I used to do Autograss racing with my dad since I was tiny until I was about 14 when we both stopped. Until that point my dad always raced in Class 3 with Escorts and more later, Starlets. His last car was a kp61 Starlet which was space framed front and back, fully independant suspension and was making use of 250hp of Honda s2000 power 
It's because of this I've always wanted one, the fact they're rear wheel drive, lightweight, small and just the overall retroness of the things and obviously memories of my dads car tearing up the race track... BUT I could never find one, in more recent years. If I did they were too far away, way too much money and even now I just struggle to find one at all!
So I eventually gave up on the thought on having one as my first car at 17.. and went on to buy my volvo, which even now is my pride and joy and is a great spec after the work I've done on it
BUT, there was still a space on our drive with a Starlet missing from it even after owning about 5 or 6 volvos!
So it came to my 20th Birthday and I still hadn't had a Starlet until I realised where one was..
When I was younger my dad always used to tell me of one sat on a drive in a town only 4 miles from us that the owner wouldn't sell. Numerous times I had been there to knock while walking the girlfriend's dog but there would be no answer.
I really had no hope in owning it, even though it was exactly what i wanted.. (alot like my volvo) WHITE, 3 DOOR and a mk2 (kp61).. Until one day I was at my mate Nick's house in Buckley getting a volvo 240 engine out of a boot of his car when I noticed he had an old Nissan Sunny.. This lead on to the conversation of the Starlet story and being in the same town I thought I may aswell go and knock one more time on the Starlet owner's door..
Down the drive I was greeted by this..
The fella after all these years of me knocking finally answered the door, He spotted my Volvo and took a liking to it and we chatted about the Starlet and how much I've wanted one for about an hour or so. I then got on to the question of whether he would sell it.. His reply was a shock to me as I had absolutley no hope that he'd let go of it.
He said " If it was anyone else I would have told them to curse word off, make me an offer".
Trying to contain my excitment to the actual fact he was offering it for sale, I then asked him to give me a figure he had in mind. (again feeling hopeless in a decent asking price being an old Toyota) But he actually came back with something I could actually afford.
ACE!!!
Turned out he was a bit of a hoarder and I caught him at the right time whilst he was trying to sort out his home.
He went on to show me all the spares for the car, photos of it and its history. It was a rally car competing in a 1000cc class last back in 2006 and has been sat on the trailer pictured since.
So we shook hands, he got together all the bits and bobs for it and we took it home on the same trailer the night after, the wheel almost came off which was great fun but it got there.
With the help of my mates Sean, Ben, Joe, Nick (me pictured with the jack) we managed to get it down onto my drive with a bit of persuasion.. she didn't like rolling.
So thats pretty much the story so far..
I plan alot for this little Starlet, but there will be more on that soon..
For now here's some 'so far' pics. Basically all I have done is clean it as my other Volvo is currently in the way in the garage
The worst bit...
But it did clean up... a little bit.
Inside
The boot floor did actually clean up well. Before;
After;
Last pic i promise..
Sorry about the massive post but that's my little Starlet's story!
I'll keep ya's updated!
Jay!
It's because of this I've always wanted one, the fact they're rear wheel drive, lightweight, small and just the overall retroness of the things and obviously memories of my dads car tearing up the race track... BUT I could never find one, in more recent years. If I did they were too far away, way too much money and even now I just struggle to find one at all!
So I eventually gave up on the thought on having one as my first car at 17.. and went on to buy my volvo, which even now is my pride and joy and is a great spec after the work I've done on it
BUT, there was still a space on our drive with a Starlet missing from it even after owning about 5 or 6 volvos!
So it came to my 20th Birthday and I still hadn't had a Starlet until I realised where one was..
When I was younger my dad always used to tell me of one sat on a drive in a town only 4 miles from us that the owner wouldn't sell. Numerous times I had been there to knock while walking the girlfriend's dog but there would be no answer.
I really had no hope in owning it, even though it was exactly what i wanted.. (alot like my volvo) WHITE, 3 DOOR and a mk2 (kp61).. Until one day I was at my mate Nick's house in Buckley getting a volvo 240 engine out of a boot of his car when I noticed he had an old Nissan Sunny.. This lead on to the conversation of the Starlet story and being in the same town I thought I may aswell go and knock one more time on the Starlet owner's door..
Down the drive I was greeted by this..
The fella after all these years of me knocking finally answered the door, He spotted my Volvo and took a liking to it and we chatted about the Starlet and how much I've wanted one for about an hour or so. I then got on to the question of whether he would sell it.. His reply was a shock to me as I had absolutley no hope that he'd let go of it.
He said " If it was anyone else I would have told them to curse word off, make me an offer".
Trying to contain my excitment to the actual fact he was offering it for sale, I then asked him to give me a figure he had in mind. (again feeling hopeless in a decent asking price being an old Toyota) But he actually came back with something I could actually afford.
ACE!!!
Turned out he was a bit of a hoarder and I caught him at the right time whilst he was trying to sort out his home.
He went on to show me all the spares for the car, photos of it and its history. It was a rally car competing in a 1000cc class last back in 2006 and has been sat on the trailer pictured since.
So we shook hands, he got together all the bits and bobs for it and we took it home on the same trailer the night after, the wheel almost came off which was great fun but it got there.
With the help of my mates Sean, Ben, Joe, Nick (me pictured with the jack) we managed to get it down onto my drive with a bit of persuasion.. she didn't like rolling.
So thats pretty much the story so far..
I plan alot for this little Starlet, but there will be more on that soon..
For now here's some 'so far' pics. Basically all I have done is clean it as my other Volvo is currently in the way in the garage
The worst bit...
But it did clean up... a little bit.
Inside
The boot floor did actually clean up well. Before;
After;
Last pic i promise..
Sorry about the massive post but that's my little Starlet's story!
I'll keep ya's updated!
Jay!
Money is the real issue!
It sounds simple enough, I'm guessing the rev counter linked up to a switch would operate the vtec solinoid, then it's working out ignition? Like I say would love to find out how it's done as that would be ideal. Then again I don't think Weber 48's are cheap!! 
