Apologies for the copy/paste from RR, but well I'm too lazy to type it all again and omit the names you might not know

Here starts the beginning of something awesome.





As you understand, I'm very very excited about this car and I'm afraid this post doesn't have many details as I won't see the thing until possibly the new year. Think of this like a teaser

The story begins back in the summer - I've always had a hankering for old Japanese tatty cars but last summer, something changed. It might have been the sight of Kevfromwales's Bluey estate, or the amazing eye candy at RRG2012. All I know is suddenly, I HAD to get hold of something JDM and old. (And by JDM I mean it's real meaning, not the scene label. Although... JDM Y0!!!11).

Originally I was looking at Datsuns which led on to a general Japanese car search but nothing really caught my eye. I knew kinda what I was looking for, but nothing "clicked".

My search went cold for a couple of months. However, around a month ago I came in off a nightshift to find Pollitt (The Pollitt) had been [s]bullied[/s] encouraged to buy a Colt Sigma by his peers on Facebook. Errr, this Colt Sigma. Unfortunately, due to a certain workplace not paying him correctly, he had to pull out.

I talked to Pollitt and discussed with him what the score was. I really clicked with this car the moment I saw it and I knew right from the start that this was up my alley. The colour was right, it has the right engine and it just looked amazing! Not to mention that it was a runner.

I got the vibe that Pollitt was ok with me getting it, and I assured him he'd be top of the list if I ever came to sell it.

Messages were sent to the owner and talks began.

I won't tell you how much I landed this car for but I assure you that it was way way too little. I offered low, as I always do and expected a bit of negotiation. But the man seemed happy and he let me have it for my offer Top Bloke - at the end of the day it used to be his dad's and has stood dormant for 17 years. Last moved in 1995

I asked around to see if there were any friend of friends near London that could go take a look. Surprisingly and by a total stroke of luck - James, Bruce and Sam from Area52 were making their way up there in 2 days time to pick up some new cars of their own! Incredible luck! (Thanks again again again)

Reports were good and I immediately wired the man the amount, in full, with the promise he'd send off the logbook tomorrow.

I'm not familiar with these cars at all but from what I can see it is a Second gen however these were stopped being made in 1976. I think it's possible that this was one of the last ones built and subsequently ended up being transported/stored long enough that it wasn't registered new until the next year. This, or was registered at import incorrectly - I'm not sure yet.

The plans
For the first time in perhaps 5 years I'm going to pay someone else to work on my car. It makes sense to get someone in London to do some things to it to make it drivable so that I can get it back to Bristol under it's own steam safely.

It runs and drives but the brakes need a bit of freeing up, perhaps new lines and maybe rubber hoses for the fluids. I've employed our very own Dez for this task which he is doing for a very reasonable price. I've never used him before but his reputation spreads far and wide so I know that I can trust him

Next I'll be getting it through an MOT ready for mid Jan or Feb to take over duties as my daily.

360 then goes off the road for the engine change I've been planning.

Then, coilovers, rims and plenty of TLC to make this car into a shiner.

I'm really happy this has worked out for you bud!

That's a badass car dude.
Lovely colour too.

She arrived this evening at her temporary home. For the first time in a long time I'm actually paying someone to work on one of my cars. Shocking. The man has good rep though from friends

The idea is that he will fix up the brakes, chuck new rubber on everything and then I'll drive the thing back from London-ish to a pre-arranged MOT. Then I'll get onto fixing anything that needs doing, shouldn't be too much because of the condition. I'll try and remember to post a video up of her running. She actually purrs.

Geddin!

When's the Work Equips and Hakosuka mirrors goin on then mate?

All in good time I'm just sticking it on some slotmags first and then I'll have a think about what I really want to do with it

Hi Speedy.
Looks a cracker. I had a Datsun sunny coupe once. It had that many clocks in it,
i thought i was in an airoplane . The engine was so quiet, you nearly had to stand
with your ear to the bonnet to see if it was running . Pity it rusted away.
Every time i went over a bump in the road, a little bit of it got left behind
I will enjoy watching the progress.
Cheers Mark.

Looks great! Fantastic colour too. Really like most 70's Jap stuff - part of me wants to get hold of a Mk1 Civic but rust, rarity and price will soon see to that

SteveP wrote:Looks great! Fantastic colour too. Really like most 70's Jap stuff - part of me wants to get hold of a Mk1 Civic but rust, rarity and price will soon see to that

Rust saw to that in 1985

When we were kids my uncle used to have a Mk1 Civic, metallic blue. I remember bowling along bumpy roads in Scotland in it, sometime around 1978ish. The early accords didn't last much longer either.

I too like the look of 70's Jap stuff.....suddenly becoming popular around here

I think it's becouse they were like mini copies of American Muscle car shapes.

I remember a mate's dad had one one of these in the late 70's
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_RX-3

looks great! can't say i know much about jap stuff.

RX-3's are great! As for the mini-muscle car stuff, the main one's gotta be the RA71 Celica?

Cool car Speedy! Enjoy

Thanks all. That RX-3 looks great, I'm really liking the look of old jap stuff at the moment. Even U11 Sunnies Just got a text from my friend, it needs a complete brake overhaul, new fuel lines and rad hoses. Apparently the water pump or alt is rumbling too. Shouldn't be too difficult

Hell Driver wrote:

SteveP wrote:Looks great! Fantastic colour too. Really like most 70's Jap stuff - part of me wants to get hold of a Mk1 Civic but rust, rarity and price will soon see to that

Rust saw to that in 1985

You're not wrong.... my Dad owned a Mk1 Civic up until about 1986, at which point the doors were painted black at the bottom and the engine was smoking at 60k miles.... still, cool though!

I started driving lessons in a Nissan Cherry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nissa ... n_rear.jpg
And passed my test in a newer sunny
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31965542@N04/7637005270/

Not the most pretty of cars

Glad to say that the first car I ever drove however was a 77 343