The (sort of...) Jap scrap (sort of...) sensible turnip garage

svensktoppen

RMS Regular
Messages
32,751
Drives
FK2 CTR
Lockdown madness has a lot to answer for... The trusty S3 disappeared just at the start of it all. The V60 Polestar arrived as a replacement, easily the most surprising car I have ever come across. So ridiculously capable and just all out smiles and fun. But ultimately too large for me, so it was replaced recently with a smaller and more sensible "daily" :innocent: Then two other bouts of madness happened, plus the ever present crazy madness that's wee Princess. So I decided to merge it all, and introduce the last member of the family at the same time. And yes, there is a Jap theme here. If you squint a bit, lol 😅

Just brief introductions here. Starting off with Princess, who some of you may know. Possibly the best travelled S1 Elise and she loves it. She might have been made in a shed in Norfolk once upon a time but these days she has a Japanese heart in the boot.

Bishojo!

P1160330.JPG


P1160621.JPG


P1130957.JPG


Next up Emma, a genuine bona-fide 850 T-5R. For the geeks they were made in limited numbers, in 1995 only, as a tribute to Volvo's spectacular and legendary entry into BTCC a year earlier. This one is a proper manual estate version. Like new inside and out, zero rust, all original panels just like she left the factory 25 years ago. Just a bit of paint fade when she arrived. No antique wardrobe on wheels has any right to go and sound like this, lol. The reaction on the road is usually "rofl!" followed by "wtf just happened?" :innocent: And yes yes yes, ok, she was originally built in Belgium, but lived her life in Japan where I found her, and arrived here on a boat last year. She's been away to the paint shop of late and about to emerge from there soon. Can't wait :cool:

Subarashii!

P1120729.JPG


P1120691.JPG


P1110793.JPG


Then we have the new sensible daily - Red, the FK2 Civic R 😁 🙈 The closest thing to a touring car for the road. As the geeks among you will know, they were made in limited numbers in 2015/16, exclusively for UK and Japan, as a tribute to the Honda BTCC success. And what a tribute it is! Spectacular down any road, compact enough to fit down country lanes. And yet with the standard exhaust she's a delight on long motorway journeys. Ok, the ride is perhaps just a touch on the firm side, lol, but away from bombed out and speed bumped city streets she's absolutely fine, the seats are superb, and she drives like nothing else. Just 37k when I picked her up from a Honda dealer a couple of weeks ago, and apart from the wheels needing attention at some point she's all good.

Subayai!

P1170619.JPG


And finally, Mitsi, a genuine Evo 6 RS. Needs no introductions here I think. She arrived earlier this summer and has been slowly working her way through the usual recommissioning, MoT, registration, etc. Completely standard car, as she left the factory, bar the wheels and steering wheel. Again zero rust, everything original, everything working (not that there is a lot of stuff in these to start with 😅 ). And the rarest of things in an RS, she has aircon! She won't stay original, but not planning anything crazy either, just a nice reversible road spec. However, that's all for next year. Just legal and was on the road for the first time on Friday. Actually the first time driving her, not excited at all, and she didn't disappoint 😁

Isamu-fu!

P1180074.JPG


For reference:

Previous Lotus thread (or the last incarnation of it, there are a couple before this one too, lol):

Sensible Volvos:

And the wee S3, in memoriam (also the last incarnation, there is more):
 
Last edited:

DC.

RMS Regular
Messages
11,357
Drives
VW Golf GTI
Did I meet you today in the Civic? Somewhere on the Portaferry road?

Volvo pic is my daily dog walking spot. Love it.
 

Gambit

RMS Regular
Messages
13,603
Location
where the sun always rises
Evo is a nice surprise given youd teased with the type r test drive before!

