Crayford rhd 914, Genuine car? Options

[pep1]

Hi - JD Classics in the UK have for sale a rhd 914 that they say is a genuine Crayford conversion. Registration number is NRX 538K. The car started life in the US and then was exported to Australia (doesn't say when) where the conversion was done. JD say that it is one of only 9 cars that were converted by Crayford. From the research I have managed to do it sounds like this cannot be true. I have asked for some proof of their claim but they have gone quiet. Could this car however have been converted under licence using genuine Crayford parts or is it more likely to be a conversion just done by some garage in Australia as I understand quite a few cars were converted there in this way.

[wonkipop]

@914Nuts

to give you a bit more context re australian conversions.
its not like there was some big industry here converting 914s shipped in from the USA in the late 80s. there wasn't.

there was a big industry shipping in west coast rust free british sports cars (mgbs and triumphs etc). converting them to rhd and shipping them to Japan where there was a relatively large market. remember japan in the 80s. the economic powerhouse of the asia pacific. this was all pre the MAZDA MX-5.

its not hard to understand how mazda came up with that car and launched it in 89.
they were already obsessed. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

there was a bit of a market for 911s the same way.

cars were hideously expensive in australia at that time.
protectionist policies to protect the local industry.

just about all the 914s that came in were personal imports.
not part of this larger cottage industry.
914s were still considered weirdo cars in the 80s/90s.
owners who got hold of them were niche enthusiasts.
owners then either did the conversion themselves or took them to one of the specialists doing 911s. a car had to rhd to be road registered in australia at that time.

i took my car to a mob that were doing mgbs for japan.
they did most of the heavy lifting. cutting welding metal work fabrication.
i did a lot of the minor work that required a bit of patience. dashboard trimming etc.
and sorted out all the detail of how to execute it dimensionally using the crayfords car as the guide. it was the one and only they did. verdict at the end of the job. TOO HARD.
fun but too difficult to consider commercially for japan. the kind of did me a favour doing mine as they wanted to test viability.

the whole industry of doing these conversions on older cars collapsed in the late 90s.
went away.

no requirement anymore to have cars in rhd with specialist club/historic registration.

i don't think its possible to find out much about your car.
i believe ian has passed away.
there is one other guy i can ask down here who is still around.
the 356 man.