A Bittersweet Story
During my morning internet trolling I stumbled onto this page from my friends over at retro-classics.
To summerize the events, Shauns beautiful example of a KHR31 was violently thrown off the car trailer in a freak accident during a trip to Taupo racetrack. Shauns father broke 3 vertebre, a friend Reuben broke his ankle, and another friend James and Shaun himself were pretty banged up as a result of the crash. It was good to hear that all are well on the road to a healthy recovery but the car was not so lucky.
Shaun then posted this nightmare story up on GP Forums where more images of the accident can be found.
Then something crazy happened.
Something we don’t often see from the dark and all criticizing internet. People rallied to the cause. Having never met Shaun but saddened by the abrupt end to an amazing project, a bank account was quickly created and the donations started pouring in. The shell was ruined but it appeared the parts could be transplanted, could the internet actually save the project?
A faint glimpse of light at the end of a dark tunnel.
All that was needed now was a suitable shell.
As if on cue, Ewan from Hayatonka descended from the clouds in Japan. He had spotted the post over at Retro-classics and wanted to know where he could help. Swiftly he started his search for a replacement shell on the Japanese mainland and it wasnt long before he had tracked one down on Yahoo Auctions. “Buy Now” buttons were quickly pressed and plans put in motion to collect the car.
The amazing amount of dedication put in by Ewan left me completely lost for words. Please check out Ewan’s blog for details on the mission he undertook to collect the car.
Ewan has also graciously included a gallery of pictures for you to all flick through. And all that is left now is for the car to be exported from Japan to NZ, the paperwork to be sorted, have it loaded into a container and shipped to our little corner of the Pacific.
The power of the internet has given Shaun another chance to rebuild this masterpiece. And I think that its fucking crazy awesome. I’ll try and update this post as shit happens, so check back soon. And make sure you hit this link if you would like to donate to the cause.
I’d like to wish Shaun, his family and friends all the best for a quick recovery.
Matt
mattfresh.wordpress.com 
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Pingback: A Bittersweet Story (via Matt Malcolm) | Taupaki
Thats a wicked story I hope all involved in the crash recover well and I like most people can’t wait to see what Shaun does with the new shell
Very strong article Matt, hope all is well with Shaun and hope his dream will be back on the roads soon! Best wishes!