Hi all again. After a few trials and tribulations with respect to the import paperwork, the car had to go back to Canada and then back to Los Angeles again (grrr), but now it's in my garage! For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, you can check out this thread here:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/1070269-wayne-bought-new-car-who-can-guess-what.html
Basically, this thing:
1969 Adams M-505 Probe 16. The Probe 16 was the car that Stanley Kubrick chose to feature in the sci-fi movie, A Clockwork Orange. There were only three manufactured - the one used in the movie is in the UK (been restored to a nice, but someone unoriginal condition), and the other one is currently in pieces in Europe). this one is the most original.
From wikipedia:
Quote:
The M-505 Adams Brothers Probe 16 is a car, designed by former Marcos cars designers Dennis and Peter Adams, (Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, England) in 1969 as 'an investigation into extremes of styling'. It is powered by a mid-mounted tuned Austin 1800 engine and is 34 inches (86 cm) in height.[1] It has 10" wheels on the front and 13" wheels on the back. Entry is via a sliding glass roof.
Only three were ever produced. The first - AB/2, license plate MJO 145H – was sold to American songwriter Jimmy Webb. The second - AB/3, license plate PWV 222H - to Cream bassist Jack Bruce, who then gave it to co-band member of Bruce & Laing, Corky Laing as a birthday gift. The third - AB/4, had the license plate JFB 220H - was owned originally by Robin Gibbons of England. All three cars are still in existence today with different owners. [2]
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Anyways, the car that we have here hasn't been run / started in more than 27 years, so there are quite a few things that need to be done to it. It's pretty much complete - nothing is missing, but has been stored tucked away safe-and-sound for almost 30+ years, so you can imagine that there are quite a few things that need work. It hasn't been neglected or anything like that - think of it like a car that has been on display in a museum for 30+ years and now needs everything gone through it.
We just started on it and I will be posting updates here and also doing some videos. It's such an interesting and unique car that there is pretty much nothing like it. I'll grab the first video tonight and post it here - the car came with no documentation, no manuals, and two or three pages of tech info - nothing else. So, it's truly a unique experience to put it back together as nearly everything is unique.
First up is the brakes - the pedal goes to the floor when pressed of course. And as part of that, one needs to get the wheels off, which has already been an experience that I haven't seen before (first step). Seems the wheels are center-lock *and* have lug nuts, but the lug nuts appear to be "for decorative use only"! Never seen that before (I'm sure I'm going to be saying that a lot).
Anyways, let me know your thoughts in the comments, and I will keep the OT forum here updated with new info and videos when they come out. The car was in the Petersen museum in Los Angeles here when they shut down due to Covid - I told them that I would bring the car back when / if they opened, so there may be a break in the restoration while it returns to the museum.
Thanks,
Wayne
