Seth wrote:That Mini looks brilliant. A rather off shade of green or brown or something like that and sitting there on its totally unblingy black 10" wheels.
Brammy wrote:This thread has been epic so far, thanks a lot for all the shots and words so far, definitely something I will read again in the future. I don't know why, but I always had a feeling Lancias the like were never sold over there? I can't quite think why, it could be to do with the fact that like the US, the area has a wealth of local motor industry, and thus, due to the also massive influx of J-Tin, I didn't think stuff like Deltas would even sell single figures, guess I was really wrong on that count!
Also, RE the prolonged camera adjustment, I have done that so many times in the past, along with the looking at street signs trying to feign a mistaken location, or my phone.
Lancias were indeed sold here Brammy but I think they may have had some success from being European and thus seen as a prestige brand. I'm assuming that they were sold through Fiat dealerships (which had in the past sold CKD kits of the Fiat 125 in NZ IIRC and had great sales success with the 124 coupe, judging by their survival rate). If that was the case, it would've been a bit of a double edged sword as most Fiats would have cost less and probably have been seen as just as prestigious. Anyway, this is all surmising based purely on logic, so to be taken with a hefty pinch of salt, especially when you consider that there were a number of car makes/models sold in New Zealand and not Australia which bears no relation to logic whatsoever (when politics is taken out of the equation).
SEPTEMBER
That's right, no August update - seems that absoultely nothing happened/was logged that month; a poor show. Anyway, the 'winter' was slowly coming to an end and family members and friends were making arrangements to come and visit us over the coming year. Since we'd be expecting a fair few guests, it seemed a good idea to look for a car which we could lend out, so they could get themselves about independently to us (I have such ways of convincing Mrs_wagon that more cars make sense). It'd also act as a pool car for us, since we did insist on buying cars that weren't Toyota Corollas and thus would no doubt be spending some time off the road in the future in wait for spares. Logically therefore, I decided another Peugeot would be best [lifted from a separate thread I posted on the original forum but didn't deem worthy of bringing over on its own]:
Yesterday morning saw me scanning the latest vehicular attrocities on offer on Trademe whilst waiting for my wife to rise from the 12 hour lie-in she just has to have on a weekend. As usual the chod far outweighed the rough diamonds but something caught my eye and seemed pretty cheap and I posted a link to it on the Ebay tat, rammel and chod thread. Then, since I was on my own and had no-one else to convince me otherwise, I began plotting...
I'd sold my Sierra (to Ozzy Mandeus), Imp (Macoli) and collection of various toy and model cars when we emigrated, yet had only 'cashed in' about half of it on the Commodore, leaving me a bit of credit, so a trip was organised. The drive was just over 100km and around 90 minutes, taking into account the country roads and the campervans - summer's almost here. Part of the route was a road we'd driven along on our honeymoon a couple of years ago, so it was easy to make general conversation, rather than me banging on about a car, trying to justify its purchase even before we'd seen it. Anyway, this what greeted us on arrival:
In all fairness, we were near to a large lake and not far from the coast but the scale still made me laugh. Further down the driveway this was keeping it company:
It runs an Nissan LD28 diesel engine just like my Commodore, yet this one's supposedly 'good for 160 (km/h)', whereas mine gets very breathless (and sooty) above 100. It was also up for sale, is sort of campervan shaped (something we'd like over time) and didn't get sneered at by the domestic management, so maybe one to look at another time.
Anyway, after some prodding and poking and half-arsed test drive of the car we came to see (I'd pretty much bought it prior to viewing), a deal was struck, money changed hands and I drove home in this:
A 1984 Peugeot 505 GTI in stunning brown with either a 2.0 petrol injection engine. Here it is basking beside Lake Rotorua on the way home, whilst we stopped for coffee and a scones from a newsagents (Total - $4. I know how to show a lady a good time). The GTI bit's a bit of a let down, especially after stepping out of the 205 but in all honesty, I think I was becoming a bit blase` about that car's handling abilities, so this grounds me a little. Within the first few minutes of buying it, I thought I'd made a mistake when I noticed a bit of succeptability to side winds but the weather wasn't that great today, so I'll forgive it. After a few kilometers, I became a little more confident so gave it a bit more beans, which seemed to make a difference. All I knew about these prior to buying it was that they were supposed to ride really well and I can confirm this. Having only owned small French cars previously, this feels so much more solid and refined.
Just time to catch a long (and slightly soft) shot of this heroic giffer driving a Honda Jazz Turbo, then onwards home.
Arriving back in style, I park it up to take a couple of shots and then notice a pool of oil on the driveway 5 minutes later. the oil cap has DIESEL written on it so obviously isn't standard and the vendor said not to loosen it, as it leaks if not put back on properly. Wanting to check for mayonnaise, I obviously didn't listen to him and seem to have paid the price. Oh well, it made it home and didn't sound bad, so I'll check it in the daylight. Anyway, more pics:
It'd be nice to have a full set of the original wheels but the front ones are pretty smart so I'm not complaining. Yes, that is a patch of gaffer tape hiding a hole in the wing. Other than a couple of holes in the bottom of the front doors, I didn't find any other rust. Give me time.
The interior really is very clean - a welcome bonus on a cheap car, especially one being lent to others more fortunate.
What works:
Electric windows
Power steering
Econoscope
What doesn't:
Rev counter
Electric sunroof
Central locking (?)
Radio - but it does look cool.
Forgot how elegant the rears of the early ones are.
I'd totally forgotten to empty out the boot before leaving for home, so I've inadvertantly stolen a trolley jack and a vacuum cleaner, amongst other bits. Bonus!
Anyway, plans are to matt black the sides, lower it and then give it some inappropraite headlights. Or perhaps just fix up the relevant bits and hoik it around to friends and family.
The following weekend, I attended the local school fete, since I'd joined the local volunteer fire brigade a few months previously and they were hosting a chip pan fire demo. They were also going to make use of this:
Three guesses for its role in the day.....
Mrs_wagon took these photos, many of which were cropped to suit as she's not that great with an SLR. She did manage to capture a snapshot of rural NZ childhood quite effectively though.
Yes, that is an Iveco appliance in the background; best for emergencies. It's already had a few comedy electrical gremlins and is a 2010 model. I'm the lofty one on the far left...
It may have seemed a shame to have killed it, especially as it was for attraction rather than proper training purposes but in reality, it was absolutely beyond hope. Neither rear wheelarch was there, resulting in the struts flailing about in thin air. Certainly in stark contrast the the early GC 626 we cut up in practise a while back, which was very solid and had a lovely interior until hacked about. I shed a private tear in its memory.