"Where is it now" Pistonheads thread Success MR2 MK1

[pistolpete12]

So as some of you know on here this is a "where is it now" thread, people wondering where their old cars are.
I have had sooo many cars (150+). but there is always one i keep looking up on the MOT history checker

You can see where this is going can't you

I kept looking for E39 NEX. My very first MR2 back in 2002. the one that started my love for MR2s led on to meeting a lot of life long friends, and shaped a lot of what was to come for me. Unfortunately the car has been off the road since 2014
So any hope of seeing it again was very small

Back in the day..




that is my now wife walking in front of the car, me to the side, Steve kingsnorth's Super edition and Dave Price D:Class mK1






I did a lot to that car and a lot of shows.
i had the wheels and tyres fitted
Arches done
Gearknob
Magnex exhuast
changed the whole interior from Blue to black.

So i put in said Pistonheads thread I would love to know where E39 NEX is.
Nothing for a very long time, never expected to hear anything. then one day Ben dropped me a screen shot. Someone had replied. "how much do you want it"
I replied, just asking where is it, condition etc. then nothing for a while, decided it must have just been an internet troll.
But then, he replied say he had purchased two to repair, and this was one of them. He was unsure how to work forums, and that was kinda it.

So i decided to go social media stalking. I eventually found him on a Friday evening and we got chasing on facebook messenger.
He had already started some repairs, and di not really want to sell it.

I believe i have this right, the way he acquired the cars was
He and a friend were into E39 M5's. His friend text him a pic of the E39NEX number plate. he replied saying, oh you are buying another m5. His friend replied saying, 2no there are two MR2's here i know you have been looking for some"
He went down found the cars and purchased them from an old boy who could no longer drive and had parked them up

Once home and repairs started, he did a search to see how much the E39 numberplate was worth, which then led him to my post asking where it is.

After many hours of chatting pictures etc, he could tell the car meant quite a bit to me and he did have two.
So a price was discussed, and agreed, for me to the find out he is in Durham, me in Kent. I no longer have a trailer. Luckily Shipley came to the rescue, by Monday morning the car was on (a friends) drive way.

It got there just before me, the wife text to say it had arrived.
I admit now, i got quite emotional, i hadn't seen it for 20 years, It's my 40th this year, we said we would buy me a special car. I think this covers that!!

I am under no illusion, it needs a lot of work. A lot!!. It is being parked into Jackie's garage until I have finished the mini.
It was amazing to see all the bits i had done still on it, worryingly the tyres have not been changed!
Some bits i hadn't done too. I was very pleased to see the gearknob still there. Even little bits like moving the alarm LED and Painting over surface rust under the bonnet..

Anyway.. here it is for now, tucked away in the garage until I finish off the mini (hopefully middle next year).. but I have it and that's all that matters
Cannot wait to start work on it
















Thats it for now.. So thank you Pistonheads!!!

When it gets moved to my house I will start the updates

[Got4wheels]

Brilliant and emotional read OP! Great to see you both reunited.

Michael

[RemarkLima]

Gosh, I loved my old mk1 MR2, and I'm sure they're looking better and better with age!

WhatsApp a cool present to yourselves.

[pistolpete12]

Got4wheels said:

Brilliant and emotional read OP! Great to see you both reunited.

Michael

Thanks

It really was quite emotional first time I saw it, I couldn't get the right words out when speaking with the wife

[pistolpete12]

RemarkLima said:

Gosh, I loved my old mk1 MR2, and I'm sure they're looking better and better with age!

WhatsApp a cool present to yourselves.

I have a had many mk1's but its always has to be a white MK1b, such a great looking car.
Seeing one drive down a dual carriageway with the t bars out, is what made me want one originally

[Krhuangbin]

Really great

I often think about one or two cars from my past, which I’d love to just see again let alone buy back.... bet it’s pretty special having it back.

Literally a time machine!

[lrdisco]

Well done in finding her. Always remember these with pleasure as step dad bought the first one in Hull.
Mini Ferrari.

[Flying machine]

That's a great story, and a brave looking project there! I had a red Mk1b T-bar and absolutely loved it, in fact I'd quite like another. Good luck with your restoration, it looks super!

[Pflanzgarten]

Love it, can’t wait to see the restoration get started.

Going for original or keeping the modifications like the Fox alloys?

[pistolpete12]

Pflanzgarten said:

Love it, can’t wait to see the restoration get started.

Going for original or keeping the modifications like the Fox alloys?

I will be keeping the fox alloys. I actually want to make it exactly how I used to have it
Mono millennium steering wheel included

[samoht]

Great to hear a good news story. Hope the restoration proceeds smoothly. AW11 was the leading edge of the wave of great Japanese drivers cars of that era, definitely special and worth preserving.

pistolpete12 said:

I will be keeping the fox alloys. I actually want to make it exactly how I used to have it
Mono millennium steering wheel included

Will be perfect for 80s-90s nostalgia then, can imagine it would look great at Radwood when it's finished

[Cambs_Stuart]

Excellent job on finding the MR2, and good luck with the restoration!

Looking forward to seeing how this goes.

[pistolpete12]

Cheers guys
Even though I'm working on the mini I'll probably still pop over there and have a 'poke' around it

It will definitely be my car to take to shows. Hopefully it will restore well, and the mods suit the era I had the car

[Rich135]

That's a great story, well done for tracking it down and bringing it back to your garage.

It does look like it needs some work though...

[pistolpete12]

A lot of work.. the body itself is not too bad.. The floor however does.
But I just don't want it to be another in scrap land, If i start and its too far gone than so be it, but i really don't think it is..
We shall see.. we have a welder

[Russ_16v]

I'm so happy that this has happened for you OP. Considering what cars can do to our emotions, it's such a refreshing and happy story to hear that someone actually found the car they were looking for

[S100HP]

2002 doesn't feel that long ago. That picture of you makes it look like a very long time ago!

[pistolpete12]

S100HP said:

2002 doesn't feel that long ago. That picture of you makes it look like a very long time ago!

20 years of shift work does that

[S100HP]

pistolpete12 said:

S100HP said:

2002 doesn't feel that long ago. That picture of you makes it look like a very long time ago!

20 years of shift work does that

Was more a reference at the quality and style of the picture of you 20 years ago rather than anything else. I'm a similar age, and it really doesn't feel that long ago, but that picture looks old!

Cool car btw!