Hirstのブログ一覧

The photo is an old one from the 1980s. It's winter here, but the weather is unusual. Usually around now the temperatures are freezing, but it's about 50°F with a lot of rain. Many areas in northern England have heavy flooding. My region is quite bad now - there's flood water through the main city of Leeds, the historical town of York and a lot of smaller towns near me. Some areas have been evacuated and there's a lot of flood warnings everywhere, but my city (Wakefield) is OK at the moment.

There's a news story in Japanese: http://www.afpbb.com/articles/-/3071590

I haven't seen any flood water yet, but all the local rivers have flood warnings. If the water level increases, it would take a long time to reach my house, so I would have a lot of time to move my cars and protect the house. So it should be OK for me. But some other areas of my city can flood quite easily.

I can swim, so I'll be OK.

It has been a very big year for unusual cars.

First we have two Quintets... now I've found a Daihatsu Compagno for sale!! Unfortunately, I can't buy it, though I hope one of my friends will.

In 1964, the Daihatsu Compagno was imported to the UK for testing. The first cars were sold in 1965, so they were the first Japanese car to be sold in the UK. There was a small brochure advertising various models, but I think the only types sold were the Berlina 800/1000.



There was some problem with the importer, so we only got them for a short time. I don't know how many were imported, but probably only 10-20. Since there were no Daihatsu car dealers, it would be very difficult to get parts!

Anyway, the original press demonstration car was found and restored in the 1990s, it's still here. But I thought it was probably the only one left.



I did see a 4-door model for sale about 10 years ago, but I never heard what happened to it. I think this is probably the same car!



The paint is bad, but the body looks quite good! The metal of 1960s-era cars is quite thick, so they don't rust as easily as 1970s/80s cars.



The front end still looks good. The seller says the bumpers are missing, so the next owner may need to import some from Japan or see if they can find similar bumpers from a different car.



It's a 1000cc model. The engine hasn't run for over 20 years, but old engines are quite simple. It should be OK.



The interior is in quite good condition. I can see some rust on the floor, but it's not so bad.

I hope somebody I know buys it... the Compagno is an important part of car history for both Japan and the UK. Also, I think it's a cool-looking car!