On the Spotlight: My Toy Car – Only for the Big Boys!

Last winter I sold a high performance motorcycle engine to a local airline pilot who told me that he owned a lotus 7 replica kit car. But now wanted to build a kit car himself.

After selling him the engine and talking at length about the car he was going to build  (a Locost 2 seater) I asked if he has sold his current car yet. The answer was that he had just listed it on New Zealand’s online auction site Trademe.

Of course I just had to have a look as I had often wondered what one of these would be like to own. The photos of the shiny read two seater looked good, and his price was quite reasonable. Open top two seaters don’t sell well during the Winter…..funny that! Looked like a lot of fun and I knew it would have been well looked after as the guy was very particular as many airline pilots generally are.

So I showed the photos on Trademe to to my financial advisor (READ: The Wife) who was suitably impressed and said

“How would you like one of these?”

Of Course her immediate reply was “Where is the money coming from?”

I explained that if she was interested in us owning the little red car that would be easier to ride in than getting on the back of my motorcycle, then i would be willing to sell one of my classic motorcycles that I had tucked away in a corner of our garage to pay for it.

That seemed to do the trick and so we contacted Evan the owner and made an appointment to view and take a test drive.

When we arrived (the owner lived about 40km out of town in the country) there was a very shiny little red car waiting for us in the driveway. The photos on the auction site didnt do it justice at all. we were also surprised at how small it was!

Evan went over the details of the car and engine while Christine had that glazed look on her face, as the details didn’t have anything to do with handbags or clothes!

So once we had gone over its pedigree it was time for a test drive.

First challenge was to learn how to get in! These things are small believe me! You have to stand on the seat and sort of slide and wriggle yourslef downwards until your legs are down on the pedals and your bum nestled in the seat.

Second challenge was firguring how to fit the 5 point racing seat belt harness. Just about as tricky as undoing your girl friends bra strap by feel

Anyway, we were both strapped in and off we went down the long driveway with the exhaust burbling away merrily. Felt quite strange at first as it’s cramped and the steering very direct. You also feel every bump due to the taught suspension.

Took it quietly down the rod and then turned around and headed back to Evan’s house, this time putting my foot down a bit more and getting some interesting comments from Christine! All quite exciting.

Back at the house, and Evan and I got down to the important bits and agreed on a price there and then, done!

Finished the deal off with a cup of coffee and cakes in their very nice country home.

So in a few days when the car ownership had been changed we were ready to pick it up and bring the little toy car home.

Our good friend Pierre (Peetol) who was living with us at the time, agreed to drive our car back home and I drove the toy car back all wrapped up and still frozen to the bone! This was winter remember and driving an open car in temperatures around 10C isnt exactly toasty, I can tell you!.

The car had a personalised number plate (7 ISH) which Evan kept, so I decided I had to have one too and ended up putting the plate 007ISH on it which (hopefully you get it) has two meanings.

Quite clever, even if I say so myself.

The first time I went to the local service station to fill the fuel tank, theer was a hotted up car with a young driver, who looked at the toy car and said:

“Man that’s low!”

I just grinned, and carried on trying to extricate myself from the seat belts. The seat belts are very cool, but fumbling with the catches isn’t!

While we haven’t exactly used the car a great deal, we have had it out a few times during the aummer and i’ts great fun to drive and certainly not the car for those that want to go unnoticed. Bea loves to be passenger and I think she likes the way everybody looks and waves.

My Father (who’s 81) has always wanted something like this so I gave him a good ride on a warm day while he was visiting us here in Christchurch. I did my best to give him a few thrills while trying not to scare the hell out of him and judging by his comments on our return, I think I got it just right. He loved it and raved about it to everyone he spoke to.

Hopefully we will get to take it out a few more times before the colder weather comes again, as its definitely a warm weather only car. Totally impractical but heaps of fun!

For those of you who are interested in the details:

It’s a Chevron (New Zealand Kit) Lotus 7 replica, powered by a 20 valve, VVT Toyota 1600 4age engine and 5 speed gearbox. The engine produces around 160 hp and the car only weighs about 600kg. The engine loves revs and its red line is around 8000rpm, and with the free flow exhaust it really sings The previous owner has had it out on the local race track at 180kph, and considering how close you are to the ground, thats gotta be a great sensation!.

Bea has had white knuckles a few times now when we go around the tight corners on the Port Hills, but she comes back for more. Christine has only been around town as yet, but hopefully I can scare the pants of her (not literally) sometime soon, hehe.

It’s still not as good as a motorcycle, but on a warm day its far better than the average tin box everyone else drives.

There’s a boy racer in all of us. Wonder what I am going to be when I grow up?

Tagged as: chevron kit car, Lotus 7 replica, toys for the big boys, trademe