16 WW2 Stuart tanks imported into the UK

[Mike K]

Interesting comments and a range of views from the forum members.

Just to add to this: tonight on ABC national radio .. Phillip Adams late night live show is having a story on the plundering of WW2 aircraft from the Pacific Islands by individuals who then sell the aircraft to collectors for up to $1,000,000 U.S.

I will put a link to the show.. anyone can download it or listen live .

http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/

The show is on air 10pm Eastern time here. They will put it on the site for download later on.

The point I was making is that there is now a culture of this sort of thing ... it's accepted as being the norm ... and it flows right down to us and our vehicle collecting, even onto militaria collecting with the exorbitant prices you now see .

As for dealers - I avoid them like the plague..Sometimes you do need that hard to find part and you have little choice ..so you you hand over the cash . Having said that , you can save yourself a lot of money by repairing parts and being hands on . I installed used rings from a donor motor in my C8 engine and it runs fine ... the rings were almost new and the correct size ( standard) .. so why buy another set. I sort of get by as a restorer. I've seen some highly skilled people who have incredible skills and ability when it comes to repairing old vehicles.. we are all different I guess.

Mike

[Bob McNeill]

Whats the definition of a Dealer, is it the bloke who collects several wrecks to make one Good One then flogs off the remains to cover costs of the work he couldn,t do. OR is it the chap who does all the running around, storing, listing & cleaning of the bits we eagerly look for at swap meets and boot sales. If you,ve got it and I want it, it,ll cost unless I,ve got something U want.

[Ian Pullen]

As we all know gentlemen.
Änything" is only worth what someone is prepared to pay (or barter) for it.
Desperation can add a huge amount to the value of an item......