Car Catcher: A Woody With a British Accent

I owned one of these in the old days - one of the most expensive restorations around as tin worm combines with wood rot and you have to build a new body up bit by bit. Had a 1275 in it and a disc brake conversion. Fun car and actually kind of useful in a retro mini-minivan sort of way.

It does look fun and, yeah, I can see a restoration involving all sorts of challenges. 

Extra challenges with the one I got - driving it home, the brakes failed.  Once I got it home, I discovered that the front brake rotors had worn completely through and the remaing disc, which was maybe 0.040" thick was firmly clamped in the caliper, but completely disconnected from the hub.  That was a first for me.....how do you listen to that sort of self-machining process unless you are stone deaf....

You'd think that the seller would have noticed something just a tad off....

In reply to David S. Wallens :

Since it's a pre1961 it will have semaphores. Those cool flashing yellow arms that stick out and then dip stick out, dip stick out, dip etc indicating a turn. 
Woodies are perfect parts chasers and nimble city cars but way too busy on the freeway.  I always felt I should apologize to mine every time I was forced onto the freeway. 
 

My uncle had one back in the day. Most problematic car he ever owned.

TR8owner said:

My uncle had one back in the day. Most problematic car he ever owned.

There isn't a more simple or reliable car made in my experience.  The first one I bought I paid $50 because that's what the junk dealer offered.   
The owner  kept the new battery and the brakes did not work. Stepping on them was like stepping on a ripe plum.   
My Buddy said we could pull it home on a rope. Put it in gear and when I needed to slow down let the clutch out.  What the heck,  it was just down the freeway about an hour or so.  ( new freeway, Thank you Eisenhower,  very little traffic) 

Worked pretty well, except every stop sign the dome light came on?!?!  I had stuck the key in the ignition  turn it on and made verroooom verooom noises.  We laughed.  Didn't realize that a generator doesn't need a battery to generate electricity. 
Then suddenly the engine was running!   Ooooops !  Uh, stopping?   Well the rope went slack and luckily he had a big wooden back bumper in that 53 Ford flatbed. So the truck didn't get hurt and  the front bumper on the Morris already had a little kink. 

When we got the car home we bought a used battery and flushed all the lead sulfate out returning it to working condition.  Oil change, tune up, brake adjustment (new brake shoes,  the adjusters just hadn't been tightened up)  and we had a nice running car for $50.