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What do you think?

I have always like small cars. I can appreciate large cars but my personal preference is to buy small. My old car was also a small car. I enjoy not paying ridiculous amounts of money for insurance and road registration. I don’t use my car for anything but driving around, and rarely long distances, so large cars aren’t a necessary part of my lifestyle. I’m also relatively average height, so seating/roof height/footwells etc in small cars are rarely too small for me.

The Fiesta XR4 (or Fiesta ST as it is known in the UK) is special because it has a 2.0-litre engine from its big brother, the Ford Focus. Not only that but the engine has been tuned to provide more power (110Kw) and a better torque band (190Nm) which kicks in from around 3300RPM. The car also has sports suspension, a five-speed manual transmission, wide grippy tyres, a subtle bodykit and – if you are so inclined – racing stripes from the factory.

I first saw this car on an ancient episode of Top Gear – around 2005 or so – and was unimpressed to note the car wouldn’t be available in Australia until 2006. I researched it over and over and over until I had memorized every little detail about the car. I even took one for a test drive from a dealer. I was pretty much in love with this car (though not to the point that I actually made love to it). However, at the time I was still a uni student, and although I was working full time it was in a dead-end job. I could’ve technically afforded to buy it with all the on-road costs and a drive-away price around $28,000, but I would’ve had absolutely zero money to spend after that.

I watched the prices of them on the second-hand market over the next few years, all the while willing my current car to die so I would have an excuse to buy one. In the end, my old Nissan never really died. It is disabled but it’s not dead, but now it’s at a point where the cost to fix it would be worth more than the value of the car, so it makes financial sense. Plus Carly needs a car to drive to work in, and I just got a raise. So it was time.

I went searching and I was impressed when I saw this for sale:

As you can see it has stripes, though they aren’t ridiculous fat slug trails from front to back. It also has some nice white wheels. Aside from that this car had done about 48,000 kilometres and was going for a price I couldn’t refuse: $15,990. The only problem was that it was coming up to Christmas (the weekend before) and the car was in Sydney. I had organised the loan the week before so the cash was sitting in my bank account ready to go. I just had to organise the purchase. It was an experience in quick-thinking logistics to sortthe flight, accomodation, legal papers, etc etc.

I had my aunt and uncle living in Sydney inspect the car for me and they gave me the thumbs-up, so it was ‘all systems go’ on the plan. Carly and I flew down to Sydney on the Saturday afternoon (5PM flight) and were picked up by the seller in the car from the airport. We drove back to his house and did all the paperwork and exchanged the cash (he wanted cash to buy a replacement car the next day), went to his parents place to pick up the stock wheels and tyres, and everything was a done deal by around 8PM that evening. We waited on the road side while I waited on the phone for the insurance to be instated and away we went.

We stopped off at Carly’s sisters place in Mona Vale for a visit, then drove on to Newcastle. We arrived in Newcastle around 2AM and stayed the night, then took the inland route to Brisbane through Glen Ines etc. We arrived home at around 7.30PM that evening and were well-pleased with our accomplishments! The car performed brilliantly for the journey and never skipped a beat. Although the low-profile tyres and sports suspension sometimes proved to be uncomfortable over the old country roads, the journey was otherwise comfortable and stress-free.

I am now thinking about what extra bits and bobs I can buy for it. I am not sure if I want to modify anything; cars are a more huge money hole than any hobby I’ve had before. I am looking though at getting a cat-back exhaust, or perhaps a full system including extractors, as well as a cold air intake. That’ll be about it though for performance mods as I don’t want to put the car too far out of spec. for the purposes of keeping it drivable for the long term. Cosmetic mods I’m considering are replacing the LEDs on the dashboard from green to white, upgrading the stereo, and maybe replacing the exterior plastics with carbon-fibre look-alikes. Not because I like the look of carbon fibre, but because they’re darker in colour and enameled, so they should last longer.

Another cool toy which I am thinking about getting is a Bluetooth ODB plugin. It connects to the diagnostic computer interface of the car and then you can pair it to your phone. With the aid of an app (Android or iOS), you can get real-time readouts of all the critical system parameters. Considering this requires zero modifications and costs around a hundred bucks, although it’s probably useless it’s still pretty freakin’ cool.

