Edit - now gone!
With a heavy heart I'm selling my FTO. I love it, but it's quite simply not getting used - and I'd rather see it go to a good home.
It's a 1997, GPX MIVEC with 197bhp and the four-speed semi-automatic gearbox. Last of the prefacelifts. Off the top of my head it's on about 92,000 miles but I borrowed the battery for another car so can't check it right now. It was imported several years ago, then ended up sitting in a garage before a friend of a friend put me in touch to buy it in late 2017. At that time it had two white stripes running front to rear, and some ridiculous white alloy wheels.
In my ownership it's had the wheels reverted to standard (16", rattle canned in gold but in need of a repaint - fitted with Toyo Proxes T) and the stripes removed. Then, about May of last year I did timing belt, oil and filter, plugs, gearbox fluid and filter, and coolant flush and change. Also fitted are new track rod ends and a set of 30mm Blitz lowering springs. I also did discs and pads all round, and fitted braided hoses while I was in there. It's currently got a ridiculous induction kit fitted, which is noisy, but I have the original air intake ready to go back on.
Good bits - it drives very well, handles and stops well, as above, lots of new bits last year - and it's probably done less than 3000 miles since they were fitted. Underneath is solid too - it had two patches to the rear inner arches a couple of years ago, but otherwise it is in decent shape. MoT til October thanks to the Covid extension. The advisories for the tyres are for the old wheels. Also has a stainless exhaust fitted (with a tip big enough to fit an old Mini in).
Bad bits - it's very, very scruffy to look at. When I removed the stripes, all came away nicely with the heat gun until I got the the last bit on the roof - and the paint started to peel. I suspect the roof has been repainted in the past as the finish is very flat. I slapped some blue "carbon-effect" (oh yes) vinyl over the top which lasted quite well but that has now aged and started to split. In addition, the roof took a battering of tree sap at the beginning of the year so it's got a couple of blobs where the white primer is now visible.
The paint is generally very rough, there's the shadowing where the stripes were, visible if the light hits it. There's also a few bits where the previous owners or me have removed stickers and it's left damaged paint. However, there's no serious rust, the arches are just showing a little surface rust now but there's no holes or serious rust that I am aware of. The front bumper looks to have been previously removed or replaced, as I've previously tried removing it to improve access, and it seems that nothing lines up quite perfectly. I've got it pretty close but it's off by a midgie's.
Interior wise, it's got the blue cloth bucket seats which are in decent nick. The whole interior is pretty solid but there are screw holes and traces of previous fitments (I can only think maybe a handsfree kit, phone holder, or radio remote?). It does have the classic FTO cracked radio mount - currently it's got more of my beloved vinyl wrap, but ideally needs replacing. The surrounds come up on eBay every now and again for silly money... hence the wrap. It's fitted with a Chinese double-DIN head unit, with Android. It works but is a little bit clunky - however, having built-in Waze is handy. The side buttons of this unit don't work, and never have - but it was only about £40 new so what did I expect...!
All in all - a scruffy but fun and usable car, getting quite rare - I'll be sad to see it go but I'm trying to be sensible. Tax is about £24/ month, it'll do 28mpg in mixed use, 35 on a long run. It's a silly, old fashioned car, revs to 8000rpm, 197bhp but as much torque as a hamster in a wheel.
The two blue-tinged chav lights on the front - quickly fitted as an experiment to see if they would improve night vision as the headlights are a tad cloudy... they didn't. Rest assured they are fitted to the number plate bracket, not to the bumper, so are easily removable. The switch is near the handbrake and fitted as subtly as possible.
Photos to follow in the next post. These were taken today (22/6/2020) and are just after a quick wash and hoover. They prove perfectly that it's a great 50-yard car...!
With a heavy heart I'm selling my FTO. I love it, but it's quite simply not getting used - and I'd rather see it go to a good home.
It's a 1997, GPX MIVEC with 197bhp and the four-speed semi-automatic gearbox. Last of the prefacelifts. Off the top of my head it's on about 92,000 miles but I borrowed the battery for another car so can't check it right now. It was imported several years ago, then ended up sitting in a garage before a friend of a friend put me in touch to buy it in late 2017. At that time it had two white stripes running front to rear, and some ridiculous white alloy wheels.
In my ownership it's had the wheels reverted to standard (16", rattle canned in gold but in need of a repaint - fitted with Toyo Proxes T) and the stripes removed. Then, about May of last year I did timing belt, oil and filter, plugs, gearbox fluid and filter, and coolant flush and change. Also fitted are new track rod ends and a set of 30mm Blitz lowering springs. I also did discs and pads all round, and fitted braided hoses while I was in there. It's currently got a ridiculous induction kit fitted, which is noisy, but I have the original air intake ready to go back on.
Good bits - it drives very well, handles and stops well, as above, lots of new bits last year - and it's probably done less than 3000 miles since they were fitted. Underneath is solid too - it had two patches to the rear inner arches a couple of years ago, but otherwise it is in decent shape. MoT til October thanks to the Covid extension. The advisories for the tyres are for the old wheels. Also has a stainless exhaust fitted (with a tip big enough to fit an old Mini in).
Bad bits - it's very, very scruffy to look at. When I removed the stripes, all came away nicely with the heat gun until I got the the last bit on the roof - and the paint started to peel. I suspect the roof has been repainted in the past as the finish is very flat. I slapped some blue "carbon-effect" (oh yes) vinyl over the top which lasted quite well but that has now aged and started to split. In addition, the roof took a battering of tree sap at the beginning of the year so it's got a couple of blobs where the white primer is now visible.
The paint is generally very rough, there's the shadowing where the stripes were, visible if the light hits it. There's also a few bits where the previous owners or me have removed stickers and it's left damaged paint. However, there's no serious rust, the arches are just showing a little surface rust now but there's no holes or serious rust that I am aware of. The front bumper looks to have been previously removed or replaced, as I've previously tried removing it to improve access, and it seems that nothing lines up quite perfectly. I've got it pretty close but it's off by a midgie's.
Interior wise, it's got the blue cloth bucket seats which are in decent nick. The whole interior is pretty solid but there are screw holes and traces of previous fitments (I can only think maybe a handsfree kit, phone holder, or radio remote?). It does have the classic FTO cracked radio mount - currently it's got more of my beloved vinyl wrap, but ideally needs replacing. The surrounds come up on eBay every now and again for silly money... hence the wrap. It's fitted with a Chinese double-DIN head unit, with Android. It works but is a little bit clunky - however, having built-in Waze is handy. The side buttons of this unit don't work, and never have - but it was only about £40 new so what did I expect...!
All in all - a scruffy but fun and usable car, getting quite rare - I'll be sad to see it go but I'm trying to be sensible. Tax is about £24/ month, it'll do 28mpg in mixed use, 35 on a long run. It's a silly, old fashioned car, revs to 8000rpm, 197bhp but as much torque as a hamster in a wheel.
The two blue-tinged chav lights on the front - quickly fitted as an experiment to see if they would improve night vision as the headlights are a tad cloudy... they didn't. Rest assured they are fitted to the number plate bracket, not to the bumper, so are easily removable. The switch is near the handbrake and fitted as subtly as possible.
Photos to follow in the next post. These were taken today (22/6/2020) and are just after a quick wash and hoover. They prove perfectly that it's a great 50-yard car...!
