Rotary Super Cars Germany is a young company with the goal of offering symbiosis of high performance vehicles and active environment to create new benchmarks in the areas, power efficiency, value for money or the use of high-tech materials.
Since there is no vehicle that meets all these requirements, the construction of the RSC Raptor GT™ started in 2009. Systems such as the VAS (variable aerodynamic system) were developed and brought to small series production. This vehicle meets all requirements or exceed them. With enthusiasm and passion of our team involved in the development and production of the Raptor GT™. We guarantee the best workmanship and highest individuality. The selective use of proven components increases the active/passive safety while reducing production costs, which ultimately benefits every buyer.
With the Raptor GT™, we give our customers the opportunity to experience the unique combination of high end components and environmental protection on the roads and racetracks of the world. The Raptor GT™ doesn't follow the standard in many areas, he goes a very unique way with his drive and approach design. Each vehicle is handmade and unique, which corresponds exactly to the needs and wishes of the owner.
Drivetrain:
The RSC Raptor ™ GT S, RS, RSR and N-Spec does not have a conventional drive system as used in most of today's super sports cars. He has a self-developed and heavily modified, based on parts of the Mazda 13B MSP, high-performance engine with four rotors (4-Rotor rotary engine) and, depending on the model, a water-to-air intercooled turbo or biturbo system. This engine is the heart of the RSC Raptor GT™ and gives him his very special temperament. The power output of a rotary engine uniformly grows with increasing rpm. The high-performance engine in the RSC Raptor GT™ has the redline set depending on the selected driving mode, up to 7,500 rpm or 9000 rpm. The fuel E85 is used, which is produced from rapeseed. By using this fuel to reduce the emissions by about 90% is feasible.
The sequential 8-speed RSC R-SHIFT transmission in the RSC Raptor GT™ is controlled by a hydraulic shift system with shift times of 25-35 milliseconds. Furthermore, each RSC Raptor GT™ has a carbon-aluminum drive shaft, and an electronically controlled rear axle differential.
The powertrain is controlled by an engine management system, specifically developed from Bosch Engineering GmbH for the RSC Raptor GT™, including a complete electronic system consisting of ESP, ABS, EBD, VAS, R-TRAC (traction control), R-DIFF (electronic differential) and a Launch Control. The RSC Raptor GT™ RSR and N-Spec also has an active suspension. All electronic systems can be easily operated via the buttons on the steering wheel.
Body/Chassis:
Depending on the model the body of the RSC Raptor GT™ is of 80% glass fiber or carbon fiber and differs in details in the form and aerodynamics. Furthermore a wide range of special equipment is available. Starting with the rims, complete body equipment packages up to the painting - the customer has no limits.
The RSC Raptor GT™ also has the RSC VAS™ (Variable Aerodynamic System), a system that changes the aerodynamics and the aerodynamic properties of the RSC Raptor GT™ to generate more downforce at high speeds. This system include SBS (Speed Brake System).
Interior:
The RSC Raptor GT™ has two 7" full-graphic-Diyplays, where various telemetry data such as speed, mileage, temperatures, pressures, and the chosen vehicle settings and many other data, are available. These displays create exciting visual effects that show the high-tech genes of the RSC Raptor GT™. They are placed on the left and right of the large 5" tachometer with digital gear indicator and shift light. The driver is always looking at the relevant information and driving a RSC Raptor GT™ becomes a special experience.
The cockpit offers an unique combination of high-quality materials like carbon fiber, brushed aluminum and various types of leather. Many interior equipment packages are available. There also no limits for the customer.
Production levels of the RSC Raptor GT range from the base 500 hp 2.6L 4 rotor rotary to 800 hp turbo and 1.200 hp twin turbo variants. The cars are built in Germany. They are available in left- and right-hand drive configuration.
VelociRaptor:
The second car which is currently in the construction phase. The main facts: Mid-engine, AWD, 8-speed sequential RSC R-SHIFT transmission, RSC VAS, 90% carbon fiber, over 1.200 hp and a weight under 1.100 kg.
This car will set new benchmarks...
Rotary Super Cars Germany
(+49)1511 75 500 98
Read more: http://www.worldcarfans.com/110100528830/rotary-super-cars-unveils-the-raptor-gt#ixzz11VugzrTl
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Walking Through the Wankel Wilderness
Life seems to happen when you want it not to sometimes.
Circumstances bully you for your time when you'd much prefer they leave you be.
Problems arise in the midst of jubilation and RX7s can and tend to fail at the most inconvenient times.
I don't have any special story or epic tale to tell of me having decimated a V8 muscle car and shown the Mitsu and Subaru boys tail lights for the quarter mile stretch. Nor do I have the experience of maxing out Sarah, spitting fire until the Mazda factory buzzer stopped remembering to tell me I shouldn't be at this speed.
I hadn't gotten there yet.
Yes I knew the car's potential but I just hadn't gotten there.
And so when driving down to work on the highway that morning and I heard this sickening pop from behind me and felt the car lose power and slow down to a near halt and I had to mosey on to the shoulder lane, the last thing on my mind was that the engine had given up the ghost.
I knew what I heard, I knew that I lost power, and I knew that I was getting great trouble to start this engine again.
I also knew the sun was scorchingly hot and I had to get to work.
I tried Anil, to see if he happened to be home but didn't get through.
I didn't have anyone else to call, so I tried and tried and finally got the engine to start.
But it was a very slow, almost funeral march home.
I didn't know what was the issue, so I parked Sarah home and went to work, figuring I'd have to look into that later on.
Even though I didn't know the extent of the damage I knew that the dynamics of the sale transaction I had previously considered had changed without a doubt. What I had no clue about was how much.
There was however one person, who had expressed great interest in Sarah when I had put it on Trinituner, but we had not as yet met for the usual test drive etc.
He was from the South land and said that he and his brother had been to visit Anil the one time that Sarah was there, to get an engine for a project his brother was working on and they saw it at that point.
He apparently had liked the car then and was happy when he saw it go up for sale on the forum.
So he had expressed his interest and I said no problem we'll see how things will work out.
But when this happened, I thought it best to alert him because I knew that the price could not be the same and I didn't know what his interest would be after hearing the news.
Strangely enough he was still interested.
And why is that?
Well as he reminded me the license plate of Sarah is PBG 5531
The license plate of the RX2 RE project that his brother has, PS 5531.
As he put it, it was fate for them to be together.
So since this was part of destiny all we had to do is adjust the pricing.
So we spoke about that and struck this deal in a mixture of online and telephone conversations.
There were only two issues to this agreement.
Firstly, he at that time did not have all the money.
He explained that he and his brother were building a business and they had a shipment coming in about April, this being late January and post the sale of items in that shipment he would be able to complete the purchase.
And the second more weighty matter was, we had never met.
I had only the information shown in the 100 plus page thread on the Mazda forum and the other posts on trinituner to go on.
Either he and his brother were for real or this whole deal was shot.
Either this transaction would be completed and it would be a story to remember or nothing would happen and it would all fade away like dust.
I figured two things.
One I bought this car to learn and so time is on my side in waiting for him to complete his business. Either he is for real or not but either way I'm in no hurry.
Secondly, I really didn't have a secondly, if he wasn't for real then I'd sell to someone else if I couldn't fix the issue.
So that was my rationale at that point.
And trust me lots of persons could not comprehend the decision that seemed simple to me.
Nobody was losing here. Whilst he did his part I would continue mine.
Either after April we linked up and did the deal or not.
It wasn't like he was asking me to hold my breath for six months.
All I had to do now was try to figure out what might be the issue and let time pass.
And so I researched online.
I searched local websites, tried to get contact numbers for different persons.
I hunted I asked, I went and saw some persons.
I did all of this very cautiously mind you, because I knew that not everyone was likely to be honest and reasonable with sharing information.
And time passed, and I learnt more.
Everything pointed to a seal having blown and caused a loss of compression.
So since for the most part the car wasn't moving, I focused on gaining confidence and increasing in my comfort level with automotive mechanical things.
So through that period I accumulated a lot of tools and a great deal of knowledge about cars in general; much more than I had previously.
And this was the point of this whole jumping in all Gung Ho into this rotary business.
To learn about cars in general and survive the learning process.
April came and the shipment arrived as promised. I think it had been delayed by a week and a half or two weeks but it arrived.
I was kept up to date on the progress and the January deal remained in tact.
Some of the initial sales were slow but as before, waiting was not hurting either of us.
What most people, including my parents did not comprehend was my willingness to wait for a virtual stranger.
Truly virtual since my initial introduction had been online.
I tried to explain my reasoning but that fell on deaf ears.
At least they let the car sit in the garage so I knew they didn't think I had completely lost all of my marbles :)
And then one day the required sales were almost complete and the savings were almost there.
And I got a call, shortly before I had to leave the country for a bit.
The guy and his brother and a friend wanted to come up to just see the car before we closed the deal.
If my friends and parents thought I was losing it I figure the same was occurring on his side, cause he'd never met me. Who was to say I was for real?
So we arranged and a Wednesday evening they came up, inspected the car and we talked like we'd known each other for years.
Who was this person and his brother you may ask?
Well none other than Khaleel and Khayam of Maztune.
And their friend who came to make sure everything was on the up and up?
Rana a true rotary enthusiast.
See Maztune's facebook page here Maztune
So I left for vacation and when I came back we closed the deal the Saturday after I came back.
And well that's how I met Maztune and how Sarah got the home she now has in Southern Trinidad.
The real question was how would I continue to learn now that Sarah was gone?
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Coming Soon: And there was 2 before 7
Previously:
3rd Gen's a Charm
Sarah's First Service
Bringing Home Sarah (Part II).
Bringing Home Sarah (Part I).
Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Circumstances bully you for your time when you'd much prefer they leave you be.
Problems arise in the midst of jubilation and RX7s can and tend to fail at the most inconvenient times.
I don't have any special story or epic tale to tell of me having decimated a V8 muscle car and shown the Mitsu and Subaru boys tail lights for the quarter mile stretch. Nor do I have the experience of maxing out Sarah, spitting fire until the Mazda factory buzzer stopped remembering to tell me I shouldn't be at this speed.
I hadn't gotten there yet.
Yes I knew the car's potential but I just hadn't gotten there.
And so when driving down to work on the highway that morning and I heard this sickening pop from behind me and felt the car lose power and slow down to a near halt and I had to mosey on to the shoulder lane, the last thing on my mind was that the engine had given up the ghost.
I knew what I heard, I knew that I lost power, and I knew that I was getting great trouble to start this engine again.
I also knew the sun was scorchingly hot and I had to get to work.
I tried Anil, to see if he happened to be home but didn't get through.
I didn't have anyone else to call, so I tried and tried and finally got the engine to start.
But it was a very slow, almost funeral march home.
I didn't know what was the issue, so I parked Sarah home and went to work, figuring I'd have to look into that later on.
Even though I didn't know the extent of the damage I knew that the dynamics of the sale transaction I had previously considered had changed without a doubt. What I had no clue about was how much.
There was however one person, who had expressed great interest in Sarah when I had put it on Trinituner, but we had not as yet met for the usual test drive etc.
He was from the South land and said that he and his brother had been to visit Anil the one time that Sarah was there, to get an engine for a project his brother was working on and they saw it at that point.
He apparently had liked the car then and was happy when he saw it go up for sale on the forum.
So he had expressed his interest and I said no problem we'll see how things will work out.
But when this happened, I thought it best to alert him because I knew that the price could not be the same and I didn't know what his interest would be after hearing the news.
Strangely enough he was still interested.
And why is that?
Well as he reminded me the license plate of Sarah is PBG 5531
The license plate of the RX2 RE project that his brother has, PS 5531.
As he put it, it was fate for them to be together.
So since this was part of destiny all we had to do is adjust the pricing.
So we spoke about that and struck this deal in a mixture of online and telephone conversations.
There were only two issues to this agreement.
Firstly, he at that time did not have all the money.
He explained that he and his brother were building a business and they had a shipment coming in about April, this being late January and post the sale of items in that shipment he would be able to complete the purchase.
And the second more weighty matter was, we had never met.
I had only the information shown in the 100 plus page thread on the Mazda forum and the other posts on trinituner to go on.
Either he and his brother were for real or this whole deal was shot.
Either this transaction would be completed and it would be a story to remember or nothing would happen and it would all fade away like dust.
I figured two things.
One I bought this car to learn and so time is on my side in waiting for him to complete his business. Either he is for real or not but either way I'm in no hurry.
Secondly, I really didn't have a secondly, if he wasn't for real then I'd sell to someone else if I couldn't fix the issue.
So that was my rationale at that point.
And trust me lots of persons could not comprehend the decision that seemed simple to me.
Nobody was losing here. Whilst he did his part I would continue mine.
Either after April we linked up and did the deal or not.
It wasn't like he was asking me to hold my breath for six months.
All I had to do now was try to figure out what might be the issue and let time pass.
And so I researched online.
I searched local websites, tried to get contact numbers for different persons.
I hunted I asked, I went and saw some persons.
I did all of this very cautiously mind you, because I knew that not everyone was likely to be honest and reasonable with sharing information.
And time passed, and I learnt more.
Everything pointed to a seal having blown and caused a loss of compression.
So since for the most part the car wasn't moving, I focused on gaining confidence and increasing in my comfort level with automotive mechanical things.
So through that period I accumulated a lot of tools and a great deal of knowledge about cars in general; much more than I had previously.
And this was the point of this whole jumping in all Gung Ho into this rotary business.
To learn about cars in general and survive the learning process.
April came and the shipment arrived as promised. I think it had been delayed by a week and a half or two weeks but it arrived.
I was kept up to date on the progress and the January deal remained in tact.
Some of the initial sales were slow but as before, waiting was not hurting either of us.
What most people, including my parents did not comprehend was my willingness to wait for a virtual stranger.
Truly virtual since my initial introduction had been online.
I tried to explain my reasoning but that fell on deaf ears.
At least they let the car sit in the garage so I knew they didn't think I had completely lost all of my marbles :)
And then one day the required sales were almost complete and the savings were almost there.
And I got a call, shortly before I had to leave the country for a bit.
The guy and his brother and a friend wanted to come up to just see the car before we closed the deal.
If my friends and parents thought I was losing it I figure the same was occurring on his side, cause he'd never met me. Who was to say I was for real?
So we arranged and a Wednesday evening they came up, inspected the car and we talked like we'd known each other for years.
Who was this person and his brother you may ask?
Well none other than Khaleel and Khayam of Maztune.
And their friend who came to make sure everything was on the up and up?
Rana a true rotary enthusiast.
See Maztune's facebook page here Maztune
So I left for vacation and when I came back we closed the deal the Saturday after I came back.
And well that's how I met Maztune and how Sarah got the home she now has in Southern Trinidad.
The real question was how would I continue to learn now that Sarah was gone?
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Coming Soon: And there was 2 before 7
Previously:
3rd Gen's a Charm
Sarah's First Service
Bringing Home Sarah (Part II).
Bringing Home Sarah (Part I).
Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Monday, April 12, 2010
3rd Gen's a Charm.
"I'm calling about the 3rd Gen I saw in the paper. Can you give me some more details about it?"
"Stock, black, 18" staggered rims..."
"Ok when can we arrange a viewing?"
"I'll bring it up so you can see it this evening."
A few hours later...
"So this is it."
My eyes beheld a Black 3rd gen, 18" staggered with a big black wing on the trunk.
"Yeah, running stock boost. Jump in lehwe (let us) go for a test drive."
"Watch dis eh..." (Pay attention to this which I am doing or about to do.)
Now that's an excerpt of a conversation I had with a 3rd Gen RX7 owner soon after seeing the one in Grande.
Why did I call to check it out?
Well it was much cheaper and I was curious.
So you meet me at the point where I've just gotten into the car and the owner, whom I'll call E, was about to take me for a test drive.
It was late in the evening on that day and we were in front of my workplace and the street was pretty much empty.
It's a broad enough street for two cars to pass side by side with cars parked on both sides.
We were on the right side, just beyond the office gate.
I do believe that I should have taken note of those words, "Watch dis eh..."
Now one translation of this would be what I stated above, "Pay attention to what I am doing or about to do."
Another translation depends on the context and might strike some concern into the hearts and minds of mortals.
"I going and try something, let's see how it goes."
This I believe to be a better translation and more suited to what then unfolded before my eyes, ears and within my physical being.
I heard the engine revs increase in pitch, most significantly.
Like really really plenty and like really really quickly.
The next few moments can only be described as memorable.
I know we were in neutral, then I do remember him putting the car in 1st gear and even though I wasn't specifically looking I know his foot came off the clutch, the handbrake went down and we began to be propelled ever forward and never backward.
But you see I didn't see very much as things got a bit blurry, but I did feel us proceeding up the street, with the car not entirely positioned in a northward direction, more North Westerly for a great portion of the road.
We weren't exactly drifting, but we weren't exactly not doing it at the same time.
See drifting reference here: Drifting
I wasn't hearing anything he was saying, if he was, because of the deafening roar of that exhaust but some thoughts began to come to me with great force of clarity.
One: I never met this guy before. So how do I know that he can drive?
Two: My seatbelt was not fastened. Refer to thought one and insert some measure of concern when that light bulb went off.
Three: How do I know we will return in one piece?
Four: What are you really doing here in this car at this point? Yuh mad awah? (Have you indeed lost some of your mental capacity to logically process information within the appropriate decision making paradigm?)
And so these thoughts stayed with me throughout this test drive, making it the most memorable I've had.
But what was more interesting post the drive and my heart coming back down from 9000 rpm was what my friend and work colleague, Jerry had to say.
Yip same Jerry from the roadtrip.
When we were leaving the curbside and migrating ourselves from this position up the street in a near sideways fashion, he saw blue and yellow flames erupting from the depths of the exhaust barrel, and embracing the crisp evening air.
He himself wondered, what was really wrong with me.
Needless to say, I did not go for that car, partly because of how tail-happy it was and I thought that living was a much better option.
There was also a bit of an oil leak and I couldn't handle an engine rebuild if it was serious.
But though I never forgot that ride, I always hoped for another chance at a 3rd gen.
And just around Christmas, going on 2 months of owning the 2nd Gen that I had hunted so hard for, I saw an ad for a 3rd Gen and the price was near enough within reach.
But I had to be out of the country for a bit and so, though I spoke with the guy, we arranged for after the New Year holiday to link up.
So my plan was simple, see if I can get someone to buy the second Gen in time and borrow the extra cash to upgrade since it was a really attractive deal.
And so for that reason only, I made a post on tuner to sell the 2nd Gen in hope that the timings would line up and I would get the chance to own an entry level beast.
But when I called the guy early in the New Year, he told me that in the midst of the New Year festivities his engine had blown and so he would sell the shell at a much reduced price.
I felt crushed at that point.
While that price was closer to what I would sell the 2nd Gen for, I'd have to foot the bill of either rebuilding the present engine or acquiring a new one and doing work on that potentially.
So I had to contemplate that. Is it worth giving up a working car, to go and take public transportation and hopefully at some point get a faster rolling car or not?
Since the car had been on trinituner there was a bit of early interest and so I figured I'd at least see what the interest was like and arranged with a couple people to view, whilst I made up my mind.
