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#7760

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Herein a short note (& photos) re the other Hawaiian Magnette. It belongs to Richard Giel in Hilo, Hawaii. It's numbers are: KAJ43/ 7760 and engine BP15GA/ 7466, a 1955 ZA.Richard has recently taken over his father's auto body shop and relates that his Magnette was given to his father about 30 years ago, in satisfaction of a debt. It sat unused and rusting for years. [Hilo receives about 130 inches of rain/year at sea level, about 300 inches/year 6 miles upslope.] Late last year Richard decided to gut it, fabricate a space frame, mount a small block Chevy engine & running gear and use it for racing & show. He mentioned this to Kelvin Dodd at Moss, who passed it on to one of the BBs where it was noted by Wray Lemke who forwarded it on to me. So, there I was en route to Hilo (other side of the Big Island) to meet my fellow Magneteer. [Note beautiful snow on Mauna Kea on the way.] The Magnette was indeed in a sorry state: Richard had severed the body from the chassis without undoing a bolt - cut through the torsion bars, chassis rails, drive shaft, rear shock mounts, rear springs; a most efficient butchery, to be sure. He wanted only the body. I surveyed the rather forlorn bits of rusted stuff left over & decided I didn't really need any of it. (My car's in pretty good shape and a ZB, with different engine, etcŠ) Some weeks later Richard called me to be sure, one last time before he hauled it to the dump, that I didn't want any of it. Well, what's a fellow to do - I said, OK, OK I'll take it; who knows, maybe someday I'll need some part of itŠ So, back again to Hilo this weekend and load it all into the pickup. The included photos show what all I now have; it's all so rusty, who knows what'll even come apart. [Magnette parts shown sharing the pickup bed with recently harvested bananas; work must go on!]  [Richard's currently fabricating a motorcycle for next month's bike build-off but says that after that he'll be starting on the Magnette; will forward photos as he progresses.]  Interesting sidelight (and perhaps fitting for another nostalgia "picture of the month"): leafing through the Hilo paper one recent day Richard spotted a photo advertising the Pacific Tsunami Museum, with HIS Magnette parked across the street from the Hilo Theatre! He showed me the advert and I went to the Museum and asked about the picture. Turns out it was dated 22 May 1960; the Museum folks had no idea what car it was for the significance for them was that this was the last picture of the waterfront Hilo Theatre - just 24 hours later it no longer existed, swept away (along with many lives and most of downtown Hilo) in the tsunami of 23 May 1960. [This tsunami was generated by a >8.25 earthquake in Chile, reaching Hilo 15 hours later, with the waves cresting to 35 feet in Hilo Bay.]  So, looking at my truckload of rusty bits, someone tell me I'm not nuts. My lady says I assuredly am (but more resignedly of late, almost verging on acceptance). I tell her that Wray made me do it.  

Aloha, Ali Bairos

[PS - apologies for the poor quality of the initial pics of Richard's car - I had forgotten my good camera on that trip and had to make do with a disposable one.]