1978 Marina Mk2 1800HL
This car became known as "Frenchy" as the colour was called French Blue.
The previous owners thought that a frost plug had failed inside the bellhousing which would require a complete engine and gearbox removal.
I ran the car briefly, but long enough to discover that the engine and gearbox were sound, and that there was no frost plug problem.
However the body had barely a straight panel as the elderly owner had suffered some limitations causing a number of parking incidents.
I decided to dismantle the car as I had need for some components but no budget for repairing it. It had the twin carb setup and MGB type exhaust manifold which were in some demand so would likely sell.
The car was methodically stripped and every useful part saved.
The bodyshell proved to be rust-free but still in a bad state of repair. At a much later time I rued the fact that I had condemned bodyshells that were in any way salvageable, but as I had more than 14 Marinas at the time I could only save the best.
Frenchy finally served as scrap although many parts resurfaced in other cars.