Randhiv

Top 5 5. Golf R32 - (in the middle east) 4. Proton Satria GTi 3. Citroen Saxo VTS 2. Renault 5 GT Turbo 1. Renault Clio 182 - (in the middle east) The most memorable was a Fiat 600D which belonged to a client of mine, it took only 10 mins and was confined to Charles Drive. absolute fun, not exactly a 'hot hatch' but it was right up there in the fun meter.

BY far the best I've seen... 1. Vanishing Point 2. C'était un "Rendezvous" ("It was a date") is a short film (under 10 minutes) made in 1976 by Claude Lelouch, showing a high speed drive through Paris..unbelieveable driving. 3. The Gumball Rally 4. gone in 60 secs (original in 1976) 5. Bullitt - Steve McQueen Just to name a few..

My good friend, the EK3 is a wise choice keeping re-sale and fuel in mind but its as common as an i-Pod and boring as going on a date with your sister.. Primera Hyper CVT M6 is a gem but dont touch it, its plagued with a terminal illness that would not give up until the 'box is dead. Go for the Primera 2.0, manual shift SR20DE engine, now that is a real race-bred powerplant., I know its a sacrifice, but cars are things that are best enjoyed when chosen from the heart and not from the head. Besides, imagine the feeling when you eat an EK3 for breakfast each morning at a traffic light.. I'm sure you'd make the right choice..

Forget the 28- pickup, there arent any good ones left anymore, they suffer from front suspension issues and corrosion..even of you get one it will be a heap of rust and basically like marrying your mother-in-law. With your budget, go for a Daihatsu Jeep, the tiny little green fellow's, remember them? they never really had model names, often referred to as the Rocky. Superb 2.8L toyota engine, rock solid suspension, easy driver, awesome off-road and with some nice steele rims looks cool too.. Make sure you buy something that has not been modified, basic and original..dont be fooled by CD players, alloy wheels and fancy seats, most people are very talented in screwing vehicles up! Take my advice man! All the best.

Hi Nihal, First of all let me congratulate you on choosing a bigger Japanese car over a smaller one, most people nowadays go for better fuel consumption and live with small, uncomfortable and relatively unsafe cars. I will always recommend a bigger car that does 6-7 kmpl rather than a smaller 'sedan' that does 9-10kmpl, do the calculations and see how much you really save per month...nothing!! rather sacrifice a few km's per liter and travel in luxury and relative safety. Getting down to your question of 'which car', apart from the Honda Accord, all other options you are considering have 6-cylinder engines, both Toyota MKll and Chaser have straight-6 'beams 2000' (developed by Yamaha) 2000cc engines and are pretty much built on the same paltform. Pushing out Approx 140bhp both these cars go by the same model code, '92-'96 model was the X90 and '96-'00 was named the X100, solid, spacious and stupendeously reliable! better resale value thanks to the that Toyota badge riverted to the front grille and boot-lid. You would absolutely love long distance driving in any of these two. The Honda Accord does'nt come close in this comparison (on the other hand, the Honda Legend would), although well built, it lacks charisma and has absolutely no character especially in this segment, no doubt a good car, but not the kind of car you would spend hours just silently sitting down and looking at..its a doctors car, just like BMW's are cars for guys with small penis's..mind my language, but you know what I mean. And now for the Nissan's....Let me confess that I have always had a soft spot for Nissan's.., Nissan is Japan's Alfa Romeo, it oozes character, charm and down-right passion..it's thirsty but you would forgive its apetite when you listen to its sweet revving V6 engine, as found in the Cefiro, code named VQ20DE. this engine is so silent you need to constantly check the RPM guage to confirm if its running or not, no wonder it has won the 'Ward's 10 Best Engines' for nine years in a row., it pushes out a respectable 160bhp (NEO-Di version, make sure you buy this version only!) and has more interior space than the Toyota's. A well tuned VQ20DE NEO Di will retutrn an average of 6-7kmpl if driven sensibly, and the sound that eminates from the tail pipe is like 50 women calling you to bed at the same time!. awesome.. It all boils down to what you want, forget the Honda, the biggest difference is that the Toyota MK2 and Chaser are rear-wheel driven and the Cefiro is a front wheel drive. On the other hand, the cefiro will be cheaper to buy, consume the same amount of fuel (remember to look for the NEO Di version). So the difference is front or rear wheel drive..if you are a fan of rear wheel drive, dont give up on Nissan just yet..the Nissan Cedric and the Nissan Laurel are rear wheel driven and still cheaper..better in my opinion too.. Anyway, All the best., Let us know what you end up buying..

