Hirstのブログ一覧

For many years, I've wanted to drive a Subaru Alcyone SVX. I think they're a very interesting car, I love the unusual design and the big Flat-6 NA engine. My friend with the Piazza also thinks so, because he bought one recently and invited me to take a look.

He was in a pub in Chesterfield, about 80km south from me. It's only an hour drive, so I got into my car and went there that same evening. At the moment, I'm using a third-generation Ford Mondeo 1.8 Graphite. It's a temporary car I purchased to clean and sell for more money.



Although this car would be unusual in Japan, I can see hundreds of these every day. The 1.8-litre petrol engine has 125ps, so it's OK, but not very fast. Graphite is a medium grade with nice wheels and a 6CD player. I think it's quite a good car, but I prefer the first and second-generation model, they have better steering. This car feels too "electronic" to me, because of "drive-by-wire" systems instead of mechanical linkage. I like to feel the steering and the pedal response. Anyway, I got there in about one hour and could see the SVX parked outside.



Silver with black roof is a great combination! It looks like a Concept Car from the future. I still think this design looks very modern and exotic. I think the SVX is one of the best looking cars in the world. I would pick this car in the first "Gran Turismo" game all the time, haha!



The back end is nice, with a long horizontal tail light and dual exhaust pipes. I also like the "flared" rear wheel arch. From the back, it looks really wide and low. This kind of Grand Touring car is quite unusual here.



The model sold in the UK was only known as "Subaru SVX", we didn't use the "Alcyone" name. My friend wants to import the Japanese type garnish panel which says "Alcyone SVX", but there's more important work to do on the car first.



For example, the interior needs a lot of cleaning and there's a few missing parts. The car hasn't been driven for a long time until my friend got it. He changed the engine and gearbox oil earlier that day, but if a car hasn't been driven for a long time, you need to drive it for a while before it feels good. We also think the old tyres need to be replaced.



Since the car hasn't been used much, I didn't want to drive it hard. But I did drive around for about 15 minutes and enjoyed the sound of the 3.3L Flat-6 NA engine. The engine is silent until 4000rpm, then it sounds like a Porsche 911! It's great!! It had a lot of torque and the automatic gearbox "kickdown" is really smooth. You can't even feel when the car changes gear. When he is more confident about the car, I'd like to try full acceleration. I'll make a video!



After that I went home, but I stopped to take a photo of the most famous building in Chesterfield, the Church of St Mary and All Saints with its famous "crooked spire".

I'm glad I get to drive so many unusual cars!

I was looking at some old news footage from London. "Thames News" published a lot of their old footage onto the Internet. The last time I went to London was in 1992, so in my imagination it still looks like this with old cars everywhere, haha!

You can see the videos if you click the links. There's a lot more there too.

TRAFFIC: Earls Court Rd/Cromwell Rd Junction 1987



There's a T11 Stanza. In Europe, we only used the "Stanza" name but it used the bonnet/grille style from the Auster. It has chrome trim on the A-Pillar, so it's the SGL grade. I have one of these, but mine is only the GL.



I noticed an unusual car in the corner. At first, I thought it could be an American or Australian car. There's also an Escort, like two I have owned previously.



However, when it turned the corner I could see it's a 330 Cedric, but here they called it the Datsun 260C/280C.

CHISWICK ROURDABOUT - TRAFFIC 1988



On another video, there's a Quint. We called it Quintet. I have one of these too, they were fairly rare even when new due to the high cost.



Behind it, there's a Triumph Acclaim. These were a Honda Ballade, but built in the Triumph factory. They were quite popular when new and they had quite good rust protection. There's still quite a few around!



Sunny RZ-1 is in the corner. Here, we just called it "Sunny Coupe". We got these with two engines, the normal type was 1.6L E16, but there was also a sports version called the ZX which used the 1.8L CA18DE engine with 125ps. I think this is just the normal type.