This is a big problem, and I have known about it for a while, but I am not going to fix it because my car isn’t worth spending money on. It would probably cost around half the worth of the vehicle to get it repaired. Considering it already has some 260,000 kilometres on it, there’s just no point. Other big things are going to start breaking soon.

What it means for me is that I can’t drive very far and I have to fill up with water every other week. I’ve recently become very sick of doing this, so I decided to throw some Chemiweld into the system (as its name implies, its a mixture of chemicals that when heated, presumably serve to weld (in some fashion) closed holes in the cooling system) which I did today. The bottle recommends you deliberately overheat the engine so that it can go to work doing its thing.

Well, as I was adding the Chemiweld with the engine running as directed, my wonderful car started to bubble and gurgle from its radiator fill-point, which prevented me adding the remaining half bottle of Chemiweld. So, I turned the car off (against directions), added the rest, topped up the water and went for a drive. Of course, with the water topped up, the car was no longer overheating (typically it lasts about 30 km), so I decided to push the engine on my drive. I thought the best way to do this would be to go on the highway for an extended period, which is what I did.

What I shouldn’t have done, however, is decided to blip the throttle and the car up to ~115Km/h in an area known for speed cameras, which according to Karma (please forgiveth me, O great universe) in its infinite wisdom, saw fit to place a speed camera at this very portion of road, on this very day, at this very time. I hit the brakes as soon as I saw it (as every fucking wanker does, even if they aren’t speeding), but I think the radar/laser system in them only takes a half second or so to lock on and photograph you if you are indeed breaking the law.

Here’s hoping my checklist for fixing the car (if the Chemiweld does indeed work) doesn’t include a $250 speeding fine. That would turn my repair job from “cheap and easy” with a $10 bottle of liquid and a few minutes of my time, to “expensive and annoying” with a speeding fine grating against my undying belief that excessive speed is not the cause of Australias motoring problems.

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Initially I set out to buy something I loved. Something a little sporty, something with character. Something with power and handling and all the essentials that make the ideal driver’s car. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a lot of money to play with, and that severely narrowed my options. Essentially, I wanted to find something that was rear-wheel drive and had the associated handling benefits, but was also semi-practical in terms of fuel efficiency. It’s easy to find a rear-wheel drive car with a big engine, any Falcon or Commodore ever made meets these prerequisites, however they aren’t very practical in terms of fuel usage, insurance or registration costs.

So obviously, I had to find something that was four-cylinder, sporty, and rear-wheel drive. As you may or may not be aware, pretty much all inexpensive four-cylinder cars made since the mid-eighties are front-wheel drive; it’s cheaper. In any case, I didn’t want to buy a car from the 1980s because every car made in that period was styled with all the passion and elegance of a cardboard box. Every car from the eighties is a box, and the only curvy part on such cars are the wheels.

This meant I was to turn the back a few pages in the history of motoring to the 1970s, where I surprised myself by reminding myself of a car I’d nearly forgotten, and had always wanted. Toyota’s Celica is a car I’d been pining for during my highschool years. When I started highschool, there was a senior student who had one. It was a metallic blue RA28 — the famed “Mustang fastback” — with LT2000 badges. Whether or not it was a genuine LT2000 is another question, one which I’ll never know the answer to, because the fuckhead wrote it off by rolling it in the field adjacent to the school while doing doughnuts, showing off to his mates.

So while browsing around the internet, I came across a few nice looking TA22 and TA23 models. These are the earlier versions from 1971-1976 which have charm in themselves, but they simply are not in the same league as the beautiful 1977 RA28 “Mustang” Celica. The main difference between the models was that the ’22s and ’23s were more narrow-looking and almost spindly in appearance, the rear end is curved inward and they appear to taper at both ends. The RA28 was more aggresive; with the front appearing wider and more staunch. These lines followed through the rest of the car to the rear, where the back was square with large, imposing Ford Mustang style tail lights.