I believe its called a Strato-Chief..'56 '57 era, the 3-speed is either a GM torque-flight or a Dyna-Flow.

Thanks alot Harshan, I shall go check it out anyway. The Datsun in the online classified ad appearing above is actually not the real picture of the actual car, it was a borrowed image, however its the same guy who has a car in kandy..the one I'm going to have a look at., the bloke is overseas now and the car is with his father-in-law, did a lot of detective work to get the phone number! What great lengths we go for cars..amazing! Thanks again for the info, I shall go check it out. cheers.

Well, Independent Rear Suspension to start with..solid build quality and absolutely stunning design..perrrfect for classic events and hill climbs.. I would really appreciate it if you get me some info Elvis..really would be great to hear of it. PLs let me know. Many thanks.

Thanks Fred. Nothing like a fast classic.. Lets hope the drive to Kandy will be a deal made. Will keep you posted.

Yes, you're right the 510 won the '71 and 72' Trans-Am, quite alot of history for this little japanese car.. What amazes me most is that back in the 60's, Datsun built this car with independant rear suspension! still most modern day production cars have a silly trailing link set-up, mostly for cost saving reasons.. The L series engine was one of the first ever in its class to have an OHC engine. Its built like a tank and looks as good as any period european car. This was the era that the japanese built cars to last, built cars for a reason. Thanks KLM

Thanks Ripper, thats nice of you. Yep there are plenty of engine swap options, but for those of us in the lower end of the food-chain a panchikawatte option is the best way budget wise I'm planning on doing most of the work myself, might need a new tool shed! Hopefully with a some elbow grease and repeated references to an old w/s manual I picked up, we should be able to get an old 510 back to "East Arica Safari Rally" standard..well almost hopefully. The reason I'm so fussy about the condition is that I need a structurally strong/rigid car, the cars should be dead-staright, the rest can be fixed. Oh dear I've said too much..bet you guys now know what my evil plan is. Keep it comin' fellow motorheads.

I'm looking for a Datsun Bluebird dubbed the "510", often referred to as the "poor man's BMW" I'm new to Autolanka and am glad to know such a community exists for us petrol heads.. The Datsun "510" began production in the late 60's through to the early 70's.. amazing car. If anyone knows of one or seen one anywhere in SL, pls let me know.., I have an evil plan I'm brewing.. PS: I've already spotted 6 such cars; 1. 1600cc 4-door (by far the best) lost it to a another bidder who was quick to produce the cash..(it was in his pocket ) 2. 1300cc 4-door (best body condition, show worthy example) but the down-side being column shift 3-forward and 1300cc engine (no engine swap is possible due to rarity of these models) 3. 1300cc 2-door A very protective owner who almost called the cops on me for pestering him to part with it..didnt go well, lovely 2-door though.. 4. 1300-cc 4-door caught in the classifieds, absolutely messed up with column-shift converted to floor shift and a nissan HB13 steering wheel...the ist of cheap retro fits go on and on... 5. 1300cc 4-door (I believe) rotting away on the side of the rajagiriya madinnagoda rd; too far gone to resurrect.. 6. 1400cc 4-door (Rare engine option L14) all the way off 30km from kandy, established contact with owner but need to do a drive upto determine actual condition. Please help if you know of any others.. Many thanks.

I'm looking for a Datsun Bluebird dubbed the "510", often referred to as the "poor man's BMW" I'm new to Autolanka and am glad to know such a community exists for us petrol heads.. The Datsun "510" began production in the late 60's through to the early 70's.. amazing car. If anyone knows of one or seen one anywhere in SL, pls let me know.., I have an evil plan I'm brewing.. PS: I've already spotted 6 such cars; 1. 1600cc 4-door (by far the best) lost it to a another bidder who was quick to produce the cash..(it was in his pocket ) 2. 1300cc 4-door (best body condition, show worthy example) but the down-side being column shift 3-forward and 1300cc engine (no engine swap is possible due to rarity of these models) 3. 1300cc 2-door A very protective owner who almost called the cops on me for pestering him to part with it..didnt go well, lovely 2-door though.. 4. 1300-cc 4-door caught in the classifieds, absolutely messed up with column-shift converted to floor shift and a nissan HB13 steering wheel...the ist of cheap retro fits go on and on... 5. 1300cc 4-door (I believe) rotting away on the side of the rajagiriya madinnagoda rd; too far gone to resurrect.. 6. 1400cc 4-door (Rare engine option L14) all the way off 30km from kandy, established contact with owner but need to do a drive upto determine actual condition. Please help if you know of any others.. Many thanks fella's.