Folden sells on TradeMe
Saturday 8 May 2010, 9:21AM
By The Rock FM
867 views
New Zealand’s greatest motoring miracle, the FOLDEN sold on TradeMe yesterday for $62,700 to a Christchurch businessman.
Fervent fans flooded the TradeMe auction with the site clocking up a phenomenal 290,000 views causing havoc for TradeMe regulators. Within an hour of the auction opening bidding reached fever pitch with over 200 bidders driving the price above $200,000. However many of the bids turned out to be bogus and the price decreased over the following week eventually settling at $62,700.
The Folden is the brainchild of The Rock Drive hosts, Robert and Jono, who decided to create a car from scratch taking the best bits from both car giants, Holden and Ford. The idea of combining two such divisive vehicles has polarized the nation causing great debate on both sides of the V8 ‘fence’. The mechanical Frankenstein has stirred up motoring enthusiast’s passion from Bluff to Kaitaia.
The FOLDEN is half Ford Mustang and half HQ Holden. It is gun-metal grey with a double orange racing stripe, Foose Coronet mag wheels and powered by a 302ci Ford engine. The Folden rolls on Chip Foose 20-inch wheels and has been fitted with central locking and an alarm system, as well as a huge Sony stereo system. There’s even a Folden badge combining the body of a Mustang with the Holden Lion’s head.
“We came up with this outrageous idea about six months ago,” said Taylor. “Ninety per cent of our listening audience are keen motorsport fans and [they’re] into cars and souping up of cars and racing of cars. So we thought why not poke a stick quite literally at them, and try and stir them up somehow. “
The project took more than three months to complete with a staggering total of 800 man hours invested in building the vehicle. More than two dozen businesses and 70 tradespeople were involved in the project.
Proceeds from the auction will go to the Mental Health Foundation of NZ for 'Out of the Blue' an organization combating men’s depression.
“We were very pleased and appreciative that The Rock decided to auction the Folden to raise funds for our work,” says Judi Clements, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation. “Depression is a common but serious issue and we will use the funds raised to further our work to reach men with messages about help, self help and promoting wellbeing.”