Haggerty Insurance's website said:For years, car guys have been speculating about the hordes of automotive treasures hidden away on the communist island. We’re not talking about the ’58 Chryslers and ’55 Chevys that hide in plain sight on every side street in Havana, but the really rare stuff — the playthings of the former moneyed elite of Cuba .
Finally, there’s something more than rumor and innuendo. These photographs clearly show – albeit in rough and somewhat incomplete shape – a Mercedes 300SL Gullwing; a 300SL roadster (with Volkswagen Beetle tail lights); what appears to be an Abarth Zagato 750 Double Bubble; and el coche de misterio: some sort of apparently Vignale-bodied roadster with portholes and Borrani wire wheels.
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May 26, 2010 6:46 a.m. JoeyM HalfDork
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May 26, 2010 7:13 a.m. Brotus7 Reader
Link?
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May 26, 2010 7:15 a.m. kcmoken New Reader
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May 26, 2010 8:32 a.m. JoeyM HalfDork
kcmoken wrote:
http://www.hagerty.com/lifestyle/hobby_article.aspx?id=68872
Thanks. I had meant to include it. Sorry about that.
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May 26, 2010 1:33 p.m. Chris_V SuperDork
I found one of those back in teh early '90s in a Penny Saver ad up in Washington state. Was looking for a motorcycle and there was a "'55 Mercedes GoldWing" listed in the motorcycle section, not running, for $5k.
Called the guy up and he said yes, it was a 1955 Mercedes, but it was in ratty shape and I'd have to tow it out of there. I quickly got a buddy of mine and we scrounged up the money, and drove over to where it was at (up by North Bend), and there in a dilapidated garage next to the guys old farmhouse was a Gullwing much in the shape as the one pictured. No rust because it was an aluminum body, though it was beat up, tore up interior, and the rubber was weathered real bad. And there was a person there already with cash in hand, who also had brought along more than enough to out-bid us.
And that's my csb.
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May 26, 2010 1:52 p.m. 16vCorey SuperDork
Explain this: After seeing this thread I clicked the link and flipped through it really quickly, didn't even read the story, just scrolled the pics and clicked back to GRM-land. So I check my email and I had a message in my junk folder from Hagerty asking me if I'm looking for insurance. I've never gotten any emails from them before and I never signed up for anything or clicked anything one their site, just scrolled down and then clicked the back arrow. How the hell did they get my email address from that?
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May 26, 2010 3:13 p.m. Woody SuperDork
I got the same e-mail, but I'm a satisfied Hagerty customer.
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May 26, 2010 3:28 p.m. Yavuz New Reader
Whoa. I got that hagerty email today too... well before I clicked on this thread. Maybe it went out to all GRM members?
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May 26, 2010 3:32 p.m. Cotton HalfDork
I got it as well...before I checked this thread.
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May 26, 2010 3:53 p.m. petegossett SuperDork
Got it too, but don't remember the timing vs. this thread.
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May 26, 2010 3:58 p.m. JFX001 Dork
Just once I would like to stumble across one of these "finds"...just once...4-5 cars...owner just wants them out of the barn...
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May 26, 2010 4:25 p.m. kcmoken New Reader
Hmmm, I didn't get the message. I even checked my junk email folder, not in there either.
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May 26, 2010 4:42 p.m. skruffy SuperDork
I got a message from hagerty too, but long before I checked this thread
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May 26, 2010 8:01 p.m. JoeyM HalfDork
FWIW, I got the message from Hagerty, too....that's where I found the story about the barn find. I posted the link here after reading it on their website.
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May 26, 2010 9:44 p.m. oldsaw Dork
I also recieved "that" email from Hagerty, a day before ever clicking on this thread.
Splain, please............
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May 26, 2010 9:48 p.m. JoeyM HalfDork
Obviously, someone on some website we frequently visit shared our email addresses....
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May 27, 2010 1:15 p.m. Powar Dork
I just figured that I got it because they insure my 96, but then I realized that I have that policy tied to a different email address. Odd.
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June 1, 2010 8:51 a.m. JaysonAllen
Hi everyone, A co-worker sent me a link to this thread. I am the Digital Marketing Manager @ Hagerty and I wanted to let you to know that we did recently send emails that included this article. The first one, our regular monthly newsletter, was sent to customers/email newsletter subscribers. If you are a Hagerty customer and have not unsubscribed or you found our site and subscribed on your own, you would have received this email. The second was sent on our behalf by Raceway Media (RacingJunk.com) as part of an advertising deal we have with them. If you have registered with their site and/or participated in an event that subscribed you to their email offering, you would have received that email. It was a sales email but also included newsletter sneak-peeks. I assure you that there is no funny business going on here, just coincidence. We have a very strict privacy policy. We would never share your information and we follow email laws to the letter. All of our emails have unsubscribe links in the footer. Hopefully that explains everything. Sorry for the annoyance that the timing of these may have caused. Please let me know if there is anything I can do. We really appreciate your business and your dedication to the hobby!
Jayson Allen (jcallen@hagerty.com or 231-933-3789)
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June 1, 2010 9:01 a.m. Woody SuperDork
Thumbs up to Hagerty for following up on this.
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June 1, 2010 11:53 a.m. JeepinMatt HalfDork
Chris_V wrote:
I found one of those back in teh early '90s in a Penny Saver ad up in Washington state. Was looking for a motorcycle and there was a "'55 Mercedes GoldWing" listed in the motorcycle section, not running, for $5k.
Called the guy up and he said yes, it was a 1955 Mercedes, but it was in ratty shape and I'd have to tow it out of there. I quickly got a buddy of mine and we scrounged up the money, and drove over to where it was at (up by North Bend), and there in a dilapidated garage next to the guys old farmhouse was a Gullwing much in the shape as the one pictured. No rust because it was an aluminum body, though it was beat up, tore up interior, and the rubber was weathered real bad. And there was a person there already with cash in hand, who also had brought along more than enough to out-bid us.
And that's my csb.
Oh man, those aluminum bodies are really rare(r). The guy at the shop where I get my racing parts had an aluminum bodied one until recently.
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June 1, 2010 1:32 p.m. 96DXCivic Dork
My friends and I were talking about the amount of money you could make smuggling rare cars like those out of Cuba.
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June 1, 2010 4:23 p.m. JoeyM HalfDork
Woody wrote:
Thumbs up to Hagerty for following up on this.
Yeah, now I know what happened. I entered a toolbox contest at racingjunk.com....
