Hi guys, long time classic Jap car lover, short time classic Jap car owner.

As a 20 year old living in England, car ownership doesn't come cheap. Thanks to rising car insurance prices and petrol being about £1.37 a litre here, having fun and enjoyment with cars now comes at a price, and as a student it's quite a hefty price too!

Thankfully this fantastic deal turned up on ebay and I couldn't refuse! Quick insurance quotes show this car is cheaper than any other car I had looked at by at least £400 a year, which for me is fantastic as every penny counts! As it is I've paid £2,200 this past year to insure your basic runabout car, so this deal was too good to pass up.

And here it is..

£520 worth of low milage classic Japanese car. Yep, it only has 18,700 miles on the clock from new! All original engine parts as it came from the factory, bar a new battery and whatever parts were changed when it was serviced. Car has next to no rust, and the only downside to it is the old guy used to smoke so the interior is a bit grubby. Apart from that i's perfect!

Anyway enough chit chat, here are a few pics I took the day it arrived.











Original plan was the usual wheels + lowering stick job, but this car is far too original for me to go down that route really! Not yet anyway. Basically plan is to clean it up (once this weather decides to be warm again), refurb the wheels, get a couple of replacement bits (rear light has a crack, and a small interior cover is missing), but just generally tidy it up.

Hope you guys enjoy! Once the car is all cleaned up I shall probably have some before and after shots, and some more once the car is insured and on the road again. Thanks!

I love a clean, original interior...this car is really something else!

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-Cam
1988 Mazda RX7
1980 Toyota Celica
a bunch of cool other cars I'm not allowed to list

Nice and OEM !

Thanks guys! Car is pretty clean in general, but by no means perfect but that's good as it gives me something to do and achieve with the car! Clearly the old guy who used to own it didn't clean the car very often.

I took some photos earlier of the grubby interior to use as before shots. Going to get onto cleaning the car over the next couple of weeks when I have any spare time.

It still looks clean, even in the "dirty" shots... haha. Nice car.

-Robert

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My Build/Pic thread

Haha thanks!

I just tried out how a US size plate would look. Without a Dodge Colt rear panel with the rear plate fitment, I could technically get it to fit if I had blocks behind the plate to level it out with the ridge of the panel at the bottom. It is something I am debating, I have to be honest! Otherwise it will just be UK size plate on back and import on front. That, or sourcing a completely perfect silver Dodge Colt back panel with the US plate fitment for the back! But I imagine that would be costly!

Very nice bud,Still think you should do the lowering and wheels.Where bouts you from matey.

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Hi mate. I'm from Dover! Also still not sure on wheels and lowering. The standard and untouched-ness is appealing to me right now.

Done a spot of cleaning. Plenty more to get on with though!

Did a bit of cleaning more today. Took the airbox off for cleaning and found how immaculate the carb was.



Started cleaning the firewall (bulkhead?), but wasn't perfect so doing it with a pressure washer tomorrow.



Oh then realised that the ignition leads are still the originals, dated 1987. So decided to clean them up too, heres a before and after

Is this the same car that was sold in the US as the Mitsubishi Precis? Or Hyundai Excel?

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-Cam
1988 Mazda RX7
1980 Toyota Celica
a bunch of cool other cars I'm not allowed to list

Nope in the US it was sold by Plymouth/Dodge as the Colt, and in Japan as the Mirage.

It does look quite similar to the Excel though so I could see why you'd think that.

I wouldn't do that. Aside from the location of the plate lamps, I'm 99% sure the US is identical on the rear to yours.

http://static.cargurus.com/images/site/2010/01/01/23/47/1988_dodge_colt-pic-255630820682212993.jpeg

You might try sourcing a US plate holder though?

Ah I was under the impression that the plate holder was actually fully attached to the rear blende and non detachable. Well yeah the other idea I had since then instead of blocks to pad it out, were just 2 metal pieces that I can screw into the original holes and use it as a holder, but it would definitely be a tight fit I reckon! That and I don't want the lights to not shine on the plate properly as that would be a fail come MOT time!

Thought I'd post a couple of updated pictures!






Got these to go on too, but sadly the center bore is 60.1 on the wheels and 67.1 on the hubs! They were even advertised as for Mitsubishi! The guy who sold them has gone walkies and can't find him on ebay at all. Not sure what my options are as boring out the wheels would be a bit much. Only other option would be spacers which changed the center bore but not sure if they are possible and / or expensive / hard to get.