Forlorn Hope

This frame came up on the bay of fools a week ago, looking like it was dug out a garden or dredged from the bottom of a river and then shot blasted. It is, what shall we say, beyond viable repair, in fact this is how the seller described it;

"This frame has been exposed to the elements for some time and is in need of some careful repairs. As can be seen in the pictures some of the tubing has completely corroded away and will require new pieces to be brazed in.  The cast lugs are quite badly pitted.  This frame could be salvaged -but only by a skilled person .  However ,it is a very rare item and is worthy of the time and effort to repair it."

So there was obviously no attempt at deception and interestingly enough it was the seller's first foray on the bay.

Now generally I'm a glass half full kinda guy, and can usually see potential in most bike related stuff, but this really would be a project too far.

There's barely a section on it that has escaped the ravages of time, and even those bits that are seemingly in one piece are very likely wafer thin due to internal corrosion. But it has been bought, whether for the castings, the frame number or some kind of modern sculpture it's unknown. If it's going to be restored I'd love to see a blog published detailing progress.

If by the one in a few million chance the new owner is reading this please get in touch, for anybody else have a guess what it sold for in the comments bit.