GTAm

Ah a new season of motor sport!! How nice! Watched the World SBK race on Sunday on Zee Sports. Super scene with SEVEN manufacturers! The new Yamaha kid Ben Speis is amazing!

Well spotted. They've just launched the 500 in HK and the dealer has got loads of orders. Had a chat with them. Was hoping I could see the Mito in the metal but it's being into'd only next month. Looking at the number of Minis on their roads I'd say both the 500 and the Mito are going to be big hits in that market. MOST HK folk are not into cars. I met a two young locals and cars aren't even on their radar! Alarming. They thought Top Gear was a pop band and thought we were going to a concert It seems HK folk think that cars are too expensive. So I just inquired about the price of a brand new 159. USD55,000/-. How damn attractive is that? Here it'll be RS. 20m!

Since no ones replying to this..... let me start again.... E30 - Yes good. Nice car. There's a semi nice 320i for sale....... Astina/Interplay - Can you really find a decent one? Most seem buggered up or riced... AE86 Trueno - Interesting but somehow I skeptical. Not driven one for ages. Alfa 33 - Yes yes since especially there's a very nice one that might be for sale. Again don't touch a poor one unless its a bargain. Mini - Definitely a wkender only. CRX Gen2 - The more I drive my cousins car the more I'm not happy with it. Tiring ride and feel-less steering and chassis. It can handle though. No finesse for me. Nissan Presea - ???? Whaaaat??? NO WAY! It's not really a CAR for me...... JC would burn it for sure! Legacy RS - Nice. As you say clean ones may not exist. Fuel consumption is going to be your most mentioned word Can I add...... 1. Toyota MR2 - Engineered by Lotus so it handles like a dream. Looks terrible though. IMHO. 2. Fiat Punto Ser1 - Handles better than you expect and fun to drive. Economical, Good looking and easy to maintain. You might want to "enhance" the performance a bit though. 3. Something retro with modern mods to take on the daily grind? Could be a lot of work, but should be rewarding if you do it right!

Ah what music. . From the car I mean Did you notice that deflector on the left side, end of bonnet? For the wiper blade I guess???

Hey this is quite hilarious!!! Lots of us have obviously done lots of crazy stuff that we probably shouldn't have! Well here goes some of my craziest....hope they don't break too many rules. In the mid 90's I've driven around 15km in traffic, my fly undone and a chick's head below the steering! It was a nervous 15km drive in the Grand Civic. I'm not saying what was going on Did a crazy drive to Maskeliya and back in the pouring rain in an Evo 6 that scared the daylights out of the passengers. This big mouthed relative from the US has not visited us after that drive even though he's come to SL a couple of times since . We're not really missing him either . Avissawella town to Kaduwela junc took exactly 20mins with a check point stop thrown in. Scary stuff. Spun the Evo 6 with two of my best school buddies in it, as I foolishly went into a bend too fast and then like an idiot lifted off abruptly. I saw barricade gates going around us. Caught it somehow and straightened the beast. Then pretended that everything was normal. They boys we an arm each on the seat and hood lining When we got home no one uttered a word for about 5 minutes!! Before the prescribed fully running in period of the engine after its rebuild, I HAD TO thrash the Merc 500 SEC late at night to catch up and overtake my pal who took off in a hurry in his new E46 BMW 318i. Overtook him so fast that I thought that he was standing still!!! The next morning he accused me of driving like a maniac Took my Fiat 131 upto 140km/h on McCallum road and suddenly realized there was this bend on what I thought was a straight road . Too late to brake hard so I had only a second to dab the brake pedal with my left foot and take the bend at that speed. I could see the president of the Classic car club coming in the opposite direction and was picturing me being expelled from the club for writing off the presidents car and giving him a permanent disability. Again this pal of mine ( The same guy in the BM and one of the guys who were in the Evo when it spun) Was clinging onto the grab handle on the roof. Thankfully I had under-estimated a 1976 Italian Sedan's handling and the damn this went round with hardly a whisper from the tyres. Mind you this friend is still one of my best buddies. But is not very keen on being my passenger anymore I've driven off at high speed after yelling at a cop (in very polite language) who spoke very rude to me after stopping me for crossing an amber light at a pedestrian crossing, which I disputed. He used bad lingo on me when I did this. So then, so did I, and took off in my Mazda TDI. He had a Suzuki GSX 500 though . But I guess he did not have time to get on it. Was a bit worried that he'd be waiting for me outside the office area all day! I've also driven over the foot of a traffic cop on Darley road. Quite by accident this time. The poor guy was in too much pain to stop me and I was too terrified to stop and apologize

Pics from the motor show...