So some people came to view and test drive and gave me their feedback and pointed out some things and all was going fine, until one morning driving down the road to work, not far from my home, everything changed...
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Walking Through the Wankel Wilderness.
Previously:
Sarah's First Service
Bringing Home Sarah (Part II).
Bringing Home Sarah (Part I).
Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
"Stock, black, 18" staggered rims..."
"Ok when can we arrange a viewing?"
"I'll bring it up so you can see it this evening."
A few hours later...
"So this is it."
My eyes beheld a Black 3rd gen, 18" staggered with a big black wing on the trunk.
"Yeah, running stock boost. Jump in lehwe (let us) go for a test drive."
"Watch dis eh..." (Pay attention to this which I am doing or about to do.)
Now that's an excerpt of a conversation I had with a 3rd Gen RX7 owner soon after seeing the one in Grande.
Why did I call to check it out?
Well it was much cheaper and I was curious.
So you meet me at the point where I've just gotten into the car and the owner, whom I'll call E, was about to take me for a test drive.
It was late in the evening on that day and we were in front of my workplace and the street was pretty much empty.
It's a broad enough street for two cars to pass side by side with cars parked on both sides.
We were on the right side, just beyond the office gate.
I do believe that I should have taken note of those words, "Watch dis eh..."
Now one translation of this would be what I stated above, "Pay attention to what I am doing or about to do."
Another translation depends on the context and might strike some concern into the hearts and minds of mortals.
"I going and try something, let's see how it goes."
This I believe to be a better translation and more suited to what then unfolded before my eyes, ears and within my physical being.
I heard the engine revs increase in pitch, most significantly.
Like really really plenty and like really really quickly.
The next few moments can only be described as memorable.
I know we were in neutral, then I do remember him putting the car in 1st gear and even though I wasn't specifically looking I know his foot came off the clutch, the handbrake went down and we began to be propelled ever forward and never backward.
But you see I didn't see very much as things got a bit blurry, but I did feel us proceeding up the street, with the car not entirely positioned in a northward direction, more North Westerly for a great portion of the road.
We weren't exactly drifting, but we weren't exactly not doing it at the same time.
See drifting reference here: Drifting
I wasn't hearing anything he was saying, if he was, because of the deafening roar of that exhaust but some thoughts began to come to me with great force of clarity.
One: I never met this guy before. So how do I know that he can drive?
Two: My seatbelt was not fastened. Refer to thought one and insert some measure of concern when that light bulb went off.
Three: How do I know we will return in one piece?
Four: What are you really doing here in this car at this point? Yuh mad awah? (Have you indeed lost some of your mental capacity to logically process information within the appropriate decision making paradigm?)
And so these thoughts stayed with me throughout this test drive, making it the most memorable I've had.
But what was more interesting post the drive and my heart coming back down from 9000 rpm was what my friend and work colleague, Jerry had to say.
Yip same Jerry from the roadtrip.
When we were leaving the curbside and migrating ourselves from this position up the street in a near sideways fashion, he saw blue and yellow flames erupting from the depths of the exhaust barrel, and embracing the crisp evening air.
He himself wondered, what was really wrong with me.
Needless to say, I did not go for that car, partly because of how tail-happy it was and I thought that living was a much better option.
There was also a bit of an oil leak and I couldn't handle an engine rebuild if it was serious.
But though I never forgot that ride, I always hoped for another chance at a 3rd gen.
And just around Christmas, going on 2 months of owning the 2nd Gen that I had hunted so hard for, I saw an ad for a 3rd Gen and the price was near enough within reach.
But I had to be out of the country for a bit and so, though I spoke with the guy, we arranged for after the New Year holiday to link up.
So my plan was simple, see if I can get someone to buy the second Gen in time and borrow the extra cash to upgrade since it was a really attractive deal.
And so for that reason only, I made a post on tuner to sell the 2nd Gen in hope that the timings would line up and I would get the chance to own an entry level beast.
But when I called the guy early in the New Year, he told me that in the midst of the New Year festivities his engine had blown and so he would sell the shell at a much reduced price.
I felt crushed at that point.
While that price was closer to what I would sell the 2nd Gen for, I'd have to foot the bill of either rebuilding the present engine or acquiring a new one and doing work on that potentially.
So I had to contemplate that. Is it worth giving up a working car, to go and take public transportation and hopefully at some point get a faster rolling car or not?
Since the car had been on trinituner there was a bit of early interest and so I figured I'd at least see what the interest was like and arranged with a couple people to view, whilst I made up my mind.
So some people came to view and test drive and gave me their feedback and pointed out some things and all was going fine, until one morning driving down the road to work, not far from my home, everything changed...
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Walking Through the Wankel Wilderness.
Previously:
Sarah's First Service
Bringing Home Sarah (Part II).
Bringing Home Sarah (Part I).
Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Sarah's First Service
When I was much younger I used to dream like any other young boy about owning cool cars. I knew all the high end brands, Jaguar, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bugatti and so on and I could identify them with only mere glimpses.
As I grew older the reality of the structure of life began to set in and the realisation of why these cars were still only dreams began to settle into my consciousness.
But this had never stopped me from car-gaping (aka car gazing, or drooling over sweet machines on wheels).
And long before I had gotten Josephine, the green Peugeot 306, I used to travel (utilise public transportation) via Maxi-Taxis (large taxis) to Port of Spain to get to work. This was a regular, until I started getting a lift into town with some friends.
On the occasions I would travel however, it would invariably be on the Priority Bus Route. Because of this, there was a house in Tacarigua that I would pass with an open yard that would always have on display a wide assortment of very attractive sports cars. I would enjoy that portion of the journey, though I did not know all of the cars at that time.
Years later during the consideration processes surrounding me undertaking this RX7 project, I had been investigating available Rotary mechanics and where they were located.
Lo and behold, to my surprise there was a rotary mechanic who lived at the same house where I would observe a wide range of sports cars, and so to me it seemed to be almost destined to be.
So I went and I spoke to the mechanic, Anil, who's a very cool and knowledgeable guy, about my RX7 considerations and he gave me some advice about what to look for etc and said when I did buy something I could bring it by and he'd take a look etc.
So post the drama of the first night bringing Sarah home, I made an appointment with Anil to service the car and check it out and dropped it off for him to do the needful.
During the same day that I dropped the car off by Anil for a routine service, unknown to me at the time, two brothers visited Anil to purchase a 3rd Generation RX7 13b-REW enginge for a project that one of the brothers was working on.
The older brother's plan was to put said engine in a Mazda RX2 RE and make a good attempt of reaching the moon, with the type of power that would be hitting the wheels.
I'll revisit that Mazda RX2 RE at a later date.
So Anil called me later on in the day to pick the car up in the evening when I was finished work. When I got there we chatted about the results of the checks he had done and he pointed out that the transmission seals needed to change, which is why I was getting a leak that I had but I could just keep topping up until I got to change it out. He gave me a link of someone to check for that. At the time it wasn't the highest priority since I planned to go manual anyway with Sarah.
Since his focus at that time wasn't so much on the older rotaries, he would help as much as possible but wouldn't be able to function as my primary aid. So as expected the real challenge in the journey going forth would be to meet the right people, those that were honest, knowledgeable and willing to assist.
And so I continued the reading I was doing, and joined a RX7 forum, www.rx7club.com and started searching for more technical RX7 resources on Trinituner and came across a crew called Mazda People United.
At the time there was just a very long, like 100+ pages long thread in the technical section of Trinituner, before it was split up amongst the most popular brands so aficionados could focus on their brand of choice.
See Mazda People United thread here: Mazda People United
Mazda People United Facebook page here: Mazda People United
So I decided, if I'm going to link with these guys I need to read from the first post by Turbodrive to the last until I made my first post. Gotta have my rights of passage dealt with properly so to speak.
And it was a very fun read. I came across legendary characters like Miggy and Five Forward and heard about these guys who had a laser sedan and hatch projects and about this Mazda RX2 RE project....sounds familiar huh?
I didn't know it at the time, but all these separate threads were all connected and would be revealed in time.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: 3rd Gen's a Charm.
Previously:
Bringing Home Sarah (Part II).
Bringing Home Sarah (Part I).
Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
As I grew older the reality of the structure of life began to set in and the realisation of why these cars were still only dreams began to settle into my consciousness.
But this had never stopped me from car-gaping (aka car gazing, or drooling over sweet machines on wheels).
And long before I had gotten Josephine, the green Peugeot 306, I used to travel (utilise public transportation) via Maxi-Taxis (large taxis) to Port of Spain to get to work. This was a regular, until I started getting a lift into town with some friends.
On the occasions I would travel however, it would invariably be on the Priority Bus Route. Because of this, there was a house in Tacarigua that I would pass with an open yard that would always have on display a wide assortment of very attractive sports cars. I would enjoy that portion of the journey, though I did not know all of the cars at that time.
Years later during the consideration processes surrounding me undertaking this RX7 project, I had been investigating available Rotary mechanics and where they were located.
Lo and behold, to my surprise there was a rotary mechanic who lived at the same house where I would observe a wide range of sports cars, and so to me it seemed to be almost destined to be.
So I went and I spoke to the mechanic, Anil, who's a very cool and knowledgeable guy, about my RX7 considerations and he gave me some advice about what to look for etc and said when I did buy something I could bring it by and he'd take a look etc.
So post the drama of the first night bringing Sarah home, I made an appointment with Anil to service the car and check it out and dropped it off for him to do the needful.
During the same day that I dropped the car off by Anil for a routine service, unknown to me at the time, two brothers visited Anil to purchase a 3rd Generation RX7 13b-REW enginge for a project that one of the brothers was working on.
