Right place at the right time.....
My mate saw the ebay advert for this one within a minute of it being posted on there and sent me the link. Well, instantly I was enthused. It's a car that I remember being innovative at the time, generally considered to be the first mpv on general sale in the UK when launched in 1982, pre-dating the Mk1 Espace by two years (1984). Memories of them being 'quirky' and 'different' flooded back. Quirky and different is what I like. And what I am, according to Mrs Geordie.
Anyway, the seller received a text withing 5 minutes of the advert going up, from me, and ten minutes later, I had agreed a price, satisfied him I was a genuine buyer, and the advert was binned. The seller had seen it in the garage of another house in his neighbourhood, and knew it hadn't moved out of there in a few years. He struck up a conversation with the houseowner, and it transpires the lady's husband had purchased the car new in 1989 from their local Nissan dealership, AFG in Doncaster. He had used it constantly, but lightly, until he had passed away in 2015, whereupon the car was garaged and mothballed. Until now.
It's a 1.8SGL, and has covered a mere 34k miles. A steady, regular 34k miles, rather than the 34k miles of my Stanza, which were accumulated in the first three years of it's life ('84-'87), then put into stasis for 32 years, like Ripley in Aliens! Quite freaky how both of them are on 34k miles though, and both with only one (original purchaser) owner before me.
I always loved these, like I said. The two rear sliding doors were always a magical, innovative design feature to me in the early eighties, as was the lack of the B pillars. As a kid, I always imagined myself jumping in one side, pretend NYPD gun in one hand and hopping out the other in one constant flow of energy and fitness. I can't do that now of course, my muscles, bones and sinews are knackered, but that memory never left me.
A car that I never got round to posting a thread on here on RR had to sadly leave stage left in order to make room for the Prairie. The Sunny Estate was a great little car, another rare thing these days, but I needed the space, and a friend was keen on buying it from me, so away it went....
A first look round the Prairie showed up a couple of insecure bumpers, a couple of slightly cracked and damaged repeater lenses, one of the front sidelight/repeater lenses the wrong way round (I had to google which one was wrong...), a few dents and scuffs....all things that I expect from a car owned by an, erm, senior citizen without parking sensors. Good things from the initial walkround was the fact that it starts and stops very well, although the very high clutch makes the going bit not so easy. The interior smells a bit, but is absolutely mint. The seats have no rips, tears or holes, the carpets aren't stained, and everything works (not that there is a lot to go wrong). Even the sunroof tilts open and doesn't seem to leak. There's a missing wheel trim, and the other three aren't original, so I've been lucky enough to find a set of original Prairie specific 13" wheel trims. Looking forward to getting them on, as I think they'll make a huge difference. Anyway, some pics....
Original bill of sale, showing a £200 part-ex of a Cortina!
High security measures...
Another innovative thing at the time for a passenger car, the flat load floor
The mighty CA18
Original dealer rear plate...
Fold away window winder on the rear sliding door
So turns out the nearside lens was the wrong way round
Seats that fold down into a bed...
A few alongside my Stanza, also 34k miles...
The old fella who owned it had his name on the bonnet in sticky decals. I think I'll be keeping them on as a bit of a tribute...
Bumpers get some love...
Better...
Lens the wrong way round...
....and now corrected...
So, plans? After a couple of coats of a slightly abrasive polish, most of the car has come up pretty well. My initial idea was to spend some money on it, give it a full respray, and make it minty mint. Now it seems the bodywork is not as bad as I'd thought, I think a minor bodywork resto, like sorting the dents and scuffs, securing the bumpers etc might be the best way to go, keeping some of the imperfections of it's history. Still undecided though. I''ll see if I can adjust the clutch so it's not so high. If not, it'll be getting a new cable and/or clutch. It'll obviously get a full service as well including timing belt, oil, plugs, filters. Oh, and fit that full set of Prairie wheel trims.
