, off I15, called Peggy Sue's 50s Diner. Great pies and shakes.

KS wrote:....What a great tale - and what a great way to 'christen' the car!.....

....worthy of a feature methinks!

Darren65 wrote:

KS wrote:....What a great tale - and what a great way to 'christen' the car!.....

....worthy of a feature methinks!

Without doubt! Love a good story...

KS wrote:I apologise for not having read this story through earlier! What a great tale - and what a great way to 'christen' the car! I know the Vegas-LA route well, and know it can be a bit scary at the best of times, with semis and trailers passing you at speed. Where in Huntington Beach do your friends live?

Anyway, enjoy the car and let us know how you get on in the UK.

Thanks for the kind comments. So this is a very hard post to write. After two years involving lots of hard work getting it to near perfect condition the car has been royally f*cked by the container it was in when shipped to the UK.

I had arranged to have it collected a couple of weeks ago from the port in Tilbury and trailered to Chris Turners (Butzi). I went to see it soon after it was unloaded and was initially surprised then felt a bit sick by what I saw. Essentially the car was covered in what looks to be sea salt (fine grey dust lumpy in areas all over the bodywork) mould in the interior and rust on all the exposed metalwork. I am absolutely gutted. Chris got it on a lift and every exposed screw and nut has been damaged as well as the brakes and engine parts. The paintwork has scratches to it and to add insult to injury a speaker box i accidentally left on the backseat has been nicked.

This was my friends mobile phone left in the door pocket….







Interior






















Mechanicals







































I really understand this is first world problems especially with whats been going on in the world recently! Just feel very let down by the shipping company (Rinkens) who have clearly not looked after the car in the way they should. I booked it through Kingstown who I know have a good reputation on here. Initially I found one of their staff quite difficult (a woman) and they were a bit slow off the mark but since then have been quite supportive. I also took out marine insurance with Hagerty who have opened a claim and are sending a loss adjuster next week to evaluate the damage.

Not the post I wanted to do and had thought about just keeping quiet (whats that all about?) but this forum is all about sharing and if nothing else it might make someone think twice about not taking marine insurance and also who they are shipping with. Apparently there were two other cars in the same container with the same damage, although Kingstown say the container wasn’t damaged…I hope I don’t have to fight to get this back to what it did look like when I handed it over in L.A.

Its currently at Chris’ and thankfully I have managed to clean the mould off the interior.

Oh dear dear Jos, I am sorry to read this after the many highs of the restoration thread and the roller coaster Stateside journey. Wtf have they done to it?! I am sure sensible people will have practical advice which might include one of those anti saline spray things, or steam cleaning the whole lot followed by a coat of wax and some tlc from a decent valeter. I hope it needs little more than that and more importantly I hope you are able to take a good drive in it soon. Bonding needed.....

Unbelievable this has happened.
I think you are in good hands with Hagerty.
Should you be be doing anything to the car until it has been seen by the adjuster?

I really hope this can be resolved satisfactorily. At least with the restoration charted as well as it has been there is solid evidence of the original condition.

Regards

Having shipped various cars over the years, I am at a complete loss to see how this could have happened other than the constainer being open at sea - or the weatherproof seals being faulty (or the container dropped in the sea...). I have to admit I've not taken out the extra insurance, but I'm sure glad you did. Good luck with the process.

That's truly terrible. Hope things clean up well and the remedial work required is largely superficial.

Best of luck,

Really awful set back to a great story. I am sure there is a happy ending. Head up, grit your teeth and let them have it!

Whilst it's a shitty thing to have to sort out, it's all fixable - don't let is spoil your view of the car - you've got a gorgeous car and in a few months you'll look back on this as another story in its history.

That is such a shame. At least you are well covered and hopefully all will be resolved quickly.

Thanks for the kind comments guys, as you say hopefully all sortable.

Ditto all the sympathetic comments.
I saw your car up at Chris T's a couple of weeks back, and I agree that so long as you very thoroughly attend to every nook and cranny straight away, it will be as good as new, and soon you'll look back and smile with another good story to add to your ownership journey.

Someone had stuffed big packs of silica gel in the car upon arrival. You may want to keep those/have photos of that, as it underlines the fact the shipper knew there was an issue with the container, as well as an example of their inappropriate/insufficient level of care when handling.