Famous in the Last Century
Discussion
Confession time, I`m a Nissan fan boi.
Have been ever since I started work at a Nissan dealer in parts in 1987.
I vividly recall walking in on my first day and seeing a gun metal grey Silvia Turbo in the showroom. I even remember the price ~ £11995.
For the majority of the 26 years I spent in the trade I was fortunate to get a works car, but always kept something at home for the Mrs and/or for weekends.
Notwithstanding my love for Triumphs (I was an apprentice at a BL dealer), it was always a Nissan.
The list is long and varied but a Primera GT never made the cut, until December when a single bid on the Bay of Evil landed me this beauty when my usual habit of bidding £1 over a round number nailed it.
Absolutely standard as the day it left the showroom even down to the original number plates, rear window sticker, radio, wheels, mats, headlamp guards and unused spare wheel.
The old girl came with the most comprehensive service history I`ve ever seen with over £7000 worth of invoices from the selling dealer. The MOT history is a sea of green only spoilt by the odd tyre and bulb.
Have just had the rear arches and a small scrape tidied up by my local bodyshop and I fitted a new old stock JVC radio cassette with CD changer to replace the OE Blaupunkt system. It was working ok but the LCD screen was blank.
Nobody I know remembers the BTCC years when Leslie, Neal and Aiello were so successful in the lovely Vodafone liveried GTs and they all just point and laugh at what, to them,is a 22 year old taxi. Meh.
For me though, having been working in the dealer network during those years, it holds great memories.
It drives like it`s 2 not 22 and is great fun to thrash around the back roads of Romney Marsh and the wastelands of Dungeness.
I think a track day at Brands is in order.
Have been ever since I started work at a Nissan dealer in parts in 1987.
I vividly recall walking in on my first day and seeing a gun metal grey Silvia Turbo in the showroom. I even remember the price ~ £11995.
For the majority of the 26 years I spent in the trade I was fortunate to get a works car, but always kept something at home for the Mrs and/or for weekends.
Notwithstanding my love for Triumphs (I was an apprentice at a BL dealer), it was always a Nissan.
The list is long and varied but a Primera GT never made the cut, until December when a single bid on the Bay of Evil landed me this beauty when my usual habit of bidding £1 over a round number nailed it.
Absolutely standard as the day it left the showroom even down to the original number plates, rear window sticker, radio, wheels, mats, headlamp guards and unused spare wheel.
The old girl came with the most comprehensive service history I`ve ever seen with over £7000 worth of invoices from the selling dealer. The MOT history is a sea of green only spoilt by the odd tyre and bulb.
Have just had the rear arches and a small scrape tidied up by my local bodyshop and I fitted a new old stock JVC radio cassette with CD changer to replace the OE Blaupunkt system. It was working ok but the LCD screen was blank.
Nobody I know remembers the BTCC years when Leslie, Neal and Aiello were so successful in the lovely Vodafone liveried GTs and they all just point and laugh at what, to them,is a 22 year old taxi. Meh.
For me though, having been working in the dealer network during those years, it holds great memories.
It drives like it`s 2 not 22 and is great fun to thrash around the back roads of Romney Marsh and the wastelands of Dungeness.
I think a track day at Brands is in order.
There was a bloke who lived in the flats next to my work that since a chromoflair one. Even in its slightly sheddy state it still had the desired effort. Always seemed a bit of a odd close of car/colour combo, on a mad Tvr I understood it, but on a 'grownup' car, especially the time, it was bizarre. I so like seeing car from my youth still going tho. Not just cars that family and friends had, but ones like this that I fondly remember and only seem like last year, not last century!
Eta. My mates dad had a (I think) C reg Silvia in about 99/00. He two actually, a Red one that he drove everyday and a purple one that he bought as a parts car, although I just seem to remember it was just abondened around the back of the house for a few years. The working one seemed so fast to a then 15yr old, helped by the fact he drove it like a man possessed. Its a long time since Ive seen one on the road.
Eta. My mates dad had a (I think) C reg Silvia in about 99/00. He two actually, a Red one that he drove everyday and a purple one that he bought as a parts car, although I just seem to remember it was just abondened around the back of the house for a few years. The working one seemed so fast to a then 15yr old, helped by the fact he drove it like a man possessed. Its a long time since Ive seen one on the road.
Edited by gazzarose on Wednesday 1st April 22:52
Lovely looking example
A few yrs ago I had an 18 Yr old lowly Mk 1 1.6L; had been one owner from new, ~36k on the clock (it came from the IoW). Cracking thing it was, regularly get high 40s to the gallon out of it, reasonably chuckable on B roads, right up until it was rear ended at a roundabout.
Funny you mention Neal, Reid etc, with this lock down I dug out my old PS one + TOCA and am currently thrashing round in the Vodafone liveried Primera, though that pesky Swiss bloke in the Laguna is 4 pts ahead of me at the halfway stage
A few yrs ago I had an 18 Yr old lowly Mk 1 1.6L; had been one owner from new, ~36k on the clock (it came from the IoW). Cracking thing it was, regularly get high 40s to the gallon out of it, reasonably chuckable on B roads, right up until it was rear ended at a roundabout.
Funny you mention Neal, Reid etc, with this lock down I dug out my old PS one + TOCA and am currently thrashing round in the Vodafone liveried Primera, though that pesky Swiss bloke in the Laguna is 4 pts ahead of me at the halfway stage
Awesome! I had a Sherwood green saloon for a short while. Loved it but it had been pretty badly mistreated over it's life, I was getting on top of it but a leak into the passenger foot well started and we couldn't trace it so when I got a chance at a 172 exclusive I went for that.
The garage I traded it in at couldn't get rid of it for ages and eventually it went to some old fella but didn't make it more than a year. Sad because it was a good car in most ways with a great engine. Looking back on it now I should have kept it but that's the folly of youth for you.
Looks like yours' is pretty sweet can't wait to see more.
The garage I traded it in at couldn't get rid of it for ages and eventually it went to some old fella but didn't make it more than a year. Sad because it was a good car in most ways with a great engine. Looking back on it now I should have kept it but that's the folly of youth for you.
Looks like yours' is pretty sweet can't wait to see more.
I bought one of those from a Polish chap. It was cheaper than the insurance claim after my daughter drove into it. Had 245,000 miles on it after several trips back to Poland. It drove like a dream. I had several goes at beating the dents out but didn't have a hammer big enough. My son smoked it about for a year or so then I gave it to a mate of mine. To my knowledge it's still going. Great motor. Well done.
Truly miss my old GT. sold it when I HAD to and it used to kill me seeing it out and about. Totally underrated car with surprising turn of speed for what was sold as a rep mobile.
Mine had a titanium back box on and sounded like a full on touring car over 4K.
You’ve got me searching now.......
Mine had a titanium back box on and sounded like a full on touring car over 4K.
You’ve got me searching now.......
What I remember the most is that Matt Neal was the first independent to win a race and got a sizeable check from the organisers of the BTCC
For those too young to remember...
https://www.goodwood.com/grr/race/historic/2017/4/...
For those too young to remember...
https://www.goodwood.com/grr/race/historic/2017/4/...
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