You know me....updates to come...
My mate saw the ebay advert for this one within a minute of it being posted on there and sent me the link. Well, instantly I was enthused. It's a car that I remember being innovative at the time, generally considered to be the first mpv on general sale in the UK when launched in 1982, pre-dating the Mk1 Espace by two years (1984). Memories of them being 'quirky' and 'different' flooded back. Quirky and different is what I like. And what I am, according to Mrs Geordie.
Anyway, the seller received a text withing 5 minutes of the advert going up, from me, and ten minutes later, I had agreed a price, satisfied him I was a genuine buyer, and the advert was binned. The seller had seen it in the garage of another house in his neighbourhood, and knew it hadn't moved out of there in a few years. He struck up a conversation with the houseowner, and it transpires the lady's husband had purchased the car new in 1989 from their local Nissan dealership, AFG in Doncaster. He had used it constantly, but lightly, until he had passed away in 2015, whereupon the car was garaged and mothballed. Until now.
It's a 1.8SGL, and has covered a mere 34k miles. A steady, regular 34k miles, rather than the 34k miles of my Stanza, which were accumulated in the first three years of it's life ('84-'87), then put into stasis for 32 years, like Ripley in Aliens! Quite freaky how both of them are on 34k miles though, and both with only one (original purchaser) owner before me.
I always loved these, like I said. The two rear sliding doors were always a magical, innovative design feature to me in the early eighties, as was the lack of the B pillars. As a kid, I always imagined myself jumping in one side, pretend NYPD gun in one hand and hopping out the other in one constant flow of energy and fitness. I can't do that now of course, my muscles, bones and sinews are knackered, but that memory never left me.
A car that I never got round to posting a thread on here on RR had to sadly leave stage left in order to make room for the Prairie. The Sunny Estate was a great little car, another rare thing these days, but I needed the space, and a friend was keen on buying it from me, so away it went....
A first look round the Prairie showed up a couple of insecure bumpers, a couple of slightly cracked and damaged repeater lenses, one of the front sidelight/repeater lenses the wrong way round (I had to google which one was wrong...), a few dents and scuffs....all things that I expect from a car owned by an, erm, senior citizen without parking sensors. Good things from the initial walkround was the fact that it starts and stops very well, although the very high clutch makes the going bit not so easy. The interior smells a bit, but is absolutely mint. The seats have no rips, tears or holes, the carpets aren't stained, and everything works (not that there is a lot to go wrong). Even the sunroof tilts open and doesn't seem to leak. There's a missing wheel trim, and the other three aren't original, so I've been lucky enough to find a set of original Prairie specific 13" wheel trims. Looking forward to getting them on, as I think they'll make a huge difference. Anyway, some pics....
Original bill of sale, showing a £200 part-ex of a Cortina!
High security measures...
Another innovative thing at the time for a passenger car, the flat load floor
The mighty CA18
Original dealer rear plate...
Fold away window winder on the rear sliding door
So turns out the nearside lens was the wrong way round
Seats that fold down into a bed...
A few alongside my Stanza, also 34k miles...
The old fella who owned it had his name on the bonnet in sticky decals. I think I'll be keeping them on as a bit of a tribute...
Bumpers get some love...
Better...
Lens the wrong way round...
....and now corrected...
So, plans? After a couple of coats of a slightly abrasive polish, most of the car has come up pretty well. My initial idea was to spend some money on it, give it a full respray, and make it minty mint. Now it seems the bodywork is not as bad as I'd thought, I think a minor bodywork resto, like sorting the dents and scuffs, securing the bumpers etc might be the best way to go, keeping some of the imperfections of it's history. Still undecided though. I''ll see if I can adjust the clutch so it's not so high. If not, it'll be getting a new cable and/or clutch. It'll obviously get a full service as well including timing belt, oil, plugs, filters. Oh, and fit that full set of Prairie wheel trims.
You know me....updates to come...
