At the holding yard in Seattle being videoed (For insurance purposes I suspect)
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The Imp was taken to the holding yards of the shippers where it was processed and videoed as you can see from these pics which Dean took.
The ship the Imp was loaded onto was called The APL (American President’s Line) Harry Truman. This shipping Company names its fleet after U.S. Presidents (I always thought that ships were female -- not this fleet).
The APL Harry Truman
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Australian National Lines ship, The Emblem
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The ANL Emblem from the Rear.
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The Harry Truman made its way over the Pacific to Singapore where the Imp was unloaded and loaded onto the Australian National Lines - Emblem.
The Emblem then made its way to Port Botany here in Sydney. The whole journey from Seattle to Sydney took 42 days.
I approached the Port Manager to ask if I could take a couple of pictures of the Emblem as I wanted to document the Imp’s voyage. Although he saw no problem in it he stated that he would have to phone the manager of APL and get his permission as the ship was new and the pics were going onto the net. (Security issue). Well the APL Manager phoned me back that afternoon and we had a little chat
about the Imp and what I was doing. He stated that it was ok with him however he wanted to check with his Companies Insurance Company -- Can you believe this. He phoned me back within the hour and gave the ok. I then went back to the Port donned a hard hat and vest and was driven out to where the Ship was tied up. Somewhere on this ship the Imp is hiding in a silver container. I took a few pics and went on my merry way. I wonder what they really thought of me.
Three days later I received a call to say that the container was on its way to the unpackers and was asked if I wanted to be there to meet them. Off I went to the unpackers which were close by to the docks to await the official presentation of the Imp to its new owner - ME.
This was sooooo exciting. The container was placed before me ready to be opened. Was it in there? Or did someone screw up and put a Caddy in there or heaven forbid -- a Chevy.
If you notice in these shots there are pieces of timber behind the rear tyres. Well, every tyre had these pieces of timber behind them.
You can also see the red straps on the floor which were used to secure the Imp in the container. In the front of the Imp there was about 10 cms between the bumper and the container . The left hand side had about 20 cms the right side about 10 cms and the rear about 20 cms -- She just fitted in. All corners of the Imp were strapped to the lower corners of the container. The floor had a thick layer of timber over it and behind every tyre they nailed in two thick pieces of timber with long nails.
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To this day I am not sure how they did it. The guy who crawled in must have been an anorexic dwarf. It took me and the unpacker an hour to get the Imp out. I’m sure if the ship carrying her was in the fiercest storm she would not have moved a cm (1/2 inch). In the end we could not remove the front pieces of timber, there was just no room to get in there. The Imp’s driver’s door could only open about 20cms so we could not climb in and put her in neutral and of course we could not get the windows down.
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Hmmm what to do. I asked the unpacker to get a crowbar and a sledge hammer and I was able to smash up the rear pieces of timber. I then asked him to get a large forklift -- You can see it in one of the pics. I manoeuvred the large steel forks under the springs and the guy then lifted the rear end up and gently puller her out over the front timber pieces which were holding her in, and out onto good old Aussie ground -- Touchdown. I then opened the driver’s door to be greeted by the old car smell and dampness. It took a few minuets to get her into neutral but when she was I pushed her back away from the container to check her out. My first real touch of an Imperial. Guys from all over the yard started to congregate around the Imp. To a man, they were all impressed. I could see the challenge before me though.
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I went all over it, there was no damage. She had arrived as she had left. There was however dust all over her. I assume this occurred at the packers in Seattle. So much for requesting that she be covered over to prevent this from happening. I opened the bonnet and immediately recognised that Quarantine would have to wash her. There was grease and muck in the lower reaches of the engine not to mention a dead bird -- how did that get in there. After about an hour the Quarantine guys came around and confirmed to me that she would have to be taken to the Quarantine area and thoroughly steam cleaned and fumigated. They too were impressed with her looks.
"What is it -- a Plymouth?", one of them said.
It was now Thursday morning and I had to fly to Adelaide in South Australia the next day at 4pm. My eldest son was getting married on Saturday morning. I approached the Manager of the yard and asked if he could send the Imp up to Quarantine this afternoon to be cleaned so I could get it home before I flew to Adelaide. Unfortunately there were three small excavators which had to be cleaned (you can see them in the pic) and two French vehicles. One was a turn of the century fire truck and the other was a 1930’s van. I said goodbye to the Imp and went home. Not long after I was home I received a call from the Yard Manager to say that he would send my vehicle up to Quarantine first thing in the morning as the French vehicles were not going to be done and the excavators would be finished by the afternoon.
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Great I thought. I could still get the Imp home before I left for Adelaide. They started cleaning the Imp at 06.00 Friday morning. They used a very large forklift to carry her to the Quarantine area. The forklift had ramps connected to it and the Imp was pushed onto them lifted up and taken to the cleaning area. This process took 7 hours -- yes that’s right 7 hours. You should have seen all the muck which came off her. The cleaner lifted the forklift high and he walked underneath and steam cleaned the whole underneath. Time was getting on. I had spoken to a tow truck guy I knew and he was waiting for my call to pick up the Imp and bring her home for me.
He said he could have it loaded within the hour of my call. Time was tight and I recognised that I would not get the Imp home before I flew out. I rang my best mate and it was arranged that he would make the call when given to go ahead by Quarantine. That afternoon I flew into Adelaide and received a call from my mate Adrian.
The Imp was under my carport at home -- YIPEEEEEE. The long hard road (and water) from Ellensburg Washington to Sydney Australia was over.
Part 3 is on the way -- Now what do I do with her?
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