Project BRG: How It Came to Be

06 November 2022

Having just sold a 300ZX, I was cashed up and looking for something new to buy. I had learned some lessons with the Z though, so I had some standards the vehicle had to meet. The standards consisted of a vehicle that was easy to work on, was in good condition, insurable for a fair value, and had to be within my tight budget. When I had first listed the Z, it was to buy an R-Limited Eunos Roadster, but since that was long gone, by the time the Z actually sold, I was now hooked on buying an Aristo. After a couple of months of searching, and almost pulling the trigger on an Aristo several times, a 1991 Eunos Roadster was listed. It was V-Special trim meaning it was in British Racing Green with a tan leather interior, was located in Timaru, just 2 hours away from where I'm located in Christchurch, and seemed to be in pretty good nick with a reasonable price. With me being set on the car, all that was left was to view it and pick it up.

Being alerted that several people were coming to view the car on the day, after a 6 o’clock wake-up and a quick visit to the bank, the nerve-racking trip began. I was lucky enough to travel the 2-hour drive in my parent's Volvo XC90 and experience the scenery in the rear.

After a quick view of the car, it was generally in pretty good condition and was left completely original other than a front strut bar, a weird rear antenna, some LED fog lights, and some interesting interior parts. Being owned by an elderly lady who loved the car, it was in pretty good nick and seemed to well maintained. After the cash was paid, the insurance policy was started, and the change of ownership was done, the car was finally mine.

After coming home from the drive, I found a couple of things that needed to be done. The first was the soft top. Although in fairly good condition, it had two tiny holes that were causing a small whistling sound when traveling at motorway speeds and it meant I wouldn't feel comfortable cleaning the car. The second was the fact that a bunch of the rear interior trim was sitting in the glovebox leaving sharp edges around the interior, ready for me to cut my forearms.

Another thing we noticed was that the brakes shuddered which lead me to believe that the rotors were at fault. Other than those little niggles, a missing driver's floor mat, a loose gauge cluster ring, and a questionable steering wheel and shift knob combo, the car was awesome, although, we did struggle to overtake a caravan that even slowed down to let us pass.

Currently, my goals for the near future are to get the little niggly bits and dings sorted, then start the modifications by installing a set of Japanese wheels, lower the vehicle using springs or coil-overs, and eventually install a Garage5 roll-bar.