Hello from the UK

[quisquose]

Not my first post, but I thought I'd better introduce myself.

The Weber bug bit for me in 1990, or at least it was my brother-in-law that introduced me. He has moved on to gas the traitor.

I don't think Weber BBQs were widely available in the UK back then, far too rainy to bother exporting to, and those on offer were extortionately expensive. So my brother-in-law brought two from the US in the back of a Lockheed C-130 Hercules, since he was a pilot in the RAF.

Mine was a black M date code OT, and his was a lovely red OT+ (of course he had to go one better than me). I recall paying $60 for what was retailing in the UK for about £90, three times more back then.

More recently I have acquired the red OT+ which was looking a bit sad with the handles rotten. After obtaining some new handles, ash sweeper and a overall refurbishment it looks very nice. Meanwhile the black OT has gone through a conversion into a rather fantastic pizza oven, but that's a story for another thread.

And then just the other day an L date red OT appeared on eBay in pretty mint condition, and as Taylor Swift would say "Look what you made me do".

It might seem expensive to you lucky guys in the US, but with the scraps we get over here a bargain.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Weber-Original-red-kettle-bbq-Barbeque-57cm-VINTAGE-MADE-IN-USA-/264292602427

[quisquose]

Oh, one more thing. Has anybody any idea when Weber started exporting into the UK?

It would be nice to know what might be out here, although I suspect there won't be much more earlier than what I have.

[JEBIV]

Welcome from Doraville,Ga USA seems overkill to haul 2 grills in a C-130 LOL he should have loaded that baby up back then

[brewtownbeatdown]

Welcome to the club!!!

Greetings from Greendale, WI (USA).  So you're brother went through a "Herculean" effort to bring the best grills back home(?).

Noticed the redhead on eBay is sold.  Does that mean that you now have two reds & one black kettle in the stable?


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[quisquose]

Aye, that was me. Picking up the eBay redhead tomorrow, a bit of a clean up and it will look like new. I'll be too scared to use it after that.

I'll then be the owner of a 1989 OT redhead, a 1990 OT black, and a 1990 OT+ redhead. I did own a 2017 MT, but I've just sold it since I don't think the new models can hold a candle to the vintage ones.

Would like to own a MBH, but I doubt one exists in the UK.

As for the "Herculean" effort to bring the best grills back home, it was amazing how those naughty RAF guys would flout the rules to escape the rules to benefit from cheaper prices and avoid customs duties. My lawnmower is from the USA, about the same price in dollars as it was in pounds when the exchange was 2:1, and I heard of one bloke bringing back a car.

[RRRanger99]

Welcome from Virginia Beach, VA, U.S.A.