I spotted a nice-looking TA22; black with the original 2TG motor. This is the 1.6L, twin-cam, twin-carb version that in its heyday produced around 80kW and 150Nm of torque. Not bad for a 30-odd-year-old engine. What made this car worth looking at was the fact the engine had been completely rebuilt about 5,500km ago, meaning that it would be just like driving it new. Unfortunately though it was located in Bundaberg; with three hours of driving between here and there, it was going to be an issue to see it. So the idea was put on the backburner for a few days, while I argued with myself and my dad about looking for a more sensible option. Of course, I wasn’t ready to give up on my dream yet, remembering that I’d wanted one of these Celicas since I first saw one all those years ago.

All the other Celicas I found were interstate, or had problems, or there was always some major issue with getting to see it or known problems from the outset. Imagine my surprise when browsing eBay, I come across this beauty, not even 10km from my house…

We went to check it out, and aside from a few small issues, it was perfect, and in my price range as well. Although it was not a true GT Celica with the 2L, twin-cam, twin-carb 18R-G engine, it had a balanced and blueprinted 18R-C (single cam, single carb) motor, which for the uninitiated means that the engine had been completely dismantled and all the parts tweaked to ensure maximum operating efficiency with respect to all the other parts of this particular engine; whereas cars coming from a factory are made to the specifications of the design, having your engine balanced and blueprinted means that in addition to being made to the specifications of the design, they’re also made to the specifications of each other. It also had airconditioning and the interior was in pretty good condition.

We took it for a drive, with the owner driving, as you would with such a rare classic. In fifth gear, uphill, with the bulk of approximately 300kg of people in it, and the airconditioning on full, the “weak” 18R-C motor was able to pull hard and accelerate quickly. It handled brilliantly in terms of being a drivers car, the ride was firm and the car told you everything that was going on under the wheels. I loved it, I wanted it, it was mine!

It was for sale on eBay. The auction was ending in a day or two. On the morning of the auction end, I woke up to find that it had ended about 15 minutes before I woke up. I was shocked. Fucking stupidly, I had failed to notice the auction end time was in AEDST; Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Time, and the auction was running on time an hour ahead of my own clock. I regret that mistake. It was the perfect car.

While we’re on the subject, here are some links to Celica porn: Celica gallery, and this beauty: Smoky the Bandit, which is one of the most awesome cars I’ve ever seen. Combining 1970s beauty with today’s modern technology, it’s a perfect balance of elegance, technology and power. It fucking looks hot as and I bet it goes like stink too.

After I got over that car, dad and I decided to go look at the Celica in Bundy.

We woke up at about 3AM one morning and made the uneventful trip in approximately three and a half hours, mostly travelling in the slightly-above-speed-limit speed range. Fortunately I got to drive this particular car, and although it looked nice in the photos and had the rebuilt engine, aesthetically it was fucked, with rust in major areas and the interior showing its age. To drive it though… was wonderful. You could hear the engine roar, you could feel the road at your fingertips through the steering wheel, and everything made a genuine metallic sound. This car was in no-way muffled, restricted or softended. It was 1974 manufacturing at its finest. It had decent power and torque, and was better than I expected with respect to that, but the seller wanted too much for it. He was dreaming. We had to depart and leave it behind us, and I was disappointed once more.

The next car I set my sights on was something completey different. Spotted in the Just Cars magazine, and out of my price range, I called on a whim to see what kind of deal I could work out. Surprisingly, the seller was happy to take what I was offering, so we organised to view the car… on the Sunshine Coast. A bit better than Bundy (a bit! more like a lot), but still a fair distance away. It was a 1987 Mazda Familia GTX; or in other words, the Japanese version of the Mazda 323/Ford Laser, with a 1.6L twin-cam turbo engine and your standard rally-style all-wheel drive system. It was white, with white rims, and it looked awesome. Taking it for a drive, it drove great. It was very powerful and accelerated hard, it handled excellently and stuck to the road. It wasn’t rear-wheel drive, but it was the next best thing. Although in looks it could never match the Celica, it made up for it with modern technologies and conveniences, such as electric mirrors, windows, and an electric sunroof! It was great.

