Bonjour, tout le monde!
Now then.
I spent months towards the end of 2013 looking for a nice Mazda Capella or Savanna coupe to import but I couldn't find one in budget that was right for my needs (a small project, few missing parts, minor repairs) one garage I spoke to had (and still have) both a Capella and a Savanna Coupe (sadly are both LHD US Imports) but, in an email with pictures regarding the Mazdas, I saw they had this little Nissan tucked away in the back of a barn, when I saw it, I had to have it!
The story goes (according to the seller) that the car was built as a race car in the 70's and has always been a race car. Looked after by Refresh60 at some point in its life (oddly has some TRD/Tosco parts) but for the last 14 years hasn't been used. The owner use to race it, but then built an S30 and races that in the JCCA F class:
The seller, Masami Yoshida, has lots of old JDM Junk lying about and was great to deal with, but he didn't have any experience of exporting cars, I've imported a few in the past using agents in Japan, but none wanted to touch this (as it's a non runner and I wanted it container shipped)I guess they are after a quick, easy transaction with minimum work and maximum profit. After almost losing hope (2 months in of contacting people every day) I found someone willing to help me, and he is a fan of Nissans, bonus! I'm not sure if he wants to be associated with the car, so I won't be name dropping yet, but his enthusiasm and love for my car matched my own. It was a breath of fresh air to be honest...
Sadly this will be a very slow restoration as I'm getting the car shipped to the UK and I won't be joining it for a minimum of 11 months as I've had my overseas contract extended.
I'll pop over to spend a weekend with it and make a list of what it needs and then spend the next year buying parts for it so that when I do return, I can get stuck in. ETA is mid/late July, hopefully I'll be able to go back to the UK then to see it (I'll be working in Breckenridge, Colorado first 2-3 weeks of July so hopefully it'll tie in with my return)
I know it'll need some parts and a lot of work to get it back to where it should be, but I'm looking forward to it.
Now for the interesting bit, the pictures.
TRD 11500rpm rev counter
Some spare parts:
SSR MK1s will be sold, no idea what the wheels on the right are, any help? Pistons in a box are never a good thing :roll:
Refresh60 decal on an (So I've been fold) FIA Rear spoiler.
TRD Seat? Not 100% sure but does look like the old TRD/Tosco seat.
Can't quite make out what this says:
Close up of that TRD gauge
And those wheels again:
Tosco on the front:
SSR MK3 on the read:
Bonnet and boot are glass fibre
Built by 'Suppose'
Earl's front mount oil cooler. Very cool 8)
ATL Fuel cell in the boot:
Deliberately I've missed out the engine pictures, it should be an L18 'race' engine, but I won't know this until I get it home and get it apart, sadly the intake manifold and carbs, along with the exhaust manifold have been removed (any 510 owners have dual side draft carbs lying about please get in touch) but they did leave the cool side exit muffler.
A few areas of concern on the body but they could be poor paint (the hood looks rusty from the pictures but being FRP it's clearly poor paint) but I'm prepared for the worst. I know I have a long journey ahead of me, the agent in Japan thinks its nothing to worry about. Hopefully I haven't bitten off more than I can chew!
Cordialement,
RW
Now then.
I spent months towards the end of 2013 looking for a nice Mazda Capella or Savanna coupe to import but I couldn't find one in budget that was right for my needs (a small project, few missing parts, minor repairs) one garage I spoke to had (and still have) both a Capella and a Savanna Coupe (sadly are both LHD US Imports) but, in an email with pictures regarding the Mazdas, I saw they had this little Nissan tucked away in the back of a barn, when I saw it, I had to have it!
The story goes (according to the seller) that the car was built as a race car in the 70's and has always been a race car. Looked after by Refresh60 at some point in its life (oddly has some TRD/Tosco parts) but for the last 14 years hasn't been used. The owner use to race it, but then built an S30 and races that in the JCCA F class:
The seller, Masami Yoshida, has lots of old JDM Junk lying about and was great to deal with, but he didn't have any experience of exporting cars, I've imported a few in the past using agents in Japan, but none wanted to touch this (as it's a non runner and I wanted it container shipped)I guess they are after a quick, easy transaction with minimum work and maximum profit. After almost losing hope (2 months in of contacting people every day) I found someone willing to help me, and he is a fan of Nissans, bonus! I'm not sure if he wants to be associated with the car, so I won't be name dropping yet, but his enthusiasm and love for my car matched my own. It was a breath of fresh air to be honest...
Sadly this will be a very slow restoration as I'm getting the car shipped to the UK and I won't be joining it for a minimum of 11 months as I've had my overseas contract extended.
I'll pop over to spend a weekend with it and make a list of what it needs and then spend the next year buying parts for it so that when I do return, I can get stuck in. ETA is mid/late July, hopefully I'll be able to go back to the UK then to see it (I'll be working in Breckenridge, Colorado first 2-3 weeks of July so hopefully it'll tie in with my return)
I know it'll need some parts and a lot of work to get it back to where it should be, but I'm looking forward to it.
Now for the interesting bit, the pictures.
TRD 11500rpm rev counter
Some spare parts:
SSR MK1s will be sold, no idea what the wheels on the right are, any help? Pistons in a box are never a good thing :roll:
Refresh60 decal on an (So I've been fold) FIA Rear spoiler.
TRD Seat? Not 100% sure but does look like the old TRD/Tosco seat.
Can't quite make out what this says:
Close up of that TRD gauge
And those wheels again:
Tosco on the front:
SSR MK3 on the read:
Bonnet and boot are glass fibre
Built by 'Suppose'
Earl's front mount oil cooler. Very cool 8)
ATL Fuel cell in the boot:
Deliberately I've missed out the engine pictures, it should be an L18 'race' engine, but I won't know this until I get it home and get it apart, sadly the intake manifold and carbs, along with the exhaust manifold have been removed (any 510 owners have dual side draft carbs lying about please get in touch) but they did leave the cool side exit muffler.
A few areas of concern on the body but they could be poor paint (the hood looks rusty from the pictures but being FRP it's clearly poor paint) but I'm prepared for the worst. I know I have a long journey ahead of me, the agent in Japan thinks its nothing to worry about. Hopefully I haven't bitten off more than I can chew!
Cordialement,
RW
Will it be staying as a race car I guess?
