I sold VYK my russet Sprint a couple of years back. I had put a lot of work into making the car the best driving car that I could but when I got as far as I thought I could go with it I soon got bored and sold it on.
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I soon realised that was a mistake!
I had replaced VYK with a MGB GT because I had always liked the look of them. I soon realised that it wasn’t for me. Yes, they do look good but they don’t drive very well at all. I did enjoy making a few mods to it in a bid to increase performance, on a budget I might add so no supercharger unfortunately, but it was still laboured to drive, plus I just couldn’t get comfortable in it.
So I sold it on and put that money into a Z4 Coupe. It’s ridiculous that the same money that buys a BGT will buy something that performs like the Z4 3.0 si does - 0-60 in 5 seconds and 265bhp, all mod cons included; air con, heated leather, xenon headlights, Bluetooth, etc etc - plus I think they do look epic!?
Yes, it is a lovely car to look at and to drive, but you just can’t use that performance on the road to be honest. Plus, apart from a few sensors giving up the ghost, it was a bit boring in that I had no tinkering to do! Maintenance involved plugging it into a laptop which just felt far too modern for me. Importantly, and rather obviously, it isn’t a proper classic. So, that got sold on recently.
I had been thinking about the Sprint that I had let go and came to the conclusion that it is the ideal classic for me. It ticks all of the boxes when it comes to what I really want from a classic car. So with a limited budget I set out to find a project. I thought that finding one would be difficult being that I wanted a running driving car that I can improve on, and enjoy driving at the same time, for the same money that I got from the sale of the Z4.
I was preparing for a long winded search but within a couple of weeks I found LLU, a 1975 Mimosa Sprint with a Webasto roof! I’m chuffed to bits. The car is tatty, but solid in all the right places. There’s a few previous repairs to bodywork to sort out, it needs a full paint job, and that roof has obviously seen better days - and I’m sure will be a challenging fix! But mechanically the car is pretty good and had completed the RBRR in 2023 so is at a good starting point for me.
It’s had 4 previous owners and 63000 miles which looks to be genuine by the history. Main thing is that it drives really well as it is, and I can tinker with it to get it up to scratch mechanically, before I take the roof and paint on at a later date.
This won’t be a concourse resto. I will aim to make LLU a nice driver, just like VYK was, and enjoy the journey whilst documenting it here - if only for my own record.
I think the Ziebart treatment has saved LLU just as it had saved VYK. There’s the usual plugs where the cills have been injected but LLU has also been sprayed through the engine bay which is a bit messy! It will clean up nicely with a bit of meths and elbow grease though.
I’ve already renewed my TDC membership. So then I could start the tinkering by buying and fitting club spark plug tubes, plus I’ve given LLU a decent service. Club carb mounts are now on order. I also got rid of the K&Ns and fitted the proper air box.
Some nice history came with the car. Loads of receipts etc right back to the bill of sale.
There will be more tinkering to come. I’m sure there will be some challenges along the way. But like I say I’m looking forward to getting stuck in. Just dont let me sell this one please ….