As mentioned before, I was lucky enough to get a surprise gift from my gf when I went to see her in HK a few weeks back. She took me for Top Gear Live!!! There was a "motor show" (said to be Hong Kong's 1st ever ) that was coupled with TG Live. Here I've posted some pics (in poor quality as it seems that she's dropped her camera and damaged it ). The motor show was small but great. It was dominated by Super cars. The hottest being the Pagani Zonda R. One of the highlights of the show was seeing Horacio Pagani walking around there. He even smiled with me, and I was itching to go say hi. But there were many "billionaire-looking" guys around him with glass flutes of Dom in their hands. I felt a bit naked.... The other highlight was seeing a 66 Ferrari 275 spider up close. Felt like hugging it. Oh and the Maser GT is a truly hot looking car.... TG Live consisted of a lot of drifting on the small "stage" Lambos, Astons, Masers, Porsches, Clios and the lot, they all drifted around making it look easy but most of us were on pins expecting a crash. The worst (best) was the TG stunt driving team in their four Renault Clios. Unbelievable! They kept cris-crossing each other, forward, reverse, donuts, sideways etc at crazy speeds and kept us on the edge of our seats. Apart from all this though it was a stand up live comedy with JC. Some of the HK folk did not get the jokes though! Luckily it was full of ex-pats....... Or else there might have been very little laughter.

Prad how about one of us getting a Countache Kit car at least ??

A clear sign that it's time to swap wheels ?

Aiyo why? I hated them too (even without owning or driving one ) I drove a friend's 1100 upto Nuwara Eliya and back........ It was an experience. Started looking at them in a different light after that.... Even considered buying one... But then sanity prevailed

As a drivers car the 141 is truly crap. When I saw so many permit cars invading our roads like locusts, I thought maybe I've been wrong about the Corolla. And also maybe it's only me who thinks it looks horrid. So I arranged a test drive...... and discovered that I was wrong because indeed I was right after all It was crap to drive. Anyways the new Civic did not stir me much either. The engine is fab as ever, but the ride is crap to an extent I cannot believe. In fact the Kia Cerato rides better than the Honda! And steering feel is only slightly better than the Coro... Best drive in that class - Impreza hatch (by a mile). Unfortunate looks though . Maz 3 s not bad either.... all round I mean.

Oh don't worry mate. Most of us here can't afford an M3 I'm sure.... Although I admire the M3, I'm sure even if I could afford one, I'll opt for a older Ferrari or 911

No no we were not the 1st owner. Maybe the 3rd or so......can't remember. Where are you located? I think it was a gent from Dehiwela, Wella or Mount (I know I'm being vague here ) who bought the car from us..... Can't recall why we sold it It was a good car but I guess I expected too much from it after the hooliganism of the Interplay. After the short throw gear change and the powerful acceleration, the BM seems sedate. But boy was it refined and well engineered. I recall how 3 years before this we nearly bought an E30. Was so crazy about the car. At the last moment the seller pulled out. So I HAD to buy one some day.

Wow nice. It's a dream car for me right now!

Well a day of hunting at Panchikatwatte may hold certain surprises. Let me check with some folk who have GM cars if there is any hope. I recall how a friend of mine found an original gasket for his Pontiac 6 cyl in a small shop in panchi.

Aussie guys can be a bit tough unless you have someone over there. They tend to be a bit lazy with overseas inquiries.... But they have well preserved used spares for almost any 70s car. I just googled these.... http://www.autosource.com.au/holden-wreckers-parts.php http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/car_i...olden_hk_wb.htm

Aussie guys can be a bit tough unless you have someone over there. They tend to be a bit lazy with overseas inquiries.... But they have well preserved used spares for almost any 70s car. I just googled these.... http://www.autosource.com.au/holden-wreckers-parts.php http://www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au/car_i...olden_hk_wb.htm

Will post a few pics tomoro...

I'm quite worried about the potential prostituting of the DS badge as a sub brand for tarted up C3s Seems like a desperate move to end in disaster. Btw Gummy, I noticed the Saxo has made its way into the LR showroom again......???

Now now CHAPPY, no Bangkok trips for you...... You need to stay home and take care of the wife. There'll be enough of kind folk out here to do the hand carrying for you I'm sure

Havn't you thought of dropping that Kawa ZX R engine into the bum of your 500 ??

Wow Zonda! Great! Congrats! You are living my dream!! Hope everything goes well. I'll start buying lottery tickets again! I know its not much hope but its the best I can offer! Have you checked our bankrupt government as yet? As grim as it sounds, it probably the only bet..... Pls post us some of you sketches....