Right, this pick-up has been sitting in a drive a few miles from my house for years, I've often driven past and thought about knocking on the door as I know how rare it is but as it had been there so long I decided the owner probably didn't want to sell it and it pretty far gone anyway so I never bothered.
Anyway last Saturday whilst grappling with a Ford Ka on my driveway my mate stopped by. The conversation went
- I've got something you may be interested in
- Oh yeah, what?
- A Dacia pick-up
- What that one from up the road?
- Yeah
- That's shot to bits isn't it?
- No, it's not too bad
- Oh, OK then I'll have it
It's been a while since I read one of those used car buying guides but I think I covered most of the important questions you're supposed to ask.
So after handing over what can only be described as far too much money, last night under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, my mate brought it round before reclaiming the battery and disappearing into the night mumbling something about a dodgy 2nd gear.
Once I got home from work today I had a chance to have a look at what I had bought. I was very pleasantly surprised by the bodywork, although the paintwork is shot, I had a quick look underneath and there is no sign of any welding and no obvious need of it although it's hard to tell with all the mud and curse word under there.
The mechanical side of things isn't quite so promising as the engine appears to have been filled with oil without the the dipstick being removed first, I'll have to try and clean the engine of to try and find the source of the leak/s I suspect it may be blowing from a breather.
So as I sit here writing this waiting for a battery to charge so I can investigate the gearbox problem, I'm wondering what to do with this latest purchase. I bought it for no other reason than it was unusual and for sale. I had planned to drag it through an MOT and then use it as a daily driver, maybe painting it with a roller but I'm wondering if it is a bit too rare and basically solid for that - are these things at all desirable? I know they're ten a penny in Romania but this a RHD UK one, does that make a difference? Any ideas what I should do?
Anyway last Saturday whilst grappling with a Ford Ka on my driveway my mate stopped by. The conversation went
- I've got something you may be interested in
- Oh yeah, what?
- A Dacia pick-up
- What that one from up the road?
- Yeah
- That's shot to bits isn't it?
- No, it's not too bad
- Oh, OK then I'll have it
It's been a while since I read one of those used car buying guides but I think I covered most of the important questions you're supposed to ask.
So after handing over what can only be described as far too much money, last night under the cover of darkness and heavy rain, my mate brought it round before reclaiming the battery and disappearing into the night mumbling something about a dodgy 2nd gear.
Once I got home from work today I had a chance to have a look at what I had bought. I was very pleasantly surprised by the bodywork, although the paintwork is shot, I had a quick look underneath and there is no sign of any welding and no obvious need of it although it's hard to tell with all the mud and curse word under there.
The mechanical side of things isn't quite so promising as the engine appears to have been filled with oil without the the dipstick being removed first, I'll have to try and clean the engine of to try and find the source of the leak/s I suspect it may be blowing from a breather.
So as I sit here writing this waiting for a battery to charge so I can investigate the gearbox problem, I'm wondering what to do with this latest purchase. I bought it for no other reason than it was unusual and for sale. I had planned to drag it through an MOT and then use it as a daily driver, maybe painting it with a roller but I'm wondering if it is a bit too rare and basically solid for that - are these things at all desirable? I know they're ten a penny in Romania but this a RHD UK one, does that make a difference? Any ideas what I should do?