GTAm

Hi Dude, Great to hear from you. My greabox internals were shredded at high speed one early morning when I was blasting of to Kandy a city close to Colombo but with winding roads. Something broke inside. I had been neglecting the worn sychro noises for years. There is no hope of rebuilding that as the gear wheels are mangled . Yeah mine is the 1300 box and I thing it needs another ratio as even on 5th its accelerating . My engine does not overheat it just develops a miss at highish temps which makes it sound not so tasty as it is when cool. Driving it even in the traffic on our poor roads can be frustrating but I do it anyway. I used to use the car about 3 days a week going for a jog or place tennis or squash in the evenings. It's a real joy to drive as you will agree. Being LHD overtaking is hard for me as this is a RHD country. But I've got used to it. And the acceleration is super. I constantly outsprint many newer cars on the road, usually baffling the other drivers who must be wondering what the hell this car is!! Really miss it being out of order. I will get you more pics. On the 17th I will get new ones. Send me your email and I will send them to you. Btw about some of the cars you owned......The Lancia Thema.....I did not know it came with a V6?? Wasn't it the 2.0 Turbo i e. and the 8.32 Ferrari V8? Did they use the Arese V6?

My pal is getting a single carb 1500 engine installed. Nadeera is doing it.

The DVD is available with Romesh 0777386373. Sure mate. We are waiting for a few more details to be sorted. Should be all confirmed by end of this week. Will keep you posted. Hoping to start from the Galadari Car Park and end up at Browns Bech Hotel Negombo, but there's an interesting route that has been plotted. Will keep you posted. Yes we are planning another track day for early next year!

Well the history of your car sounds very similar to mine. Mine was originally a 1300 and had a "miss" that could never be sorted out. At that time I could not afford a fully blown re-build, so I looked for a used engine. I finally found a 1600 in Canada through the club there. And it just slotted in and I have been running it ever since but there has always been a "miss" developing at high temperature. My gearbox was crunching since day one and recently it went bang and I'm awaiting a used box from Australia. I usually buy spares from the UK ok the US and its not cheap when you consider how poor our currency is. Anyway I have now decided to take it apart and do the body rot that has set it, which means a complete resto. Yeah they do rot but this is the first time I'm doing it since I bought it. I have raced her at our local race track twice and taken part in a hill climb once through the Classic car club of Ceylon. The first time it was totally out classed as it was running only on 3 cylinders. The second time I was leading my event by a big margin when the clutch decided to let go. Won the hill climb though. Apart from those, it's been very reliable. Never ever breaking down in everyday use. Btw mine is a LHD and was brought here specifically for competition I am told. There were 5 Bertones in Sri Lanka. But now only 3 are known to survive. The other is a step front junior.

Ok then I see your point about the size. Also I agree there's little point in buying a sports car with an auto box.

Next we have a rally on the 17th of December. The 1750 GTV belongs to one Mr. Alles, who owns many classic cars.

Hi Pb2k, Great to have someone who speaks my language here at last!. I live in Colombo and have 4 Alfas. Of course I am a big fan. Once you've got used to an Alfa Romeo nothing else will do eh? BMWs used to be my choice before I discovered Alfas. I own a GT junior, Alfetta GTV 2000, SudSprint Veloce and for everyday use I have a 156. I am part of the club in SL. These are two of my babes. The Other two are still in hospital. The Alfetta is nearly complete, while the Sprint has a long way to go.

Can't say that I ever found Mazda spares pricey. And anyway the Mazdas I owned almost never broke down. The Miata is a small two seater sports car and its size makes it nimble. BTW its best selling sports car of all time!

Yes I hear you. I know the D8 (pre-facelift). Btw how much for a GF reg D9 with 95k on the clock? Brand new import and company maintained. Alloys but no leather.

I agree. And why is it not a world wide hit as yet. I don't anything in foreign mags or webs.

Brought down by a company called Christy Lanka Garments according to my contact.

I've heard that new cars have gone up 14%.

If the condition is good 800k is a bargain. Usually they go for above 1m. I bought one about 7 months back for 1.1 and sold it after about 3 months for 1.25m. I spent about 100k on replacing parts. Actually I liked the car. The ride quality was great.

I thought its obvious. Well its called bad management. Its not that they want to do that. But they do not want to do what is needed by the customer, they don't want to make an effort. They're stuck in their old fashioned ways. Anyway they got a diagnostic computer for Mazda for the first time only this year!!!!! That says it all really!

A friend of mine saw a DB9 just out of the port on Friday evening. He was too stunned to take a pic on his phone. Anyone knows who has got it?

