Hirstのブログ一覧

I'm looking at used cars again. It's a hobby...


1988 Mazda 323 GLX Executive Saloon

Wow! This is like my BF5P, but it's the 4-door version with 5MT. Mine is 5-door with 3AT. I'd like to buy this, so I could have a matching set! But I think it's a bad idea. Having a rear wiper on a 4-door was quite unusual at the time. A lot of car magazines would mention the rear wiper.


1987 Honda Prelude 2.0 EX Automatic

I think the "EX" is the base grade. A few years ago, a friend had one of these, but the timing belt snapped and damaged the engine. I like the unusual design of the auto shifter. It reminds me of the controls for the arcade game "After Burner". If you press the button, maybe it can fire Missiles.


1988 Nissan Micra GSX 1.0 Automatic

This is a March K10, but the European name is Micra. The "GSX" was a high grade model with a lot of features. It looks quite good in the photos, but a lot of areas have been repaired with aerosol can. It may be quite untidy. But the mileage is low and it's easy to repair.


1992 Honda Accord 2.0i Automatic

With a 2.0-litre injection engine, this will be great to drive. I like the twin tailpipe on this model. I've tried to buy this type of Accord a few times, but they always seem to sell for more than I want to pay. I have owned the following model of Accord, though.


1991 Toyota TownAce Turbo Diesel 4WD Super Extra

In the late 1990s, a lot of used cars were imported to the UK from Japan. Usually they were MPVs, 4WDs or sports cars. This type of TownAce was very popular, because they had very high specifications with a very nice interior. Usually you could still see the old Japanese inspection stickers, parking permits and dealer decals.


1989 Daihatsu Charade GTti

This is incredible! The Charade GTti was the UK name for the GT-TX model, with 1.0 DOHC 12V Turbo Intercooler and Fuel Injection. The GTti is probably the most well-known and most desirable Daihatsu performance car in the UK. This one is a Left Hand Drive import from Gibraltar. The price is extremely high, but it's rare to find these with low mileage and the condition is nearly perfect.

Maybe later I'll post some more cars.

Sometimes I like to look on car sales websites to see what old cars are for sale. Even if I'm not thinking of buying anything, it's interesting to me. So I'll show you what I've seen today on the eBay website.


1983 Mazda B1800

It's rare to find commercial vehicles in good condition! There's a lot of rust in the pickup bed. It could be very rusty underneath, but the cab section looks good. Maybe you could use the pickup bed section from a different pickup truck to repair it. It looks to be original specification apart from the seats. At the moment it's an auction with two days remaining, so the price will probably increase soon.


1988 Mazda 323 1.3 Javelin

Here's a BF Familia-323. "Javelin" is a late-specification BF model. It's similar to the basic grade "LX" model, but with a few improvements to specification. They fitted big bumpers to this model, so it looks quite modern. There's a lot of white spots on the engine. You get these spots on engines if they haven't been run for a while.


1985 Nissan Sunny 1.5 SGL

B11 Sunny 4-door! One of my friends has one of these. This one looks quite good, but there's a few areas of rust. "SGL" is a high grade with nice seats and a digital clock. The 1.5 engine should be quite powerful too. These were very popular, about 10 years ago I would usually see one every day.


1985 Nissan Sunny 1.5 SGL Estate

B11 Sunny Estate! It's the same engine and grade as the other one. In the UK, we call "Wagon" an "Estate". I think this one looks better than the 4-door. It would be good to buy both of them and have a matching set. I think I've seen this for sale before, I remember the "SEA" numberplate.


1987 Honda Accord Aerodeck 2.0i EX ALB

Accord Aerodeck. These usually sell for a good price, but this one doesn't look like it can be repaired easily. It's probably going to be bought for spare parts only. Even though the car is so rusty, the pop-up headlights still work!


1983 Subaru GLF 4WD Estate Automatic

This was called "GLF" in the UK, but I know it's a Leone. It looks so cool! The price is extremely high and the car has a lot of areas needing repair, though. I think it's worth about £1000. Older Subaru 4WDs are very rare here. Most of the original owners were farmers who would drive them on fields, so they had a lot of rust problems. But I really like the design of the car.


1986 Toyota Camry 2.0 GLi

This Camry looks great! I really like the digital dashboard. It only has a few months of MOT (inspection) left. Usually the only problem with this type of car is rust, 1980s-era Toyotas are very strong. By the way, the unusual numberplate on the front is a special "trade plate" for a car business to use when driving it.

Anyway, I'll stop looking at cars. I may accidentally buy one.

I wrote an article for a car magazine. They gave me a free copy today! I remember what I typed, but they did the photos and layout. It's four pages long and 2500 words, that's the longest article I ever typed.

My article's about Honda cars. This year was the 50 year anniversary of Honda cars in the UK, since we first got the S800 in 1966. The magazine editor wanted me to write about five different cars. However, other people already did articles about the NSX, Prelude and Civic first-generation. So I had to pick other cars except these.

I wrote about some general history, but also these cars:
Honda S800 (1966-70): First Honda car sold in the UK.
Honda Accord 1st (1976-81): - Good ratings in British car magazines. They liked the handling and cool styling. Also, I previously owned one, haha.
Honda Civic 3rd (1983-87): New aerodynamic "nose-cone" styling and popular related models like CR-X, Shuttle, Ballade.
Honda Legend 2nd (1990-95): Advanced luxury car, developed from the first-generation model and the NSX.
Honda Integra 3rd Type R model (1995-01): First Type R Honda to be sold in UK. A specialist model developed by engineers.



There's my name! I'd like to show you the article text, but the magazine is still on sale. Maybe later I could post it here.

Anyway, it was interesting to do a lot of research on these cars and the history of the Honda company. I had to do some translation, too. But I think it was worth it. It's probably the only time a UK car magazine had an explanation of the Japan Light Automobile Class in 1949, haha.

The first volume of this magazine will be released in the next few weeks. I've written an article, it's in here somewhere. A few of my friends are in here, too. I hope it sells well, then they might ask me to write some more articles.

Most of these cars on the front are quite new models to me! I still think of the BNR34 as a new car. The cover refers to the Playstation, because in the UK the Skyline became more well-known due to the "Gran Turismo" series.

Personally, I preferred the Sega Saturn, haha.

I got my Familia-323 back from the garage. I've missed driving it!

Now it's got a new radiator, fan switch and V-belt. Usually I would fit these myself, but the weather here has been very cold so I paid for a mechanic to do it. The day I got it back, the weather was quite nice, though...

Next month I'll change the engine and gearbox oil, fit new filters and spark plugs. I still also need to connect the radio and paint some of the panels. Also, the toolkit is missing and the spare tyre is flat, so I'll replace those. Once I've done all that, I'll take it for a long drive. I might go to the beach again, drive into the hills or see friends in the south of the country.

This photo is from a nearby town. I live in the north of England, it looks very different to the south because there's a lot more hills here. We've even got roads like "Initial D" in some places. BF5P with 3AT isn't the best car for that type of driving, haha.