Christina’s suspension install at Top One last week was going to take a few hours and I didn’t really want to hang around all day so I asked Dedy if I could borrow a car to take home and this is the car he lent me.
It was a rainy day so I didn’t get to drive it in a spirited manner (not to mention it wasn’t my car!), the seating position was super strange. I felt that my face was so close to the windscreen and that my head would just smash right through it if I had to brake hard. The gear shift felt long and vague (like stirring a bucket of paint) but hey the little car got me home and back.
When I dropped the car back at Top One Dedy told me the car was for sale “cheap”. Christina and I had been looking to buy a cheap beater for her to learn how to drive manual in (I didn’t like the idea of burning up the clutch in my Jazz or GT-R). We thought about hiring a car for $500/week but also thought that we might not get the best use out of it during the week of hire, and that it would just be cooler if we could own a car for her to learn in at her own pace.
Me being me I had to jump on the internet and find out as much info as I could about the car. I thought there would be a shitload of parts out there for it but it turns out that there’s just nothing much out there at all. I suppose the car is just too old and the fanboys are letting it go.
This particular car has had an engine swap (done by Dedy from Top One). It’s got a trusty B16A in it (which revs to 8000rpm… VTEC YO!). It’s got a new clutch in it (only done 20,000kms), HKS coilovers, HID lights, a ricey alarm system, newly re-gassed air-conditioning and rego until March next year. Unfortunately the owners mate recently had an accident in it and the front drivers side corner light is gone and there’s some damage on the front bumper bar + the front drivers side wheel is a little bent.
I made some enquiries regarding the condition of the car, reliability and the price and after some positive feedback I made the call to buy the car. I’ll be picking it up on Wednesday night, so more pictures to come!