The older brother's plan was to put said engine in a Mazda RX2 RE and make a good attempt of reaching the moon, with the type of power that would be hitting the wheels.
I'll revisit that Mazda RX2 RE at a later date.
So Anil called me later on in the day to pick the car up in the evening when I was finished work. When I got there we chatted about the results of the checks he had done and he pointed out that the transmission seals needed to change, which is why I was getting a leak that I had but I could just keep topping up until I got to change it out. He gave me a link of someone to check for that. At the time it wasn't the highest priority since I planned to go manual anyway with Sarah.
Since his focus at that time wasn't so much on the older rotaries, he would help as much as possible but wouldn't be able to function as my primary aid. So as expected the real challenge in the journey going forth would be to meet the right people, those that were honest, knowledgeable and willing to assist.
And so I continued the reading I was doing, and joined a RX7 forum, www.rx7club.com and started searching for more technical RX7 resources on Trinituner and came across a crew called Mazda People United.
At the time there was just a very long, like 100+ pages long thread in the technical section of Trinituner, before it was split up amongst the most popular brands so aficionados could focus on their brand of choice.
See Mazda People United thread here: Mazda People United
Mazda People United Facebook page here: Mazda People United
So I decided, if I'm going to link with these guys I need to read from the first post by Turbodrive to the last until I made my first post. Gotta have my rights of passage dealt with properly so to speak.
And it was a very fun read. I came across legendary characters like Miggy and Five Forward and heard about these guys who had a laser sedan and hatch projects and about this Mazda RX2 RE project....sounds familiar huh?
I didn't know it at the time, but all these separate threads were all connected and would be revealed in time.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: 3rd Gen's a Charm.
Previously:
Bringing Home Sarah (Part II).
Bringing Home Sarah (Part I).
Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Bringing Home Sarah (Part II)
I did learn that day that that 2nd Gen RX7 could move.
I got to work up north and parked in our carpark, shaking the office with the depth of the exhaust note. I was happy like pappy.
Now to decide what's the plan for the music which I wasn't interested in. All I wanted was to learn about the engine and cars, so the music didn't concern me.
I consulted with Jerry, who's a music boss and I priced the setup and parted it out.
Sold the stuff to a couple friends and took that money and put it towards maintenance costs for Sarah, my new experiment.
So that evening after work, mih boy Jerry, said he'd follow me up the highway to make sure I got home safe. I was thinking, nah that's not necessary de car wukkin (there are no problems with the vehicle).
So we set forth from the office up the Churchill Roosevelt Highway to the East.
Everything going well, I'm taking my time, Jerry following in his car behind and just as we were coming over the crest in the highway, right around the Nestlé junction heading east, before the lights you know, in the middle lane of all lanes, the car cut off.
Everything.
Like no lights, no nothing.
I grind to a halt.
Jerry stops behind me and puts on his hazzard lights.
And now the two of us there in the middle lane at 7:30 pm on a busy monday evening trying to keep nearest the cars and not be sucked into the vortex created by the cars wizzing by.
We're there, no flashlight to use after popping the bonnet to troubleshoot. So it's like ok, what do we do.
Right we need to get the car over to the shoulder.
Easier said than done.
A foolish but necessary desire at that time. Not foolish because we were stupid, but foolish because of the time in which we were going to attempt to carry out this manouever.
So we gauge it as best we could.
Jerry positioned himself to push from the left side, I from the right, with one hand on the steering wheel.
On a good day, that 2600 plus pounds would not be easy to push from a dead stop but that day was not a good day, and we needed to move the car, it could not stay there.
So we utter some words of prayer and wait for a space in the light continuum created by the cars passing by with their headlights blaring.
And we were off....
Slowly...and then less slowly...and I'm steering and we're getting through and no cars are coming to remove us from the earth...and then as the gravitational forces began to act upon this once immobile automobile, we began to face another problem as the slight incline lent a kind hand to the car now in full motion.
We began to contemplate Newton's Laws of Motion.
His First Law states that: An object at rest tends to stay at rest, or if it is in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by a sum of physical forces.
Second Law: A body will accelerate with acceleration proportional to the force and inversely proportional to the mass.
Third Law: Every action has a reaction equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.
Now we had clearly understood the power of the first part of Law One and had applied a sufficient force, generated by the combined energy derived from our recent dinners and propelled into action through our then slowly moving but now moderately galloping feet, to overcome that inertia.
Now we were being faced with a combination of the second part of Law One and the full power of Law Two.
One, if we could not sufficiently apply an external force to the moving object, in this case a 2nd Gen RX7, it would continue to stay in motion with the same speed.
The combination was that this body, was accelerating in a manner that relied heavily upon the mass of said object.
In this case it was a very heavy broad 2nd Gen RX7.
We clearly had to quickly become pioneering Physicists of our time or that car was most assuredly going to meet with the insides of the drain it was very nearly almost directly upon.
And so with all the strength I could muster I stretched out my hand and leaned through the window to grab the handbrake that Mazda had so brilliantly placed on the far side of the transmission lever in the Right Hand Drive models, and thankfully I was able to reach it just before the world came to an end.
And when we popped the bonnet after catching ourselves, we saw that the battery cable had come loose and so we tightened it and proceeded to home with no further adventure.
And that's how I brought Sarah, my first RX7 home.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Sarah's First Service.
Previously:
Bringing Home Sarah (Part I).
Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
I got to work up north and parked in our carpark, shaking the office with the depth of the exhaust note. I was happy like pappy.
Now to decide what's the plan for the music which I wasn't interested in. All I wanted was to learn about the engine and cars, so the music didn't concern me.
I consulted with Jerry, who's a music boss and I priced the setup and parted it out.
Sold the stuff to a couple friends and took that money and put it towards maintenance costs for Sarah, my new experiment.
So that evening after work, mih boy Jerry, said he'd follow me up the highway to make sure I got home safe. I was thinking, nah that's not necessary de car wukkin (there are no problems with the vehicle).
So we set forth from the office up the Churchill Roosevelt Highway to the East.
Everything going well, I'm taking my time, Jerry following in his car behind and just as we were coming over the crest in the highway, right around the Nestlé junction heading east, before the lights you know, in the middle lane of all lanes, the car cut off.
Everything.
Like no lights, no nothing.
I grind to a halt.
Jerry stops behind me and puts on his hazzard lights.
And now the two of us there in the middle lane at 7:30 pm on a busy monday evening trying to keep nearest the cars and not be sucked into the vortex created by the cars wizzing by.
We're there, no flashlight to use after popping the bonnet to troubleshoot. So it's like ok, what do we do.
Right we need to get the car over to the shoulder.
Easier said than done.
A foolish but necessary desire at that time. Not foolish because we were stupid, but foolish because of the time in which we were going to attempt to carry out this manouever.
So we gauge it as best we could.
Jerry positioned himself to push from the left side, I from the right, with one hand on the steering wheel.
On a good day, that 2600 plus pounds would not be easy to push from a dead stop but that day was not a good day, and we needed to move the car, it could not stay there.
So we utter some words of prayer and wait for a space in the light continuum created by the cars passing by with their headlights blaring.
And we were off....
Slowly...and then less slowly...and I'm steering and we're getting through and no cars are coming to remove us from the earth...and then as the gravitational forces began to act upon this once immobile automobile, we began to face another problem as the slight incline lent a kind hand to the car now in full motion.
We began to contemplate Newton's Laws of Motion.
His First Law states that: An object at rest tends to stay at rest, or if it is in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by a sum of physical forces.
Second Law: A body will accelerate with acceleration proportional to the force and inversely proportional to the mass.
Third Law: Every action has a reaction equal in magnitude and opposite in direction.
Now we had clearly understood the power of the first part of Law One and had applied a sufficient force, generated by the combined energy derived from our recent dinners and propelled into action through our then slowly moving but now moderately galloping feet, to overcome that inertia.
Now we were being faced with a combination of the second part of Law One and the full power of Law Two.
One, if we could not sufficiently apply an external force to the moving object, in this case a 2nd Gen RX7, it would continue to stay in motion with the same speed.
The combination was that this body, was accelerating in a manner that relied heavily upon the mass of said object.
In this case it was a very heavy broad 2nd Gen RX7.
We clearly had to quickly become pioneering Physicists of our time or that car was most assuredly going to meet with the insides of the drain it was very nearly almost directly upon.
And so with all the strength I could muster I stretched out my hand and leaned through the window to grab the handbrake that Mazda had so brilliantly placed on the far side of the transmission lever in the Right Hand Drive models, and thankfully I was able to reach it just before the world came to an end.
And when we popped the bonnet after catching ourselves, we saw that the battery cable had come loose and so we tightened it and proceeded to home with no further adventure.
And that's how I brought Sarah, my first RX7 home.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Sarah's First Service.
Previously:
Bringing Home Sarah (Part I).
Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Bringing Home Sarah (Part I)
So I left by Tony that Monday morning a very happy camper.
I had journeyed to the southland as I mentioned before to carry out this transaction and I was quite pleased with myself. One could say I felt like I ate cake.
I had noted that the car was below half with fuel, and so I asked Tony how to get to the nearest gas station. He rattled off some directions and I figured, hey It's Trinidad, I can't get lost.
I suppose one can only be so wrong about getting lost. In my case I was plenty wrong.
So I set forth in my Blue Turbo II Series 4.5 RX7 in search of fuel. On a quest to quench Sarah's thirst.
And I drove and drove and turned corners and saw fewer people and more greenery and less buildings, and more shrub and less concrete but I was still thinking, I must be approaching it soon.
I figured, look I have a bit of gas, I have my cellphone and so what could be an issue?
I glanced over at my phone to be greeted with a No Signal icon.
Not the best of graphics to encounter whilst on a road trip with little sense of direction.