Second generation Prelude is in the distance, but I can't identify the grade. These were popular too, but the third generation with flip-lights was the most popular.



N10 Pulsar was known as Datsun Cherry, due to popularity of the "Cherry" name. This is the later model. These were extremely popular and I would see these every day even into the late 1990s, because they were tough and good on fuel. It's only recently they became quite rare to see. It looks good in yellow!



This would have been nearly new at the time, V20 Camry! It looks great. It's probably the 2.0 GLi grade.



You can see it drive away, but I can't read the badges on the back, but then it pulls out in front of...



...a JR120 Piazza Turbo! It's funny to think it may even be my friend's car, he has the same car in white. But I can't read the numberplate.



Just after that, you can just see a V10 Camry in the middle. It's small, but I recognise the unusual rear arch shape and back lights. There's also another Quintet! Maybe it's the same one going around again.



Finally, you can see a 910 Bluebird at the end. If you listen carefully, you can hear the people behind the camera talking about the shot.

Anyway, maybe I'll look at some other videos later.

After a lot of searching, I've found some parts for my BF5P over the last few days.

In the UK, it's quite rare to find any type of BF-series 323-Familia. It's the same for most of my cars, so what I do most days is search auction sites for new parts. Although I have everything I need to drive the car, I like to see if I can find new parts to improve it.



I was very lucky to find these speaker covers on a scrapyard car at the other side of the country. On my car, these were missing when I got it. I've been searching for replacement ones for a very long time! I was also glad to find them in the correct blue colour.



I also found this Finish Line 550 radio. This was an Optional Accessory for 1980s-era Mazdas in UK, my GC8P 626-Capella has the same one. It's a Clarion stereo with a few design changes, such as orange display lighting to match the instrument cluster. The sound quality is quite good. I still use cassette tapes, so it's no problem for me.



Finally, I found a rare item - an instrument cluster with a tachometer! My car has the non-tachometer type. The GLX grade had tachometer on 5MT cars, non-tachometer on 3AT cars. I can tell from the 6000rpm redline that it was from a car with the carburettor-type engine like mine. The injection and turbo models had a higher redline.

Anyway, I'll probably fit these parts soon.

I was looking for parts for my BF5P and I found the brother of my car for sale on an internet auction.

All the letters of the numberplate are the same, but the number is "217" instead of "202". This means it was registered at the same location around the same time, probably sold from the same Mazda dealer. It's even the same grade, 1.5 GLX Executive Automatic.

At one time, my car could have been next to this one at the factory, the cargo ship or the Mazda dealer. That's quite interesting to me! If it was more close, I'd drive over to take a look.

I've been writing again! This time I did an article about the five earliest models of Mitsubishi to be imported in the UK, using the brand name "Colt".

Anyway, I covered five models.

- Lancer (first-generation)
- Galant (second-generation)
- Galant GTO
- Lancer Celeste
- Galant Sigma

I can't show you the words because the magazine's on sale, so you will have to imagine what I'm saying. But you can see some of the pictures.



The title is quite difficult to explain. It's wordplay, based around the expression "Cult Classics". This means something that is very well-liked by a smaller group of people, for example the film "Back to the Future" is a popular classic, but "Blade Runner" is a cult classic. I changed "Cult" to "Colt", because in the UK these older Mitsubishi models are extremely rare compared to Datsun or Toyota. This type of wordplay is quite common in English magazines...




Some of these pictures may be familiar to you. The early UK brochures used many of the same photos from Japanese brochures, though I think the Galant GTO photos were taken in the UK.



I'd like to do a feature on the 1980s-era Mitsubishi models next. Maybe I can do a feature about my Galant, but it's in storage at the moment. I need to repair some parts on it, I was using it every day for a few years. I even used it in my job to visit local businesses, haha. I decided to store it until I could spend a lot of money to repair it completely.

Anyway, I hope one day this magazine can be sold in Japan. Maybe I'll visit and sell it outside the airport from my suitcase.