I have always loved these little cars since seeing one belonging to a customer regularly about 20 years ago, I used to tell him I wanted 1st dibs if he ever sold it..... He never did.
So I had never gotten to own one.
In the mean time I have owned a few retro/classic cars and mostly girlfriends etc did not "get them"
Well, that was until I met Nicola 5 years ago, her brothers used to sneak motorbike parts, frames etc into their bedrooms when mum was not watching, and would build engines indoors, which was why I was shocked when I bought a Honda PC50 a few years ago, before we got married, Nicola suggested I bring it into the kitchen and work on it indoors, rather than in the freezing garage. Bike bought in Paignton, Devon and repatriated to Bristol by Mystery Machine where I collected it from him, in exchange for some alloys he had brought in from Germany.
She has also allowed me on occasion to bring in engine parts and wash them in the dishwasher..... but she will not let me wash light colours with dark ones.
Anyway, after selling our previous two classics as we got tired of never going to shows together, she motivated me to buy the Redneck Express Chevy to play with and also tow the Grizz-Pod
Been a bit busy lately.
Got the Grizz-Pod ready for Retro Rides Gathering '13
Nicola and I have been speaking of an Audi TT or a MX5 recently, completely different, but then both not exactly family sedans.
So eventually we drifted away from the TT, as her daily driver is a sedan/closed car, so the MX5 came up as a good compromise, being a soft top, fun and rated by many on here and elsewhere.
I had been looking at them for some time, reading with interest reports and build journals.
So with our wedding anniversary being on the 6th August, I thought it would be an easy task to find one, buy it and have it on the drive for her.... WRONG.
Every car we went to look at had sufficient wrong with it, for me to walk away, and Nicola to have another evening of sulking.... she wanted her car and she wanted it NOW !!!!
One of them in Smurf blue photographed beautifully but on driving 35 miles to view it, it was a lemon, another was beautiful but on inspection had been welded, and the filler not worked away well enough.
Then this car came up via Gumtree, the vendor, Paul, a lovely Northener who owns a company that offers everything you could want in Radio Controlled equipment ( 01233 626600 )had 19 responses, all dumped into his SPAM folder, which meant he did not reply to any inquiries. When he figured it out, and replied to all, I was there like a shot, popping in on my way home from work, looked it over, saw the faults (and it has some) and agreed a price. Overall it is a decent little car and I am hoping that the money I put into it will still keep it in the "I am happy with what we paid" region price wise.
Paul also included a tin of underseal, a Haynes Manual and a MASSIVE Record Woodwork vice for my shed workbench and a thick history file.
Yearly Road Fund Tax is £250/year and insurance for both of us on a Classic policy and 3000 miles, garaged is £145/year. I found speaking to Adrian Flux on the phone cheaper than any of the comparison sites. These figures are just to help anyone who wants to get one.
So I bought Nicola the car as it was our wedding anniversary on the 6th, so the car was a present for her, she has never owned a totally impractical car and deserves it for putting up with me and letting me get away with so much, and making me buy the truck.
It has a few small jobs to deal with, then she should be on her way.
128800km which is not a lot for these little cars.
I will update with more photos as time goes on.
In the mean time I am looking to replace the drivers indicator as the lens is cracked, the drivers window is not functioning, a small weld is needed and the handbrake is in need of tightening up.
I am going to look for a stupidly priced hard top for the car too, because even though it has a heated rear windscreen, I want her to have the hard top as well.
I will also get the car serviced and cambelt replaced once I have read the history properly.
Any advice and comments appreciated as always.
So I had never gotten to own one.
In the mean time I have owned a few retro/classic cars and mostly girlfriends etc did not "get them"
Well, that was until I met Nicola 5 years ago, her brothers used to sneak motorbike parts, frames etc into their bedrooms when mum was not watching, and would build engines indoors, which was why I was shocked when I bought a Honda PC50 a few years ago, before we got married, Nicola suggested I bring it into the kitchen and work on it indoors, rather than in the freezing garage. Bike bought in Paignton, Devon and repatriated to Bristol by Mystery Machine where I collected it from him, in exchange for some alloys he had brought in from Germany.
She has also allowed me on occasion to bring in engine parts and wash them in the dishwasher..... but she will not let me wash light colours with dark ones.
Anyway, after selling our previous two classics as we got tired of never going to shows together, she motivated me to buy the Redneck Express Chevy to play with and also tow the Grizz-Pod
Been a bit busy lately.
Got the Grizz-Pod ready for Retro Rides Gathering '13
Nicola and I have been speaking of an Audi TT or a MX5 recently, completely different, but then both not exactly family sedans.
So eventually we drifted away from the TT, as her daily driver is a sedan/closed car, so the MX5 came up as a good compromise, being a soft top, fun and rated by many on here and elsewhere.
I had been looking at them for some time, reading with interest reports and build journals.
So with our wedding anniversary being on the 6th August, I thought it would be an easy task to find one, buy it and have it on the drive for her.... WRONG.
Every car we went to look at had sufficient wrong with it, for me to walk away, and Nicola to have another evening of sulking.... she wanted her car and she wanted it NOW !!!!
One of them in Smurf blue photographed beautifully but on driving 35 miles to view it, it was a lemon, another was beautiful but on inspection had been welded, and the filler not worked away well enough.
Then this car came up via Gumtree, the vendor, Paul, a lovely Northener who owns a company that offers everything you could want in Radio Controlled equipment ( 01233 626600 )had 19 responses, all dumped into his SPAM folder, which meant he did not reply to any inquiries. When he figured it out, and replied to all, I was there like a shot, popping in on my way home from work, looked it over, saw the faults (and it has some) and agreed a price. Overall it is a decent little car and I am hoping that the money I put into it will still keep it in the "I am happy with what we paid" region price wise.
Paul also included a tin of underseal, a Haynes Manual and a MASSIVE Record Woodwork vice for my shed workbench and a thick history file.
Yearly Road Fund Tax is £250/year and insurance for both of us on a Classic policy and 3000 miles, garaged is £145/year. I found speaking to Adrian Flux on the phone cheaper than any of the comparison sites. These figures are just to help anyone who wants to get one.
So I bought Nicola the car as it was our wedding anniversary on the 6th, so the car was a present for her, she has never owned a totally impractical car and deserves it for putting up with me and letting me get away with so much, and making me buy the truck.
It has a few small jobs to deal with, then she should be on her way.
128800km which is not a lot for these little cars.
I will update with more photos as time goes on.
In the mean time I am looking to replace the drivers indicator as the lens is cracked, the drivers window is not functioning, a small weld is needed and the handbrake is in need of tightening up.
I am going to look for a stupidly priced hard top for the car too, because even though it has a heated rear windscreen, I want her to have the hard top as well.
I will also get the car serviced and cambelt replaced once I have read the history properly.
Any advice and comments appreciated as always.
and damn Grizz you been a busy boy! 
