"After the statue had been on display for six months, Birmingham City Council was offered the opportunity to purchase the work at a reduced rate of £2,000, but decided not to retain it, and so later in 1972, it was sold for £3,000 to a local used-car dealer, Mike Shanley, who changed the name of his dealership to King Kong Car Co. and displayed the statue at his sales lot on the A34 Stratford Road, next to the former Holy Trinity church in the Camp Hill area of the city.While there, it was dressed up as Father Christmas in season, and it also survived a fire in June 1974.