Recent change to the fleet

notfarnow · 04-10-2015, 07:57 AM

After much humming and hawing, I sold the 964 c4 to a nice family in Maine. The increase in value, and the exchange rate on the US/CAN dollar made it nearly impossible to justify holding onto it. I loved that car, and it will be missed, but I have no regrets. I basically drove it for free for 3 years, and it more than covered the downpayment on a new (old) house.

Plus, there was enough money leftover to buy parts for my SC, new tires for my truck, AND STILL enough to buy a rare, mid-engined European car.

Rikao4 · 04-10-2015, 08:07 AM

you must have some stripper DNA..
congrats..
so quit humming & hawing..
pic's please..

Rika

notfarnow · 04-10-2015, 08:14 AM

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

How did I know thats what you had bought?

Lol enjoy it Jake!

notfarnow · 04-10-2015, 08:27 AM

It was $1000, and the identical twin to the one I had back in high school and university.

I'm on the hunt for the rare sport seats, large canvas sunroof and 3 bolt aluminum wheels.

Going for this look

I'm currently going through $200/wk in gas in the e500. I figure if I cutesy this thing up it'll pay for itself in a couple months. I always loved driving them.

Bonus is that this one has the BIG motor... 1.4L !!

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Dude, I want to know if you can close a client after taking them out to look at houses in that!

Groesbeck Hurricane · 04-10-2015, 08:33 AM

Uhm, ahhhh, I was hoping for an Alfa....

Enjoy her! It'll bring back memories!!!!

notfarnow · 04-10-2015, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Dude, I want to know if you can close a client after taking them out to look at houses in that!

Are you kidding? I drove my truck for the spring and summer market last year, and put in my best year ever.

The average sale price is ~175k around here... I pulled up to all my 500-750k listings in this guy last year:

My clients know I'm a nut... they've learned to look past this stuff.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

I forgot how rough the truck was getting!

Hey, everyone has to have a brand, you are the local nutty realtor it seems!

recycled sixtie · recycled sixtie's Garage

You can't go wrong for that price. I have not seen one of those on the road for years.
Good on you.
Guy

Shaun @ Tru6 · 04-10-2015, 10:11 AM

Shipping the duck tail today. How will you mount it?

notfarnow · 04-10-2015, 10:11 AM

I do 25k (ish) miles per year, most mixed/city driving. I need something like the e500 for taking clients out for showings, but most of my driving is tooting around doing pictures, meeting people etc.

I was pretty close to buying a Civic or a Corolla to take the edge of my fuel costs, but the closer I got to it, the more painful it seemed.

I figure if I can have something a bit quirky and fun to drive, I'll be way ahead. It's a bit rough around the edges, but I bet I'll only have another grand into it before it's a really great, fun little car.

For those who have never driven one, they are shockingly fun! You can drive it flat out all day long, without bothering anyone!

notfarnow · 04-10-2015, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shaun 84 Targa

Shipping the duck tail today. How will you mount it?

hahaha well I'm still keeping my SC!

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Those are cool little cars, one of two Renaults that ever piqued my interest. I saw one of those with a SBC amidships, behind the aluminum bulkhead. I think you already know what the other one is.

2CV never did it for me, though I guess it would be easy to pick it up and carry it out, if you could not quite make it all the way across that field with your basket of eggs. I always liked the SM. French, with an Italian heart? That sounds pretty good, very exciting, but I bet it does not play out well in the end

1990C4S · 04-11-2015, 06:14 AM

Your vehicular life is never dull.....I hope you have moved on and your personal life is as good or better.

notfarnow · 04-12-2015, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tobra

Those are cool little cars, one of two Renaults that ever piqued my interest. I saw one of those with a SBC amidships, behind the aluminum bulkhead. I think you already know what the other one is.

2CV never did it for me, though I guess it would be easy to pick it up and carry it out, if you could not quite make it all the way across that field with your basket of eggs. I always liked the SM. French, with an Italian heart? That sounds pretty good, very exciting, but I bet it does not play out well in the end

there was a rust free 2CV for sale last summer a couple hours away for something like 2k. It needed brakes and some some wiring, but that was a really good price. It sold the day it listed, I was pretty bummed about that one.

The SM has always been a very interesting car, but good ones are well over 10k now, and everything I've read is that they can be a complicated, expensive car to actually run. I have a hard time having money tied up in a car I can't reasonably use and enjoy. Not that 911s are cheap, but once you have them sorted out, you can really USE them, and parts availability is never really a problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Your vehicular life is never dull.....I hope you have moved on and your personal life is as good or better.

I wanted something inexpensive to buy and cheap to run, but couldn't bring myself to buy a civic or corolla. This thing should be a hoot.

LeCars really got a bad rep in north america, and that's too bad. They are great little cars that are surprisingly comfortable and fun to drive. Most see them as a French Yugo or Chevette, but that's really not right at all. They are more like a French Mini Or Fiat 500/850. They are a really well thought out, fun mini car.

maxnine11 · maxnine11's Garage

This thread is useless without a fire!

Scuba Steve · 04-13-2015, 02:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notfarnow

LeCars really got a bad rep in north america, and that's too bad. They are great little cars that are surprisingly comfortable and fun to drive. Most see them as a French Yugo or Chevette, but that's really not right at all. They are more like a French Mini Or Fiat 500/850. They are a really well thought out, fun mini car.

To be fair, the name didn't help things out any. I thought someone was joking around when I heard of it.

petrolhead611 · 04-13-2015, 04:27 AM

The successors to the Renault 5(LeCar in Americanese), the Clio dont rot like the 5's do, as they are galvanised. Mine weighs a ton ,and has 172 bhp as standard. The 5 turbo is collectible in the UK, and the mid-engine versions of the 5 and the Clio2 are ultra collectible

notfarnow · 04-13-2015, 05:44 AM

Most R5s/LeCars in the states never had a chance to rust... As soon as they needed brakes or (more likely) a head gasket, they had depreciated so much that the owners couldn't justify fixing them. Parts availability and (knowledgeable) service were problems too. It's pretty rare to see a US LeCar with over 100k miles. Many were just stuffed in a garage somewhere once they needed work.

I may need help from a european pelican when it comes time to get some parts shipped. The sunroof and wheels I want are pretty tough to find on this continent, so I may need to have them shipped from the UK or France