As you probably know from earlier post my wife and I are the ones that bought the UGLY brown and cream Regency that was on Ebay. We are fixing to have it painted and are searching all the pictures of Barths we can find. We are looking for paint schemes as well as colors. We think we need to stay in the brown and neutral families because of all the interior colors and the interior is in good condition. If you have a favorite please post a picture to the forum or email it to us.
Thanks,
Nick

quote:

Originally posted by Nick Cagle:
As you probably know from earlier post my wife and I are the ones that bought the UGLY brown and cream Regency that was on Ebay.

Nah, it's NOT ugly.

Ummm.........if you put what ya got in your signature, we will know what ya got every time we read a post. Some even have little pictures.

quote:

If you have a favorite please post a picture to the forum or email it to us.
Thanks,
Nick

There's bound to be one you like on the Barth CD. Even a three-tone brown 30 SE.

There's bound to be one you like on the Barth CD. Even a three-tone brown 30 SE. [/QUOTE]

Already ordered the CD last week. Looking for it everyday. Can't wait.

Hi Nick, I disagree with you, I think mine is the ugliest, but it is mine and I love it.

OK, if we're gonna make this an ugly contest thread drift, I'm in!! If anyone ever can explain what the Barth guys were smokin' when they came up with the God-awful front end for a Euro, I'd like to hear it!

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Originally posted by Danny Z:
If anyone ever can explain what the Barth guys were smokin' when they came up with the God-awful front end for a Euro, I'd like to hear it!

It is a common misperception that the Glassnose was made by Barth. It was, in reality, made by the Skoda factory in Czechoslovakia, with intentions of marketing it in Russia as a "Glasnost".

Due to the political implications of the name, it was a marketing dud, and was renamed the Euro, with hopes of marketing it in Europe. They even made a raised-roof version for Margaret Thatcher so her bouffant would not hit the ceiling. She and her secret consort, Enoch Powell, used it as a clandestine love nest.

However, "Euro", was also an unfortunate choice of name, as the European common market currency of the same name was already in its conception stage, and Mrs Thatcher wanted nothing to do with it, nor did Mr Powell, as it was not British. As a result, Barth bought the remaining inventory and rebadged them as Barths. They turned out to be pretty good coaches. However, a deal could not be reached on the tooling, as the East German Trabant factory had already taken it and begun production on a lighter version. Their in-house powerplant proved inadequate, so they embarked on a lightening process, which consisted mainly of thinner fiberglass and aluminum. Even with those measures, the stretched Trabant chassis was unable to handle the weight and high cornering forces in the Swabian Alps. Many broke in half while parked. Those that did not suffer chassis failure ended up considerably foreshortened as the result of inadequate brakes. Again, lifted from the Trabant sedan.

A later version used the Trabant engine to power the generator, with a Hanomag diesel powering the coach, but the poor little Trabant engine was not even up to the task of powering the generator. There were a number of fatalities involving generator use. It was never disclosed whether they were due to pollution inhalation or homicides resulting over disputes over noise pollution. There were plans to produce the Euro in a plant in Ulan Bator, but financing was a problem. In anticipation of production, the country of Tannu Tuva issued a commemorative stamp with a picture of a Tuvinian (Euro) on it. These stamps are prized by collectors today.

The Trabant generator lives on as a Generac today. So whenever you are annoyed by a noisy Generac, remember it is a small part of Barth history.

I liked that brown & cream Regency.

Some of you old timers will remember that I bought the Euro without knowing anything about Barths, just knowing that I liked it. bill h responded to my first post with this enlightening,[if not totally accurate], essay on the history of the Euro, and as a result I'm close to 1000 posts, a huge number of new friends,[most of whom I've never met face to face], and an appreciation for this coach that I never would have gained if not for this site. Hope you all realize that I don't REALLY think this thing is ugly. Well, yeah, I do. But we love her just the same.

That is what I'm sayin' Danny Z. Luv it or not she is paid for and I luv her, but she ain't no ravin beauty.

"Ugly Betty" finally gets home from the beauty shop. We picked up the coach today and I'm very pleased with the job that was done on the paint job. I know it's not original but I think I like this scheme on the Barths. It just seems to go with the classic lines of the coach. Now I just have to convince the grandkids that she is not "Ugly Betty" anymore, but I'm afraid it has stuck.
Nick

quote:

Originally posted by Nick Cagle:
Now I just have to convince the grandkids that she is not "Ugly Betty" anymore, but I'm afraid it has stuck.
Nick

You have a nice looking coach there Nick. Looks like they did a good job.

Care to tell us who, where, the final figure and how long they kept it for? If you had to do this over again, would you use them?

Now, as far as the Grand Kids are concerned. It's all a matter of conditioning.

Each time you spoil them, or when they want something, or when your kids want to drop them off, have them chant "Poppy, you have a great looking Barth"

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Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:

You have a nice looking coach there Nick. Looks like they did a good job.

Care to tell us who, where, the final figure and how long they kept it for? If you had to do this over again, would you use them?

The coach was painted by Terry Davis, owner of Collision Pros in Thomson, Georgia. Terry is a close friend and agreed to paint the coach as a favor to me if they could work on it between those insurance jobs that pay the bills. He charged me $5,000.00 and kept reminding me of what a good deal I was getting. They painted the dark brown first and they were unhappy with the results. So they sanded it all back off and started over. One of Terry's helpers got carried away with the sander and sanded off too much of some of the rivet heads. So they replaced all of the rivets in the dark brown area. They were able to find a manufacturer of a pop rivet with a high dome and designed to snap off flush with the cap. They look like the original buck rivets. They sandblasted every rivet on the coach to get of all the old paint that was bubbling up. They primed the coach twice, one with a primer designed for adhering to aluminum and one with what he called a high build primer. The job took two and half months start to finish. I would use them again because of the detail they went to do a good job. I kept telling Terry, I was going to post pictures of the before and after and tell every one the price. He threatened me with my life if I did. We did talk seriously about whether he would do more and his comment was it would be in the $8000.00 range. I have progress pictures made all along the way if you would like to see the work.
Nick

Nick: You did get a good deal. I was given a quote of $8800.00 to $9100.00 and it may take up to a month. Due to turning 80 years old last week and my kids(almost 60)think that "old dad" should not be driving an eighteen thousand pound missile at 70 MPH,I'm holding off till spring till I'm sure I don't part with "THE TOY".........