Some may know I have been chasing a particular 80 for some while; a blue R plater with OME, ARB etc etc. Ridiculous screen price, but not what agreed behind the scenes. So yesterday Lord Lomas and I set off down South to give it a full health check. The pictures all said 'buy me'.
We got there and we shown into the garage where the car was right at the back. A little tricky to get around but initial glances exchanged between us said 'looks like a gem'.
Everything worked - the lockers fired without even moving. It was obviously cold but fired first touch. All the added extras were spot on, winch, suspension etc. Underside was black but not painted. Slight weep from inner oils seals. All FIVE wheels were reconditioned alloys with brand new BFGs. No rust anywhere. Interior hadn't been cleaned, but you would hardly have noticed. Gearbox didn't have a single issue and would pop into 1st and second, cold when changing down at speed.
It drove beautifully although Andy thought it a little bit flat. I could have driven off in it toward the sunset.
So why disappointed? Well, I hopped up to look at the sunroof and to my horror, found the roof looked as though a pallet of bricks had landed on it. The dents were so bad that there was standing water in them. The guys selling it for this chap locally, clearly had no idea. They'd never looked up there. They were a bit stunned too. OK it could be fixed, but did I want a car that had been fixed? Then I spotted a joint that didn't look right. As we worked around the car it was clear that it had been in an OS front shunt. All of the panels had been 'adjusted' to take up the gaps around the bonnet, door, wing, valance etc. The bonnet fitted perfectly over on headlight, but there was a half inch gap over the other.
Then Andy noticed the TURBO stickers were missing and the rear end had been re sprayed too. At this point the dealer chap just lost any interest in talking to us as I guess he figured we'd busted this one. Was it nice over all. Yes, a beauty. But it was not what was advertised and the little issues just kept adding up. Would I have this at any money? Yes, I would. It was fine and would make a nice daily drive. But, it was originally on at £15K. Now at £12k and although I had negotiated a much better deal, it was now definitely not worth that either and I know the owner simply will not budge from that. To me it's not a £6k car at best.
So, back to the drawing board unless he rings me begging me to buy it!
Chris
We got there and we shown into the garage where the car was right at the back. A little tricky to get around but initial glances exchanged between us said 'looks like a gem'.
Everything worked - the lockers fired without even moving. It was obviously cold but fired first touch. All the added extras were spot on, winch, suspension etc. Underside was black but not painted. Slight weep from inner oils seals. All FIVE wheels were reconditioned alloys with brand new BFGs. No rust anywhere. Interior hadn't been cleaned, but you would hardly have noticed. Gearbox didn't have a single issue and would pop into 1st and second, cold when changing down at speed.
It drove beautifully although Andy thought it a little bit flat. I could have driven off in it toward the sunset.
So why disappointed? Well, I hopped up to look at the sunroof and to my horror, found the roof looked as though a pallet of bricks had landed on it. The dents were so bad that there was standing water in them. The guys selling it for this chap locally, clearly had no idea. They'd never looked up there. They were a bit stunned too. OK it could be fixed, but did I want a car that had been fixed? Then I spotted a joint that didn't look right. As we worked around the car it was clear that it had been in an OS front shunt. All of the panels had been 'adjusted' to take up the gaps around the bonnet, door, wing, valance etc. The bonnet fitted perfectly over on headlight, but there was a half inch gap over the other.
Then Andy noticed the TURBO stickers were missing and the rear end had been re sprayed too. At this point the dealer chap just lost any interest in talking to us as I guess he figured we'd busted this one. Was it nice over all. Yes, a beauty. But it was not what was advertised and the little issues just kept adding up. Would I have this at any money? Yes, I would. It was fine and would make a nice daily drive. But, it was originally on at £15K. Now at £12k and although I had negotiated a much better deal, it was now definitely not worth that either and I know the owner simply will not budge from that. To me it's not a £6k car at best.
So, back to the drawing board unless he rings me begging me to buy it!
Chris