As the geeks among you will know, they were made in limited numbers in 2015/16, exclusively for UK and Japan, as a tribute to the Honda BTCC success

Are you sure? Pretty sure I seen them in lhd variant, in France tho given I cant be certain it was lhd just remember it as it was the met grey colour and I thought it looked brilliant
 

svensktoppen

RMS Regular
OP
svensktoppen
Messages
32,751
Drives
FK2 CTR
Are you sure? Pretty sure I seen them in lhd variant, in France tho given I cant be certain it was lhd just remember it as it was the met grey colour and I thought it looked brilliant
FK2, yes, pretty sure. Made in Swindon for UK, a few thousand in total, all numbered as well. A few hundred were exported back to Japan. Doesn't mean somebody didn't import some elsewhere though.

The FN2 was sold much more widely.

Edit: There were some sold in Europe, mostly Germany and a few here and there elsewhere. But most went to UK and Japan. There were only a few thousand in total.

There was the black edition near the end of production, that was UK only.
 
Last edited:

ossy2004

RMS Regular
Messages
9,061
Location
Newtownabbey
Drives
R33 / V70
Quality line up, well done good sir



Was over in London at the weekend to see a good friend, was showing him your travels to NC500, we made a decision to do it in the skyline in May bank holiday weekend!

Maybe give yourself & @Boydie a text and get some recommendations of you guys if yous don’t mind 👍
 

gary1365

RMS Regular
Messages
10,196
Location
limavady
Drives
Great news
Great line up I’ve flicked through the lotus thread before it’s too long to read all of it.

I was sad to see you were getting rid of the polestar but the tyre r is nice too.

I think you should put this ref on the lotus 🤣
40F3C8F8-3D6C-4A54-9AC9-57D89029E456.jpeg
40F3C8F8-3D6C-4A54-9AC9-57D89029E456.jpeg
 

gav525

RMS Regular
Messages
10,216
Location
Co Down
Drives
Anything
What a collection, must be hard to choose what to drive lol!

Didn’t know you’d gotten an Evo as well, very nice especially in RS guise 😍
 

svensktoppen

RMS Regular
OP
svensktoppen
Messages
32,751
Drives
FK2 CTR
Was over in London at the weekend to see a good friend, was showing him your travels to NC500, we made a decision to do it in the skyline in May bank holiday weekend!

Maybe give yourself & @Boydie a text and get some recommendations of you guys if yous don’t mind 👍
No bother, and yes, absolutely do it! Been going up there since long before they made it "a thing". It's mostly quiet still, but some bits can get very busy now in season.

May will be a perfect time to go, best time in Scotland I think.
 

Lyons

RMS Moderator
Messages
76,925
Location
Texarkana
Drives
X5 / 435D
Lol, wild man. Gets a Civic, then just casually goes and gets an Evo VI RS too 😂. Did not see that coming!

Unreal collection! Was storage not 1 of the reasons for getting rid of the S3?! I do envy your man maths calculator.
 

svensktoppen

RMS Regular
OP
svensktoppen
Messages
32,751
Drives
FK2 CTR
First update: end of season for poor wee Princess.

P1180144.JPG


Something somewhere in the transmission decided it had had enough and she lost drive. In the middle of nowhere. In deepest darkest Wiltshire. On a Sunday evening. In the middle of a fuel crisis. That was fun 🙈

Luckily I had forgotten to cancel my AA membership and still had full home relay cover. They got me in a taxi all the way up to Cambridge where I happened to have the Honda. See, there is a perfectly sound logic to having a few cars - one of them might actually be working at any given time :innocent:

Ten days later she turned up last night. Whatever it turns out to be will be repairable, but not with a 10mm spanner in the driveway this time. No big deal, end of season anyway. Just her way of saying she had had enough, lol.

So tucked up and having a rest for now.

P1180146.JPG


In the meantime Mitsi has been getting a good bath inside and out. Scrubs up like new. Don't know about anyone else but I've never seen an Evo as unmolested as this. Certainly not an RS. Wheels and steering wheel, that's it. Everything else as she left the factory over twenty years ago. She's a peach. Even those nice seats, lol.

P1180089.JPG


P1180092.JPG


P1180095.JPG


P1180117.JPG


P1180138.JPG
 
Top