Erika the Sierra Sapphire

Driving a Nissan suny was not generaly what I had in mind, the plan was for a Sierra Sapphie. So I started hunting in November, waiting for the student loan to finance a new(er) car.

quite a lot of hunting was done, looking at cars that were either too expensive or heaps.

Me an Ian Till decided a trip into the big smoke ( London) was called for to look at a few cars.

First on the list was a Galaxy Blue 1.8GL ( 1987 ). The car looked ok, drove reasonably well, looked like it had done more miles than it said but overall it was not bad for the money... We took it for a test drive leaving Ian's car, keys and most importantly my money under the seat!!!!

After that we took a trip across town and looked at a 1.8LX in a light metalik blue. It was quit smart looking, but ahd had an accident repair. Unfortunatly it drove like crap and the vendor looked a bit shifty....

Then it was a trip further across town, we were going to see a Red 2.0LX. It looked reasonable although it had had a partial respray and the kids had scrawled on the door cards. But it was the one to have..... Untill we found that the V5 was in the post!!!

So it was back across town to haggle for Erika, the Galaxy Blue Sapphy.... £1400 later she was mine...

The car was in use from Nov 94 Till early 1999 when it was taken off the road and subjected to 7yrs restoration and modification.

Over the years on the road it got various upgrades ( 14" wheels then alloys ) Electric windows, better seats, colour bumpers with fogs, etc..

The Jap Shed Sunny

Ok, I had just sold the Lada Samara to my sister and my Student loan had not come through to buy my ideal car, a Ford Sierra Sapphire. I needed some wheels to fill the gap..

Me and My m8 Ian abz-zero Till went to the Maidstone car auctions to find a CHEAP set of wheels. Lot's of crud went past with no MOT. I bought a pice of Crud with a fairly long MOT (8 months)..

Somehow I decided to bid on a Nissan Sunny, A reg in RED. The bidding started at £50, and went up dramaticaly with me putting in the final bid at £50... Add sales charges and I was £62.50 lighter!! It ran prety well, and appart from the front and rear valances it was bodily not too bad.

The brakes felt a bit dodgy..

A week or so later the starter motor started to play up. but I had made a half decent job of sorting the valance.

The breaks were BAD! I ended up slewing sideways on the motorway under heavy breaking, and then later the friction surface departed from one of the front pads. new pads were fitted and I tried to repair the rear wheel cylinder that was leaking. That was a bad idea as I lost all pedal preasure during the test run, down a steep hill!! I managed to pump the pedal and make it back to base. A new wheel cylinder was purchased to fix the problem.

The car lasted about 2 months and 1200k.

It was then put in the garage and left ( I was to own 2 cars!! ) Ian put it in the garage for me, but managed to totaly miss seeing the HUGE capstan lathe into which he reversed, smashing the tail light.

The car languished in the garage for a few months before being towed away be and engine rebuilding company..

And she was gone.

I have one crappy picture somwhere which I will find at a later date.