I agree. I think Mazdas are very underrated cars and have been for a while now. I have had a few Mazdas in the past and they have always been better in every way. that their Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi rivals in my opinion. I had a 92 Interplay and it was one of the most fun cars I had and thrashed around. It handled well too apart from being very quick - I was only overtaken twice, once by a Merc E class and another time by a Peugeot 605 two more powerful cars. Then I had a 97 Familia Turbo Diesel Intercooler with the air scoop. I really thrashed that car too drove it hard. While it was not as fast and had nose heavy handling unlike the Interplay, I engjoyed the Turbo kick in and the fuel economy. I bought the car unreg and sold it in exactly 3 years. All I ever replaced was a pair of rubber bushes in the front suspension and a set of brake pads! They've been utterly reliable vehicles. Our companys had quite a few Mazda (Bongo) vans and they too have been real work horses. I think the 3 looks good for a Jap car and the 6 look very good. The Rx8 looks great and I'd love to have MX-5 someday. The agents in SL have tried hard to kill this brand but it has stayed popular because of its good products!

Interesting post. There was a fun comp on the Auto Express web as well where you had to choose ten cars if you had a 1 million pound budget. In the UK cars are so much cheaper... Ok in SL this would be my ten. With colours. 1. Pearlscent light blue Maserati Quattroporte - Everyday drive 2. Dark Grey Range Rover (not the Sport) V8 Diesel - For rainy days and visiting my imaginary estate! 3. Red Ferrari 575 Supermerica - Special occassions, and Sundays. 4. Black Ferrari F430 Belinetta - No reason I just want one. 5. Black Lamboghini Countach LP500 - My Classic Car! 6. Pearlscent white Alfa Romeo Spider (The new one that's based on the Brera) - babe puller 7. White Lancia Delta S4 with Martini Stripes (this is the group B rally car 450-600bhp) - To out drag all the Evos and Subarus on a wet day. 8. Red Alfa Romeo 8C - My limited edition car. - Very special occassions? 9. Aerial Atom in any colour - Track day car 1. 10. Light green Porsche 911 GT3 RS - Track day car 2

There are a few E46 and E36 Coupes and Convertibles. The E30 never came as a Coupe it was just a 2 door sedan. That's how BMW refered to it. The original M3 was a 2 door sedan. There is one E30 convertible here. A white 320i.

Usually Asian car makers do a poor job in copying other manufacturers' designs. But I must say the Koreans and especially Kia have got all the expert copy cats to themselves. Can't blame only them though they're just following what their highly successful neighbour Japan did 30 years ago and some of them still do. The Station wagons' rear three quarter glass looks very Peugeot 407 SW and the five door hatch C-pillar looks very Mazda 3 hatch doesn't it?

Hi dude, There are many dealers in SL. I don't have their contact details. A walk through Panchikawatte should sort you out. There is a club here and you should contact them. I'm sure they'll be able to help you. You may call Nimal - 0777777069. He is a member of the club.

I remember seeing a green Z1 in the early 90s. Used to come to Bri P's garage for servicing. I think it had British plates on. Not seen it after. maybe it went back to the UK. Anyone knows this car or what happend to it? The Z1 was a limited run convertible made of composite plastics and had doors that just slid down to allow access in to the seat. Itw as based on the E30 mechanicals.

It's actually the new Ford Mondeo which has yet to hit the dealers in Europe. Quite funky looking compared with the quite boring looking current Mondeo. Lots of Italian cars use Alcantara it's like suede but feels better. NIce feel but not sure it last very long especially in our climate. Isn't the old Bond Car very Sexy? Aston Martin DB5.

A guy called Rohan - 0712777776. Not sure how good the job was. But if it was a write off chances are that there are flaws. I am told he'll ask for the moon..........u have been warned! The one on the Kotte-T'wathugoda rd? It's owned by a guy called Chanaka. That garage there should have his contact details. The other (Restored) one is owned by Shanaka Jinasena (Water pumps). They own lots of other classic cars.

Nadeera's dad is very good, reasonable and a nice guy and I take most of my cars there. Only thing is he'll give you a bit of extra grease on your interior

Generally Vintage means Pre-war. So that 328 (never seen but only heard about) is the only known Vintage BM. There are a few potential classic BMWs though. One is the 1970s 3.0 CSi Coupe. Not seen it for a while now. The guy who owns it got the CSL kit on it. The CSLs which were production cars of the ETCC machines were made for homologation purposes. It;s call the "Batmobile" because of the big wings and spoilers. Then there's the E21 323i. 150bhp I think. I know the owner. Then there are two 1st Gen 528s in SL. One is in very good shape, fully restored and the other is out by the road on the Kotte Thalawathugoda road right now. Apart from the 2002s at the show I know another and its owner. I was recently told that there's a 2002 Turbo here . Yet to see it or get it confirmed. Then there are two 635CSi to my knowledge. I've seen one and know the owner. The E34 M5 which was an insurance write off is on the road again. Oh and there is the BMW Isetta (bubble car) which was also on display towards the entrence of the Motor show.