Did the drive of nearly 200 miles OK except for one issue.
Overall impression; Nippy and bouncy.
The condition was OK - not great and the re-spray seemed to be a basic one, probably using metallic celly. Bodywork OK but starting to rust at the edges - not what I'd expected but not bad. The seller was thinning down his collection of 45 cars, including a Stag, Austin Healey 3000 and others. Decent history file with the car too, which was encouraging.
The owner'd just serviced it and put a new battery on though so ...
Issues identified/to do:
- Drove OK for the first 50 miles. I stopped for lunch and when I got started again on the M1 the tickover had gone up from 1k rpm to 2.5k rpm and was running fast in neutral but OK in gear. Engine seems OK besides that and it pulls fine. I'll check again tomorrow.
- The hood needs a couple of minor repairs on the seams; mainly rubber edges sticking back on.
- The boot doesn't lock (I don't think) and the parcel shelf is missing.
- A few bits of trim are missing/broken. I'll have some fun finding those!
- No stereo. So it was the likes of Sinead Lohan, Betty LaVette, Triniti, Little Big Town and Fitness to Practice on the MP3 player.
- There's rust appearing in a few places on the edges, but I *should* be able to sort it as it appears the waxoyl-ing hasn't been done since it's only been used as a summer car. I wasn't expecting it to have much but there's more than I thought. But no holes, no filler, and it's surface rust at the edges. The paintwork finish though isn't perfect by any means, although it's more than acceptable.
- Brakes are a bit spongy. Is that 'cos it's French?
- Boy, does it bounce. Light car, convertible, low centre of gravity. Every journey will be like an Alton Towers ride.
- The MOT was from the seller's own garage, which concerned me slightly.
- I put the hood up (not too fiddly) after I swallowed a fly on the M1.
Otherwise it's OK. Probably not worth what I paid for it, but it *is* 23 years old so I've got to expect a few issues.
David.