But I kept going, until I came to a set of traffic lights at a junction.
I figured I'd turn right and head into whatever town, and look for a gas station.
As I was turning I read the sign which indicated to me that I was in Debe.
I thought to myself, but that is not exactly close to where I was in San Fernando.
Say what I figured, worse case I'd enjoy some alloo or challoo pies and the famous doubles. (These are tasty Indo-Trinidadian savoury delicacies for the non-Trinidadian readers. Debe is famous for doubles.)
So not too far in, I spotted a gas station and pulled in.
Now to find the gas tank lever, without looking like a complete noob or as if I stole the car.
I look around and thankfully pull the gas tank lever and not the hatch glass.
The attendant fills it up and I ask how to get to the highway to head to town.
He says, take the Ring Road by the lights and keep going.
So said, so done. I kept to the road, still no signal, but with faith in fresh fuel and that lovely rumble from the dual exhaust I set forth boldly.
I was feeling like Captain Dré of the RX Enterprise
"Mazda - - - - the Final Frontier.
These are the voyages of the RX7, Sarah.
Its mission: to explore strange, new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."
Starring: Dré as Safeq
And then I hit that highway, and let loose to see what that baby could really do...
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Bringing Home Sarah (Part II).
Previously:
Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
I had journeyed to the southland as I mentioned before to carry out this transaction and I was quite pleased with myself. One could say I felt like I ate cake.
I had noted that the car was below half with fuel, and so I asked Tony how to get to the nearest gas station. He rattled off some directions and I figured, hey It's Trinidad, I can't get lost.
I suppose one can only be so wrong about getting lost. In my case I was plenty wrong.
So I set forth in my Blue Turbo II Series 4.5 RX7 in search of fuel. On a quest to quench Sarah's thirst.
And I drove and drove and turned corners and saw fewer people and more greenery and less buildings, and more shrub and less concrete but I was still thinking, I must be approaching it soon.
I figured, look I have a bit of gas, I have my cellphone and so what could be an issue?
I glanced over at my phone to be greeted with a No Signal icon.
Not the best of graphics to encounter whilst on a road trip with little sense of direction.
But I kept going, until I came to a set of traffic lights at a junction.
I figured I'd turn right and head into whatever town, and look for a gas station.
As I was turning I read the sign which indicated to me that I was in Debe.
I thought to myself, but that is not exactly close to where I was in San Fernando.
Say what I figured, worse case I'd enjoy some alloo or challoo pies and the famous doubles. (These are tasty Indo-Trinidadian savoury delicacies for the non-Trinidadian readers. Debe is famous for doubles.)
So not too far in, I spotted a gas station and pulled in.
Now to find the gas tank lever, without looking like a complete noob or as if I stole the car.
I look around and thankfully pull the gas tank lever and not the hatch glass.
The attendant fills it up and I ask how to get to the highway to head to town.
He says, take the Ring Road by the lights and keep going.
So said, so done. I kept to the road, still no signal, but with faith in fresh fuel and that lovely rumble from the dual exhaust I set forth boldly.
I was feeling like Captain Dré of the RX Enterprise
"Mazda - - - - the Final Frontier.
These are the voyages of the RX7, Sarah.
Its mission: to explore strange, new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before."
Starring: Dré as Safeq
And then I hit that highway, and let loose to see what that baby could really do...
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Bringing Home Sarah (Part II).
Previously:
Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Monday, March 29, 2010
Rotary Owner and Loving It
If you've been following the story thus far, you'll have seen the progression from the Lioness, Josephine, that sweet green Peugeot 306, to the Nissan Primera that got away because of the financial hurdles.
You'd have clearly observed how I was first introduced to the world of Rotary, born out of then frustration and bad mind into the potential for a fire spitting dragon of an automobile.
You also were with me through the interesting balancing act of dealing with fears of the lady I had begun to build a relationship with and ensuring that in pursuing this Rotary Dream that it not become a daylight nightmare.
You walked with me through the process of deciding upon the right one, which had its hurdles and now we are at the point where it's does this guy Tony who placed the small ad in the paper that week have the one?
So it's a normal Saturday afternoon and I link up with my boy, Juma to head down by Jerry in Chaguanas since he knows the Southland better than us and the last thing anyone really wants when going to check out a car is to get lost and end up reaching late or not at all.
It doesn't sit right with the seller if you can't organise your business to actually present yourself before for viewing of the automobile.
Now mind you, this was not the first trip Jerry and I had made to the southland to check a RX7.
We'd been to see a 3rd Generation RX7 in another part of south that was selling somewhat cheaply, only to find out subsequent to that trip that the guys selling the car were a bit shady.
So we were hoping that this was not a repeat performance, but the thing with buying a used car these days is you can never really tell. Shady people don't really advertise to you that they are shady, as that will have a negative impact on their profit margins and give them a bit of a public relations nightmare for their existing and future customers.
On the other hand, non-shady people sometimes are clueless as to what they have, and or have been swindled by some other shady person and you end up buying cat in bag, or pig in bag as people from other islands say, and now I as the new buyer have to deal with dat tantenna.(craziness, just a mess, for non-trinidadian readers)
So in this whole journey because I wasn't buying from the dealership and I knew very little, I was trying to do my best in this whole thing and hoping I wasn't put into a precarious position.
The lack of vaseline involved in some car deals does not render the buyer someone who is pleased post transaction completion.
So I get the directions from Tony and we jump in the car for the road trip.
So when we arrive in front of Tony's house, we see this blue 2nd Gen RX7 just sitting in his garage low down on her haunches. And though I could not articulate it at the time somewhere deep down I knew, yeah this is it, she's the one.
So we went through the usual things, price, issues, the seller's sales pitch, my questions, Jerry and Juma's scrutiny of the car to assist in keeping things balanced. Then Tony and I go for a test drive, and though there was a slight breakup in the acceleration I figured once all other things were proper I could resolve that with a little servicing.
So we arrive back at the house and finalise for a transaction the following Monday.
Monday comes and I take a taxi down to south in the early morning, ready to drive back up with my new baby. Tony and I meet, I give him the cheque and he gives me the keys and a receipt.
And then I sit in a RX7 for the first time as an owner and I feel good. I bounce the starter, hear that deep rumble from the dual exhaust barrels and drive off into the future...
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Bringing Home Sarah (Part I).
Previously:
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
You'd have clearly observed how I was first introduced to the world of Rotary, born out of then frustration and bad mind into the potential for a fire spitting dragon of an automobile.
You also were with me through the interesting balancing act of dealing with fears of the lady I had begun to build a relationship with and ensuring that in pursuing this Rotary Dream that it not become a daylight nightmare.
You walked with me through the process of deciding upon the right one, which had its hurdles and now we are at the point where it's does this guy Tony who placed the small ad in the paper that week have the one?
So it's a normal Saturday afternoon and I link up with my boy, Juma to head down by Jerry in Chaguanas since he knows the Southland better than us and the last thing anyone really wants when going to check out a car is to get lost and end up reaching late or not at all.
It doesn't sit right with the seller if you can't organise your business to actually present yourself before for viewing of the automobile.
Now mind you, this was not the first trip Jerry and I had made to the southland to check a RX7.
We'd been to see a 3rd Generation RX7 in another part of south that was selling somewhat cheaply, only to find out subsequent to that trip that the guys selling the car were a bit shady.
So we were hoping that this was not a repeat performance, but the thing with buying a used car these days is you can never really tell. Shady people don't really advertise to you that they are shady, as that will have a negative impact on their profit margins and give them a bit of a public relations nightmare for their existing and future customers.
On the other hand, non-shady people sometimes are clueless as to what they have, and or have been swindled by some other shady person and you end up buying cat in bag, or pig in bag as people from other islands say, and now I as the new buyer have to deal with dat tantenna.(craziness, just a mess, for non-trinidadian readers)
So in this whole journey because I wasn't buying from the dealership and I knew very little, I was trying to do my best in this whole thing and hoping I wasn't put into a precarious position.
The lack of vaseline involved in some car deals does not render the buyer someone who is pleased post transaction completion.
So I get the directions from Tony and we jump in the car for the road trip.
So when we arrive in front of Tony's house, we see this blue 2nd Gen RX7 just sitting in his garage low down on her haunches. And though I could not articulate it at the time somewhere deep down I knew, yeah this is it, she's the one.
So we went through the usual things, price, issues, the seller's sales pitch, my questions, Jerry and Juma's scrutiny of the car to assist in keeping things balanced. Then Tony and I go for a test drive, and though there was a slight breakup in the acceleration I figured once all other things were proper I could resolve that with a little servicing.
So we arrive back at the house and finalise for a transaction the following Monday.
Monday comes and I take a taxi down to south in the early morning, ready to drive back up with my new baby. Tony and I meet, I give him the cheque and he gives me the keys and a receipt.
And then I sit in a RX7 for the first time as an owner and I feel good. I bounce the starter, hear that deep rumble from the dual exhaust barrels and drive off into the future...
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Bringing Home Sarah (Part I).
Previously:
Is She The One? (Part II)
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Monday, March 22, 2010
Is She The One? (Part II)
Having given the previous context of my balancing my desire for a kindred spirit with the high octane racing fuel flowing through my veins, I now set out to find the right RX7.
It was not an easy journey.
Now even though I knew I wanted a 2nd Gen RX7, and I wanted to build life with this beautiful woman, I knew it was not going to be a casual task that I was undertaking.
The statistics have shown that usually in the pursuit of these two diametrically opposed entities, that of a beautiful woman and a high performance sports car, many a great man has failed.
The success rate is low, as usually either the man is given a choice by the only speaking party in the two, of that red car out there or me.
