new member with an 80's throwback!

[simonfreese]

Hi thought I ought to introduce myself as a new member who has a lot of appreciation for the great posts and cars that I see on this forum. My own 'Retro' ride is a 1988 Nissan Bluebird, a debatable inclusion in to the world of retro, but it is 22 years old so it can only be a matter of time....

I bought this car from a friend of a friend who is a dealer, he takes all the part ex cars from a main dealer. An old guy traded two cars in, this one and a Datsun Sunny estate from 1979 with only 19000 in the clock. Both cars had ben garaged and have full service history, the bluebird has clocked just over 100000 now but has worn well. Only jobs to do are a bit of bodywork, where the guy scraped the paint of the rear wheel arch. I am going to kill it, primer and respray tomorrow hopefully...

I love this car because it has no electronic management, not even fuel injection. everything works so well and it is built like a tank. It has the original Blaupunkt, with working electric ariel, always raises a smile to see that shoot out of the wing! I also like looking over that great square bonnet as I am driving along, hate the way modern cars seem to disappear at the front..If I had more cash time and skills I would love to own loads of different old cars, I am hoping that as soon as finances allow I can buy something older but think this is a great way to get about at the moment. I am planning on keeping it original, I know, I am sure there are plenty of great things that could be done, and I would of course be interested to see them, but the car is so square and 80's that it seems enough just to leave alone for now...

My car history involves 2cv and fiat 126, always had a fondness for the quirky.

Cars aside..

I am a watchmaker by trade, and work in a vintage service centre, concentrating on old Omegas. I have been fortunate enough to be married for 10 years now, and have a 4 year old daughter.

I am looking forward to geting involved in the forum not that I have much to offer on the technical side, but I love old cars and am always happy to see another real car kept on the road rather than some white goods on wheels!

Here are pics of the Bluebird, hope they come out, apologies if it has gone wrong....

[BenzBoy]

Hello, welcome to RR! There are a few members here with Bluebirds. They're one of them cars that have mostly disappeared from modern traffic these days - they used to be all over the place!

[tonka12]

welcome and it looks like a tidy bluebird and the banger lads need a big thankyou not. for getting rid of all the good old cars

[donttellhimpike]

welcome dude the fwd bluebird have a good following on here, where you based?

[60six]

I think they are the last classic 80's designed Nissan. Not the prettiest, but look good simply lowered by a couple of inches. I remember those doing stratospheric miles and were the mainstay of the illegal taxi drivers in london, along with merc 230te's, last model cavalier 1.7d, and toyota carinas. The GTI saloon version always looks good.

Damn good starter J. Just before curves and computers took over. Let this be a start of a long and fruitful relationship.

I bought an ex J taxi carina GTR from a neighbour for 50 quid. amazing motor, with a built in fridge!



For reasons only known to the mods - if I type J A P without spaces, it gets shorted to J. As long as you know what I mean!

[trigger]

Hi! I like the colour of your Bluebird, what happened to the Sunny Estate?

[purplevanman]

WHS ^^

welcome to the forum, where are you?

[Ryannn]

Blue interiorrr! ;D

<3 lol

[skinley]

I have very fond memories of these old Bluebirds, I was a taxi driver from 1993 to 1996 and I covered at least 100,000 miles in one of these. It was a 2.0 diesel and the most reliable car in the world. (and almost the slowest).

[will]

Nice Blue bird, always reminds me of the one at Santa Pod when I see that colour.

[justanotherhigh]

I miss my bluebird. Bombproof reliability with such mod-cons as central locking, leccy windows and sunroof, and power steering for the missus.
Didn't exactly set the road on fire but it was hitting 40mpg on a run!
Nice buy matey.

[octagonalpaul]

niice! I miss my old 'bird
I'd buy it straight back if I still had the contact details of the person I sold it too

[dbdb]

Sept 18, 2010 19:09:59 GMT simonfreese said:

Wow! That is one mint Bluebird! The interior especially, is unbelievably nice.

[Deleted]

I have a soft spot for Bluebirds and would be interested in the Watchmaker side of things since I have a couple of pocket watches (19th Century Scottish and a mid 20th century Smiths) that need a little work.

[60six]

It really looks odd having the interior exactly the same bright colour as the car, Didn't seem odd back then - totally and utterly Japanese! Slidey heater controls FTW!

[captainmatt]

Aye go on, I'll chuck mine in here too.
Had it 3 years now and it still soldiers on. Quality purchase Simon!

Heres mine:

[WillCarter]

Welcome aboard. I've had mine for a few months now and I love it to bits. It's currently off the road due to a slight altercation with a block of wood but I can't wait to have it back again. Lots of plans including Air-Ride and a few other bits and pieces, should make it one of the more highly modified Bluebird's around. I need a get my leccy aerial working again too.

[PhilA]

Nice, brings back fond memories of my first Bluebird- same colour interior

Just a hint, a rag, bucket of water and some Ajax/Jif/Kitchen cleaner stuff will take the brown off the steering wheel and bring it back blue.
Nice to drive, engines are bombproof in stnadard guise, though the carb on mine gave troubles. Bosal do an entire exhaust system for about sixty quid which is a bit more straight-through than the standard refrigerator-sized backbox and improves fuel economy even more.
I adjusted the tappets up on mine every ten thousand or so, set up properly the loudest thing in the engine bay was the alternator

Oh, and watch out, just one of those odd side-note things, don't try to move the inside-outside air lever with the fan on full, unless you like having to take the controls apart to put the cable back onto the lever mechanism...

Should soldier on for another 100k if it doesn't rust away under the arches!

--Phil

[waveman1500]

Sept 19, 2010 16:14:01 GMT PhilA said:

Oh, and watch out, just one of those odd side-note things, don't try to move the inside-outside air lever with the fan on full, unless you like having to take the controls apart to put the cable back onto the lever mechanism...
--Phil

My family's got a 1990 Nissan Pintara TRX (U12 Bluebird) with the same heater controls which we've owned since new, and I don't think we've ever once attempted to do that! Certainly never had the cable blow off anyway. It's quite funny to see the details which were carried over to the next model from these ones actually, gearknob, handbrake, pedals and heater controls.

It's a nice car that the OP has there, and the blue interior is fantastic.

[ferris]

I had a '86 Bluebird a couple of years ago, when you left the lights on it had a real bell in the dash somewhere 'dinging' away to remind you, awesome!