We organised some simple legal papers and I put a deposit on it, with the deal being whatever was required to make the car roadworthy was taken off the final price. So, we took the car home. My dad, who generally hates “small Japanese buzzboxes” surprised me by telling me he found the car excellent on the highway on the way home, not too uncomfortable despite the lowered suspension, etc. We booked it into the mechanics, and… you guessed it, it was fucked. The assessment was it required approximately $4000 worth of parts and labour to make the car roadworthy, and that’s not including the turbo/engine rebuild it would’ve required in about six months’ time, on account of the turbo boost being dialled in at approximately double the standard level, with stock engine internals. The seller was quite surprised… strangely, I thought, it didn’t make a lot of sense for her to be. She said that eight months ago, she’d had the car checked out and it was excellent, in top condition. Then she lent the car to her friends for six months, and then we had it checked out, and it turns out to be fucked. I’m thinking… what do you really think happened in that six months?

Some people…

After the Familia Fiasco, I was again disheartened. I had given up on buying a sporty, performance-oriented vehicle at this point. I decided that if I couldn’t have speed, I’d have luxury. So, I did the leave-a-deposit-and-get-back-to-you dance again with a 1993 Mazda 626 on the south side of Brisbane. It sounded great; only 95,000km, good condition, etc. The seller didn’t give a fuck about the car because he’d had a new one for a few months, and it showed. Although the interior was pretty good, the car was a car park bitch, and had bits of paint missing from trolleys, small dents and crap all through it. Also, for some reason, they’d managed to close their garage door on the rear spoiler and bumper several times over, chipping the paint back to bare metal in several places.

So, I took it for a test drive, and organised to come back another day with a deposit and some more knocked-up legal documents along the lines of “if the mechanic says it’s shit, I’m not buying it” … typically, this car needed a fuckload of work too, though only $2000 this time. It essentially made the car worth a lot less than what they were asking, and I wasn’t prepared to pay money for something that was so seriously fucked. Several major engine seals (tappet cover gasket, head gasket) were fucked, the water pump was leaking, and it needed a new induction hose, which cost $280 alone.

In any case, it was probably for the better, because being a low-volume import car (imported by Mazda), parts were typically more expensive than your standard Australian delivered vehicle, and consumables were more expensive too. Tyres for example on average cost approximately $15 more per tyre because of their non-standard shape. Plus it was a 2.5L V6, and although it had nice power and torque, and was only small capacity, I think I’d feel the fuel cost more than I would’ve liked.

After that, things were looking pretty grim. I found a few more Celicas, and a few more Mazda 626s, but they were all too far away. By this point I’d spent approximately $250 on mechanics inspections, fuel, and other associated costs when travelling the countryside to check out cars. It was by chance that I came across the car I’m actually buying, and just convenient where it’s located: about five minutes’ drive from my house.

It’s small, white, and pretty boring. Though, it is in very good condition, it drives well, it has air-conditioning, and with the 1.6L GA16DE, achieves approximately 5.4L/100km or 18L/km highway fuel economy, which is a far cry from the 10L/100km or 10km/L that the above Celicas and 626 would’ve given me. I have had this inspected by the mechanic, with the result being a rear suspension component needed replacing, which is covered by the inclusion of a roadworthy certificate, so I’m not paying for it. It has approximately 213,000km on it, but it’s been regularly serviced on the dot every 5,000km and has been fed only BP Ultimate in its life, so hopefully that will bode well for the next 200,000km; not that I’m likely to be doing that many kilometres before I sell it!

Funnily enough, the seller attended highschool with me, in the same year as well. So it’s local, cheap, good condition, and perfect in every way, except of course for the fact that it’s not fast and it’s not exciting. Oh well, I can’t have everything.

Already I have plans for it, including, but not limited to:

• Remove black strip on the side; paint it white, put it back on;
• Rear bumper slightly dented; fix
• Add front driving lights (hopefully I can find some genuine Nissan ones to put in the front bar);
• Addition of remote keyless entry and alarm to existing central locking and immobiliser;
• Buy a dash mat
• Clear side indicators

They’re the sensible options that I’m probably going to do soon after I get it. Of course, there are a few other things I want to do that aren’t sensible and are simply a waste of money in terms of practicality… but:

• Some white 16″ or 17″ wheels
• Lowered
• Pod filter
• Extractors and exhaust

Probably won’t happen for a while, if ever.

So, I pick it up Tuesday. ^_^