Most men have chosen the latter as, they couldn't bear to see the car set on fire by the one speaking, in a fit of rage after the man said something like "I'm not comparing my sports car to you Baby."
Usually, I'd heard, women don't take too kindly to those words, and fail to see the correlation between the hordes of cash and time spent on what to her looks like any other hunk of metal and the thrill shown on the man's face as his spirit soars going around that corner at upwards of 120km, with the coilovers, strut bars and polyurethane bushings doing their work to keep that baby going.
So all this I knew and so just as a momentary consideration to calm the fears of the woman who I was now forming this relationship with, I decided to explore a nice simple family vehicle, owned by a friend of mine Garvin.
It was a simple, black, four door, with a slight wing on the back to add a little flare.
And as expected, the woman loved the car, and it was at that point that I knew that if this rotary experiment failed, I would have to settle for a nice simple grocery getting
Subaru WRX GC8 model.
So I did try, but since I still had to get a loan, the astronomical insurance costs couldn't be borne by myself at that point and it was back on the rotary trail, no holding back.
I hunted, came across 2nd gen shells, and would have to source an engine and build it up. I didn't think I could absorb that as yet, cause I didn't know anyone trustworthy at the point nor where to get everything.
So a running car was preferred.
I came across a very sweet 1st gen, blue with a series 4 (2nd Gen) engine in it, owned by a guy called Michael.
I thought about it, but there was going to be some work to do that I figured made just getting the right 2nd Gen worth it.
A Sunday afternoon I saw a red 1st Gen in the paper. Went checked it out and considered it.
But the owner, Jameel, was sending it to do over the interior and some other stuff and so I'd have to wait.
So we are in early November 2006 now when on the Friday of the same week that I saw the red 1st Gen RX7, after almost 2 months of active hunting had gone by, I saw a small ad in the paper for a 2nd Gen RX7.
So I called and I spoke to a guy called Tony, who said I could come and check him the next day, Saturday down in the southern part of the island.
And so said so done.
I made a road trip, with two of my boys, Jerry and Juma, whom I mentioned before down to south to see what I hoped would be the one.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Previously:
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
It was not an easy journey.
Now even though I knew I wanted a 2nd Gen RX7, and I wanted to build life with this beautiful woman, I knew it was not going to be a casual task that I was undertaking.
The statistics have shown that usually in the pursuit of these two diametrically opposed entities, that of a beautiful woman and a high performance sports car, many a great man has failed.
The success rate is low, as usually either the man is given a choice by the only speaking party in the two, of that red car out there or me.
Most men have chosen the latter as, they couldn't bear to see the car set on fire by the one speaking, in a fit of rage after the man said something like "I'm not comparing my sports car to you Baby."
Usually, I'd heard, women don't take too kindly to those words, and fail to see the correlation between the hordes of cash and time spent on what to her looks like any other hunk of metal and the thrill shown on the man's face as his spirit soars going around that corner at upwards of 120km, with the coilovers, strut bars and polyurethane bushings doing their work to keep that baby going.
So all this I knew and so just as a momentary consideration to calm the fears of the woman who I was now forming this relationship with, I decided to explore a nice simple family vehicle, owned by a friend of mine Garvin.
It was a simple, black, four door, with a slight wing on the back to add a little flare.
And as expected, the woman loved the car, and it was at that point that I knew that if this rotary experiment failed, I would have to settle for a nice simple grocery getting
Subaru WRX GC8 model.
So I did try, but since I still had to get a loan, the astronomical insurance costs couldn't be borne by myself at that point and it was back on the rotary trail, no holding back.
I hunted, came across 2nd gen shells, and would have to source an engine and build it up. I didn't think I could absorb that as yet, cause I didn't know anyone trustworthy at the point nor where to get everything.
So a running car was preferred.
I came across a very sweet 1st gen, blue with a series 4 (2nd Gen) engine in it, owned by a guy called Michael.
I thought about it, but there was going to be some work to do that I figured made just getting the right 2nd Gen worth it.
A Sunday afternoon I saw a red 1st Gen in the paper. Went checked it out and considered it.
But the owner, Jameel, was sending it to do over the interior and some other stuff and so I'd have to wait.
So we are in early November 2006 now when on the Friday of the same week that I saw the red 1st Gen RX7, after almost 2 months of active hunting had gone by, I saw a small ad in the paper for a 2nd Gen RX7.
So I called and I spoke to a guy called Tony, who said I could come and check him the next day, Saturday down in the southern part of the island.
And so said so done.
I made a road trip, with two of my boys, Jerry and Juma, whom I mentioned before down to south to see what I hoped would be the one.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Rotary Owner and Loving It.
Previously:
Is She The One? (Part I)
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Is She The One? (Part I)
They say, yes they, and don't ask me who they are, because there is always some they who say things that people take as gospel
But anyway, as I was saying, they say that no account is complete without the love story.
I suppose there must always be that struggle to define one's humanity.
There must be that never ending desire for more than oneself, a longing to find a kindred spirit to share exploits of cars slaughtered on the tracks, or the rally stage.
To have someone to help with the oil change, or the tear down and rebuilding of gearboxes, someone to be there with you in the grease and dust and grime of the underbelly of this pursuit of automotive nirvana.
I guess one can always dream.
Because though, throughout history another they have always said that, behind every great man is a great woman, that same they has never said that, behind every car man is anything other than exhaust.
I suppose that may be, because any woman who stands behind any man in a real sports car is usually of the deaf variety, and looks more like she can bench press the man than he can carry her over the threshold of love.
So bearing all this in mind, I think it fit to spend a couple moments on my quest for a kindred spirit in the midst of this RX7 madness.
When I last left off, I had settled on pursuing a 2nd Gen RX7 having been exposed to a fire breathing dragon 3rd Gen in Sangre Grande.
This was in mid September 2006.
Almost a year prior to this, in Oct 2005 I met the most beautiful woman in the world.
We met through a mutual friend, Sonia whilst this woman was completing some studies in Barbados.
You may ask well how dat happen, since I live in Trinidad but is one Caribbean and we integrating long time.
Now this girl, didn't like cars that went fast, but I didn't know this at the time.
We were just getting to know each other. I was however made aware of this subsequently.
So jump forward a year now, when I am contemplating this automotive pilgrimage and it's becoming clearer that this girl isn't like the others and may be that kindred spirit.
But I'm still balancing this desire to know more about cars, and cars of the Mazda variety.
So when I was contemplating the 3rd Gen and the machinations required to procure such a wonderful piece of machinery I was balancing the fact that if this girl is the One that They spoke of, and if this Rotary Experiment failed on me I may just miss the love boat.
So I knew I had to be as careful as one can be, given all the circumstances.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Next: Is She the One Part II?
Previously:
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
But anyway, as I was saying, they say that no account is complete without the love story.
I suppose there must always be that struggle to define one's humanity.
There must be that never ending desire for more than oneself, a longing to find a kindred spirit to share exploits of cars slaughtered on the tracks, or the rally stage.
To have someone to help with the oil change, or the tear down and rebuilding of gearboxes, someone to be there with you in the grease and dust and grime of the underbelly of this pursuit of automotive nirvana.
I guess one can always dream.
Because though, throughout history another they have always said that, behind every great man is a great woman, that same they has never said that, behind every car man is anything other than exhaust.
I suppose that may be, because any woman who stands behind any man in a real sports car is usually of the deaf variety, and looks more like she can bench press the man than he can carry her over the threshold of love.
So bearing all this in mind, I think it fit to spend a couple moments on my quest for a kindred spirit in the midst of this RX7 madness.
When I last left off, I had settled on pursuing a 2nd Gen RX7 having been exposed to a fire breathing dragon 3rd Gen in Sangre Grande.
This was in mid September 2006.
Almost a year prior to this, in Oct 2005 I met the most beautiful woman in the world.
We met through a mutual friend, Sonia whilst this woman was completing some studies in Barbados.
You may ask well how dat happen, since I live in Trinidad but is one Caribbean and we integrating long time.
Now this girl, didn't like cars that went fast, but I didn't know this at the time.
We were just getting to know each other. I was however made aware of this subsequently.
So jump forward a year now, when I am contemplating this automotive pilgrimage and it's becoming clearer that this girl isn't like the others and may be that kindred spirit.
But I'm still balancing this desire to know more about cars, and cars of the Mazda variety.
So when I was contemplating the 3rd Gen and the machinations required to procure such a wonderful piece of machinery I was balancing the fact that if this girl is the One that They spoke of, and if this Rotary Experiment failed on me I may just miss the love boat.
So I knew I had to be as careful as one can be, given all the circumstances.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Next: Is She the One Part II?
Previously:
Rotary Revealed
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Rotary Revealed
There is a famous story in Automotive History about Ferruccio Lamborghini and Enzo Ferrari over a clutch problem that Mr Lamborghini was having with a Ferrari 250 GT that he had purchased.
It is stated that Mr Ferrari in his accustomed arrogance, stated that the issue was not with the clutch but with the "farmer" who had a tractor building business.
Annoyed by this, Mr Lamborghini is said to have set out to build a V12 sports car because he was convinced that nothing Enzo Ferrari was doing, he couldn't do.
Outside of the Caribbean, this is referred to as starting a project out of spite. In Trinidad we call dat bad mind.
Insert me here into a version of that story.
I wanted to learn about cars, and started to approach options and all efforts had been thwarted and I was now on the brink of abandoning the idea all together.
I figured if I had tried to get a balance between an insurance friendly car, to get a loan to experiment, Primera, lost out on the long shot of the Altezza and was not seeing any other option presently, I might as well out of pure bad mind just go full out sports car.
Someone else may have just gone with an everyday grocery getter and called that Patrick, but I figured
"What I got to lose going all out?"
