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SO75, Kansas City Automotive Museum

kcattorney

New member
Brand new member here. I bought the Sterling in Tampa in March. The seller only had it about 6 months, but had done a lot of work on it. He was an Air Force pilot and I think was ready to move on. He had paid I think $6,000 for it to a seller in California and did a bunch of work getting it sorted out. I bought it from him for $6,000, and really haven't had to do anything to it. It is certainly not perfect. The dash is really bare bones and I need to spruce up the cockpit.
Frankly, I had not heard of the Sterling kit car before - I had possibly seen a Sterling, but hadn't really paid much attention to them. This car has been an extremely pleasant surprise. I bought the car as an interactive exhibit for our new automotive museum here in Kansas City. The museum just opened two weeks ago. When we were doing information booths about the museum over the past 3 years at car shows, I would allow the museum to use my Lamborghini Countach replica to let people sit in the car to have their picture taken. It was a great "hook" to get people to visit our auto museum info booth. I sold the Countach replica last spring, though, and we wanted more interactive exhibits for the museum rather than just being a "hands off" car collection. So, we added high tech racing simulators, 2-dimensional historic photo ops, a kids car design studio, etc. We also wanted a car that people could sit in for photos. That's when I ran across this Sterling. They are such unique looking vehicles, and frankly this one, built on a 1964 VW chassis, also fits the bill as somewhat a piece of history.
The car has been a huge hit with visitors. This week, we took it to an info booth at the Kansas City Royals stadium, and people went nuts over the car. I had a blast driving it the 20 miles out and back to the stadium from the museum. The car starts and runs perfectly - it is an excellent "fun car" to own. I've really fallen in love with it. The following these cars have on the internet was a nice surprise also. We dug up old articles from Hot VW magazine and Car and Driver for a reader board on the car. So, what was originally conceived as a minor part of the museum has taken on a much, much bigger role simply due to the uniqueness of the car and the following it has. Hats off to you all! *rock on*
Thanks to Rick and Warren for getting me signed up as a new member. I'm very active in the Porsche forums, and I'll try to be active here as well and keep you all informed of the car and it's museum activities.
If anyone is headed through Kansas City, please reach out to me. Let me know you are coming and that you're a Sterling owner, and I'll have 2 free passes to the museum waiting for you at the ticket counter!
Royals stadium photo 2, 2014-5-20.jpg
Best regards,
 

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letterman7

Honorary Admin
Jeff,
I moved your post off that sale thread as that will be deleted in due time. Good to have a new owner's thread anyway! Thanks for contacting us and being part of the community!

Rick
 

Flyer615

New member
Welcome to the forum. It's great news that you've decided to put a Sterling in the museum. Besides being a unique addition to the stable of automobiles, it will also bring attention to these fine cars. Good luck with the museum exhibit! Drag up a work bench and join in the fun.

Ken
 

CyCo

New member
Welcome from Australia! I have a Purvis Eureka, which is a cousin or sister car to the Sterling. Awesome to see one in a museum. I know there's a Eureka in a car museum in New Zealand, and I think there is a Eureka in the National Motor Museum in Birdwood, Victoria here in Oz, though I'm not sure of that.

Your Sterling looks like a fine example of the breed. Any chance of more photos? ;)
 

kcattorney

New member
Here's a few more for you, not the best pics, just using a cell phone. We were trying to get some shots for a brochure for our Ride Along Program, where museum visitors can take a ride in a classic car.

*edited for rotation!
 

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Peter

Active member
Welcome from the UK, I have an Eagle SS, a cousin of the Nova via the Cimbria, you'll learn *thumbs up*
Nice looking car and it really is a pleasure having someone taking an active interest in what is a very unique vehicle, (with many derivatives *proud*).
 

Flyer615

New member
Great story, Jeff. It's great to see that at least one of our cars is getting some press time. Being in the museum, it should bring attention to the incredible history of our unique automobiles. Looking forward to updates on the Sterling and the museum overall. Thanks for sharing!

Ken
 

Peter

Active member
Maybe Jeff and Kyle can get a story board up about the history of the Stirling using info from here, Euro-Npva and the EOC forums.from it's beginnings with Richard Oakes Nova to the Stirling and the Cimbria, Eagle SS, Eurica, etc.
 

kcattorney

New member
Absolutely we can do that. I'll be out of the country for most of the month of July, so will work on this in August.
 
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