So I analysed my situation.
I knew that my shoestring experiment budget was not going to let me enter the high end market so I said well let me just see what is out there.
I decided to focus on a few clear elements.
RWD - cause it's just so much fun
Not too expensive - because eating Crix and wind isn't a scalable diet
Accessible parts - well that I'd need to meet the right people for
Not too old - cause not all old sports cars really have the right look
Interestingly enough, just around the Primera time I had seen a car that I had never heard about, this one ya,
1st Gen RX7 and wondered about why the back was so ugly, and what was this 13b business.
But the price seemed experimentery nah, and it was RWD so I said aight well since I don't know bout this RX7 thing, let me do a bit of reading before I venture any further and look around for sales.
So I searched through Trinituner and did some google searches and was reading fine and dandy and beginning to like this rotary engine thing.
It seemed not too exotic, but certainly worthy of exploring.
I liked the look of the later 1st gens, the 2nd gens and most definitely those 3rd gens.
So it was now to find the right one.
So one day I come across this 3rd Gen for sale.
I call the guy and he's up in Grande and I arranged to go and see it.
One of my boys, Damion and I went up on a cool breezy Sunday afternoon to meet the guy, Glen.
So we're there and checking out the car. He's explaining how he just rebuilt the engine etc, did over the interior and why he's selling etc.
Then he's like, let's go for a test drive.
And we pile into the car, with mih boy, kinda squeeze up in de so-called 3rd gen backseat.
And so we going and he accelerate lil bits and it was sweet, but den when we were decelerating I was hearing a bit of popping from the back, and Glen was like, "Oh yeah dat's just a lil fire"
I say NAH! De Car spitting fire!!!!
I must get me one!!!
So now for the Mathematics of an Advanced Level.
I tried all how to work out how to get that 3rd gen but I knew that even if I happened to get through, that after I drive from Grande, it would park up home cause I wouldn't be able to buy gas.
So I figured, well the 1st gen may be too old for my first option, and the 3rds were out of my range and so I'd try for a 2nd Gen if I could just find one...
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Is She the One? (Part I)
Previously:
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
It is stated that Mr Ferrari in his accustomed arrogance, stated that the issue was not with the clutch but with the "farmer" who had a tractor building business.
Annoyed by this, Mr Lamborghini is said to have set out to build a V12 sports car because he was convinced that nothing Enzo Ferrari was doing, he couldn't do.
Outside of the Caribbean, this is referred to as starting a project out of spite. In Trinidad we call dat bad mind.
Insert me here into a version of that story.
I wanted to learn about cars, and started to approach options and all efforts had been thwarted and I was now on the brink of abandoning the idea all together.
I figured if I had tried to get a balance between an insurance friendly car, to get a loan to experiment, Primera, lost out on the long shot of the Altezza and was not seeing any other option presently, I might as well out of pure bad mind just go full out sports car.
Someone else may have just gone with an everyday grocery getter and called that Patrick, but I figured
"What I got to lose going all out?"
So I analysed my situation.
I knew that my shoestring experiment budget was not going to let me enter the high end market so I said well let me just see what is out there.
I decided to focus on a few clear elements.
RWD - cause it's just so much fun
Not too expensive - because eating Crix and wind isn't a scalable diet
Accessible parts - well that I'd need to meet the right people for
Not too old - cause not all old sports cars really have the right look
Interestingly enough, just around the Primera time I had seen a car that I had never heard about, this one ya,
1st Gen RX7 and wondered about why the back was so ugly, and what was this 13b business.
But the price seemed experimentery nah, and it was RWD so I said aight well since I don't know bout this RX7 thing, let me do a bit of reading before I venture any further and look around for sales.
So I searched through Trinituner and did some google searches and was reading fine and dandy and beginning to like this rotary engine thing.
It seemed not too exotic, but certainly worthy of exploring.
I liked the look of the later 1st gens, the 2nd gens and most definitely those 3rd gens.
So it was now to find the right one.
So one day I come across this 3rd Gen for sale.
I call the guy and he's up in Grande and I arranged to go and see it.
One of my boys, Damion and I went up on a cool breezy Sunday afternoon to meet the guy, Glen.
So we're there and checking out the car. He's explaining how he just rebuilt the engine etc, did over the interior and why he's selling etc.
Then he's like, let's go for a test drive.
And we pile into the car, with mih boy, kinda squeeze up in de so-called 3rd gen backseat.
And so we going and he accelerate lil bits and it was sweet, but den when we were decelerating I was hearing a bit of popping from the back, and Glen was like, "Oh yeah dat's just a lil fire"
I say NAH! De Car spitting fire!!!!
I must get me one!!!
So now for the Mathematics of an Advanced Level.
I tried all how to work out how to get that 3rd gen but I knew that even if I happened to get through, that after I drive from Grande, it would park up home cause I wouldn't be able to buy gas.
So I figured, well the 1st gen may be too old for my first option, and the 3rds were out of my range and so I'd try for a 2nd Gen if I could just find one...
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next: Is She the One? (Part I)
Previously:
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
So where did I leave off...
Right I was frustrated...
I had the downpayment, the process had been going fine and then bam, completely collapsed from under me.
So no Primera it seemed.
No Peugeot since that was already gone.
So what could I possibly check out?
Well let me jump back in the past a bit just before the Primera episode.
Not too long after selling the Peugeot, I had checked out what I thought would be a good option.
A Toyota Altezza, 6 spd manual, Beams engine. IS 200 not RS 200.
Well how did I reach from a 306 to consider an Altezza?
Well plain and simple just around the time I sold my Peugeot, one of my boys,Sean bought one, a RS 200 tiptronic business.
So you'd think well I just went looking for one.
No actually, as impressed as I was with the car at that particular stage of my journey I was contemplating going diesel also and had checked out a Nissan Frontier.
I heard some stories about issues with those from a mech, and so figured I'd just widen my scope and look at Ford Rangers also.
It was in looking through the paper a day,for available Rangers that I just happened to see an Altezza for sale.
So because I had nothing to lose, I said hey lemme go and jess check it out and gape at the car lil bits.
Yeah I've always loved cars, so sometimes a good gape is just what the automotive soul needs.
Yeah I know what you might say, I wrote
Ode to a Classifieds Forum Piper, so what am I doing gaping
But as I mentioned in the post, I am guilty of the same thing sometimes.
So yeah I went to check it out, and it was owned by a young lawyer.
It was in immaculate condition and well maintained.
We went for a test drive and it was cool.
I figured hey, what's the worst that can happen if I check out a loan for this.
I wasn't too sold on the thought but figured I'd give it a shot.
So I told the guy I'd see what my options looked like and call him.
I think that was like Monday round lunchtime so. It was a rainy day.
Went and played football with the fellahs from the office the Tuesday afternoon
Wednesday morning I wake up not feeling too well
Gone to the doc, and boom I have Chicken Pox.
Ah say well yes!
So I called the lawyer to alert him in case he never had pox right.
And explained well I can't really go checking out no loan with pox so after 2 weeks I could pursue.
He said well, we'll see how it goes.
2 weeks passed and would you believe the very day I get cleared by the doc, the car sold to someone else?
I say well it just wasn't for me
But it was during my sick time that I saw the post for the Primera and checked it out post Poxness.
So yuh understan now how I jess (just, for non Trinidadian readers) frustrated.
I get Pox while trying to go after one car.
I get loan issues pursuing another
So what am I to do now?
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next:
Rotary Revealed
Previously:
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Right I was frustrated...
I had the downpayment, the process had been going fine and then bam, completely collapsed from under me.
So no Primera it seemed.
No Peugeot since that was already gone.
So what could I possibly check out?
Well let me jump back in the past a bit just before the Primera episode.
Not too long after selling the Peugeot, I had checked out what I thought would be a good option.
A Toyota Altezza, 6 spd manual, Beams engine. IS 200 not RS 200.
Well how did I reach from a 306 to consider an Altezza?
Well plain and simple just around the time I sold my Peugeot, one of my boys,Sean bought one, a RS 200 tiptronic business.
So you'd think well I just went looking for one.
No actually, as impressed as I was with the car at that particular stage of my journey I was contemplating going diesel also and had checked out a Nissan Frontier.
I heard some stories about issues with those from a mech, and so figured I'd just widen my scope and look at Ford Rangers also.
It was in looking through the paper a day,for available Rangers that I just happened to see an Altezza for sale.
So because I had nothing to lose, I said hey lemme go and jess check it out and gape at the car lil bits.
Yeah I've always loved cars, so sometimes a good gape is just what the automotive soul needs.
Yeah I know what you might say, I wrote
Ode to a Classifieds Forum Piper, so what am I doing gaping
But as I mentioned in the post, I am guilty of the same thing sometimes.
So yeah I went to check it out, and it was owned by a young lawyer.
It was in immaculate condition and well maintained.
We went for a test drive and it was cool.
I figured hey, what's the worst that can happen if I check out a loan for this.
I wasn't too sold on the thought but figured I'd give it a shot.
So I told the guy I'd see what my options looked like and call him.
I think that was like Monday round lunchtime so. It was a rainy day.
Went and played football with the fellahs from the office the Tuesday afternoon
Wednesday morning I wake up not feeling too well
Gone to the doc, and boom I have Chicken Pox.
Ah say well yes!
So I called the lawyer to alert him in case he never had pox right.
And explained well I can't really go checking out no loan with pox so after 2 weeks I could pursue.
He said well, we'll see how it goes.
2 weeks passed and would you believe the very day I get cleared by the doc, the car sold to someone else?
I say well it just wasn't for me
But it was during my sick time that I saw the post for the Primera and checked it out post Poxness.
So yuh understan now how I jess (just, for non Trinidadian readers) frustrated.
I get Pox while trying to go after one car.
I get loan issues pursuing another
So what am I to do now?
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next:
Rotary Revealed
Previously:
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Navigating the Financial Labyrinth
So as you know, I went from a Peugeot 306, and was interested in purchasing a Nissan Primera, but needed some monies to embark on the journey.
So I first checked out my credit union, and their only initial concern was the age of the vehicle but I pointed out how good a condition it was in and they said it would have to be evaluated.
Cool usual process of search, etc etc
Things going well, ok enough interest rate and payment plan.
Jason was real helpful throughout the process, and as far as could be told it was a done deal.
Boom one day, the loan officer I had been dealing with called me with some concerns about the insurance coverage.
Now I didn't see what concern there could be, because the same brokerage company who had covered car previously were willing to continue insuring it and were giving me the option to pay half of the yearly premium upfront and the rest at the end of the month.
Made a great deal of sense to me to take the option, and try to ease de financial tension, but apparently that was a concern to the supervisor.
So me in my confusion tried to explain that the coverage would be there, blah blah blah...but they didn't wanna hear it.
So it was like, buh wha jed? (but how could this be? for non trinidad and tobago readers)
So I explained the scene to Jason and started to check out another insitution, a particular local bank.
But their interest rate was not coming with any vaseline and so the whole deal got catspraddled as I had no other way to afford that Primera.
And I had to just relax and hope for the best.
So I was back to square one, no car, no automotive lab, no practical learnings.
So I read a little bit and just kept searching trinituner for options.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next:
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Previously:
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
So I first checked out my credit union, and their only initial concern was the age of the vehicle but I pointed out how good a condition it was in and they said it would have to be evaluated.
Cool usual process of search, etc etc
Things going well, ok enough interest rate and payment plan.
Jason was real helpful throughout the process, and as far as could be told it was a done deal.
Boom one day, the loan officer I had been dealing with called me with some concerns about the insurance coverage.
Now I didn't see what concern there could be, because the same brokerage company who had covered car previously were willing to continue insuring it and were giving me the option to pay half of the yearly premium upfront and the rest at the end of the month.
Made a great deal of sense to me to take the option, and try to ease de financial tension, but apparently that was a concern to the supervisor.
So me in my confusion tried to explain that the coverage would be there, blah blah blah...but they didn't wanna hear it.
So it was like, buh wha jed? (but how could this be? for non trinidad and tobago readers)
So I explained the scene to Jason and started to check out another insitution, a particular local bank.
But their interest rate was not coming with any vaseline and so the whole deal got catspraddled as I had no other way to afford that Primera.
And I had to just relax and hope for the best.
So I was back to square one, no car, no automotive lab, no practical learnings.
So I read a little bit and just kept searching trinituner for options.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next:
Frustrated Wannabe Amateur Tuner
Previously:
European Exodus
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
Monday, March 15, 2010
European Exodus
So as I pointed out in my last post, I had lived in the European automotive world for about a year and a half and had a very good experience with my first car.
I did have a lot of fun with that car, and she was cool with a sunroof, cd player and good sound system.
Enough speed for me at that time, and pretty much a good bit of things a young male driver could want :)
But when I sold her I wanted to learn more about cars, and couldn't afford to learn on the European platform and so opted for Japanese.
My "problem" was to find the right one.
So I searched on a local automotive website, that my friend Juma who does Wedding photography,
FlowFoto , told me about.
It's Trinituner.Com
You can check it out some time and see the kinds of things happening in the automotive world here in Trinidad.
So being a noob in the automotive game, I figured my best bet was to go with the most popular automotive brand locally, which would be Nissan.
Now being the most popular, ensures accessibility of parts but also can make your car a target for thieves for the very same reason, high demand for used parts.
So I figured, ok Nissan but not an Almera, because one it may be easily stolen and two, my Dad already had one and how cool is it to be getting into learning about cars and your car being no more distinct that your Dad's.
So I came across
a black Nissan Primera, UK Spec and decided to check it out.
I loved it from day one. The pictures on trinituner did not do the car justice.
She had what at that time I thought was a throaty exhaust, a bit deeper than I was accustomed to.
Compared to a car I got later on that my Mom was sure used to "Raise De Dead", a 1st Generation RX7 with a 12a brideported engine,
this Primera didn't make too much of a peep.
More on that 1st Gen later.
So the owner, a guy called Jason and I chatted about the car.
He really takes care of his cars and I'm still impressed by the condition.
We went for a test drive and I was sold.
So the only hurdle I had to cross was to line up the finances, because I would need a loan and the money from
Josephine, the Peugeot 306 would be the down payment.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next:
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
Previously:
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
I did have a lot of fun with that car, and she was cool with a sunroof, cd player and good sound system.
Enough speed for me at that time, and pretty much a good bit of things a young male driver could want :)
But when I sold her I wanted to learn more about cars, and couldn't afford to learn on the European platform and so opted for Japanese.
My "problem" was to find the right one.
So I searched on a local automotive website, that my friend Juma who does Wedding photography,
FlowFoto , told me about.
It's Trinituner.Com
You can check it out some time and see the kinds of things happening in the automotive world here in Trinidad.
So being a noob in the automotive game, I figured my best bet was to go with the most popular automotive brand locally, which would be Nissan.
Now being the most popular, ensures accessibility of parts but also can make your car a target for thieves for the very same reason, high demand for used parts.
So I figured, ok Nissan but not an Almera, because one it may be easily stolen and two, my Dad already had one and how cool is it to be getting into learning about cars and your car being no more distinct that your Dad's.
So I came across
a black Nissan Primera, UK Spec and decided to check it out.
I loved it from day one. The pictures on trinituner did not do the car justice.
She had what at that time I thought was a throaty exhaust, a bit deeper than I was accustomed to.
Compared to a car I got later on that my Mom was sure used to "Raise De Dead", a 1st Generation RX7 with a 12a brideported engine,
this Primera didn't make too much of a peep.
More on that 1st Gen later.
So the owner, a guy called Jason and I chatted about the car.
He really takes care of his cars and I'm still impressed by the condition.
We went for a test drive and I was sold.
So the only hurdle I had to cross was to line up the finances, because I would need a loan and the money from
Josephine, the Peugeot 306 would be the down payment.
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next:
Navigating The Financial Labyrinth
Previously:
RX7 Genesis
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
RX7 Genesis
My name is André, aka Dré or Safeq.
I live in the twin island republic, Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.
I drive a 1991 red Mazda RX7 Second Generation Series 5 Turbo II coupe.
Her name is Ruby.
Presently she has an automatic transmission but that is scheduled to change.
Will update as that goes on.
This is my 4th rotary powered vehicle between 2006 and now.
I'm sure you're curious if you're here on this site to find out, well how did all of this start?
Well I hope you do enjoy the story.
Well let's see, the beginning.
I used to drive a European vehicle, french actually, a green Peugeot 306.
I got her in Jan 2004 and I called her Josephine.
She was a very loyal car, a bit expensive to maintain but very loyal.
The first problem I had with her was the fuel pump failing one evening after work.
I had to get the car towed up to my home and my mechanic, Bailey came and worked on it.
Other than that, I had a battery failure and had to replace the centre console, right triangular window pane and cd player after thieves broke into her a Sunday morning.
I must say that the handling on that car is the sweetest I have had for a Front Wheel Drive, FWD, and I do miss some elements of that.
Very good stock suspension also, Mac Pherson Struts.
Well the one "major" issue she did have was with the Porsche designed auto adaptive transmission which would hesitate from going into first gear properly from second upon deceleration.
And then you would have to pause, rev the engine a bit and it would then buck/jerk forward into first.
It was manageable but got to be a bit annoying at times.
I got an opportunity to sell her in mid 2006 and took it and decided to learn more about cars.
Because of my experience with the European autos, and since it was going to be an experimental journey, I figured my best bet was to look for a good Japanese candidate to make my laboratory.
So the search began....
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next:
European Exodus
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
I live in the twin island republic, Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.
I drive a 1991 red Mazda RX7 Second Generation Series 5 Turbo II coupe.
Her name is Ruby.
Presently she has an automatic transmission but that is scheduled to change.
Will update as that goes on.
This is my 4th rotary powered vehicle between 2006 and now.
I'm sure you're curious if you're here on this site to find out, well how did all of this start?
Well I hope you do enjoy the story.
Well let's see, the beginning.
I used to drive a European vehicle, french actually, a green Peugeot 306.
I got her in Jan 2004 and I called her Josephine.
She was a very loyal car, a bit expensive to maintain but very loyal.
The first problem I had with her was the fuel pump failing one evening after work.
I had to get the car towed up to my home and my mechanic, Bailey came and worked on it.
Other than that, I had a battery failure and had to replace the centre console, right triangular window pane and cd player after thieves broke into her a Sunday morning.
I must say that the handling on that car is the sweetest I have had for a Front Wheel Drive, FWD, and I do miss some elements of that.
Very good stock suspension also, Mac Pherson Struts.
Well the one "major" issue she did have was with the Porsche designed auto adaptive transmission which would hesitate from going into first gear properly from second upon deceleration.
And then you would have to pause, rev the engine a bit and it would then buck/jerk forward into first.
It was manageable but got to be a bit annoying at times.
I got an opportunity to sell her in mid 2006 and took it and decided to learn more about cars.
Because of my experience with the European autos, and since it was going to be an experimental journey, I figured my best bet was to look for a good Japanese candidate to make my laboratory.
So the search began....
If you like how the story is progressing,
Leave Comments below or
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Next:
European Exodus
See pics:
My RX7 Story Facebook Page
Follow me on Twitter: MyRX7Story
Email me at safeq@myrx7story.com
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