| George |
After having various Mazda's and Datsun's over the years and then growing out of old cars due to buying houses and marriage/kids, my interest was rekindled when a good mate of mine bought a Mk1 Escort. I figured he needed someone to cruise with (my excuse anyway) so I set about finding something of my own. I had owned a couple of Datsun 1200 Coupe's when I was younger and while they were a fantastic little car, it was my first car (Mazda Capella) that had made the biggest impression.
I searched for a few months trying to find a mint series 4 Capella, but everything I called about wasn't quite perfect. Then one day I saw an ad for a 1977 Capella in the Trading Post. Knowing it was a Series 4, I called and the lady told me it was a one owner car before her and was immaculate and even had the plastic still on the doors when she had bought it. I asked her to send me some pictures by email and if it was as good as she said, I would jump the first plane to Melbourne and buy it. She did send the email, but no pics and explained that someone else had fronted with the asking price and bought the car. I was somewhat peeved but resigned to the fact it was gone and that was it.
Fast forward a few weeks and I'm browsing a Rotary forum and a car matching the same description as I'd missed was being advertised. Upon contacting the guy, it turned out to be the same car. We haggled over price and then I flew to Melbourne and met him at the airport and did the deal there. I ended up having to pay $1,300 more than the price the girl originally wanted, but I didn't care, the car turned out to be exactly as described.
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Since buying 'George' in Feb 2005, he's had a clean from top to bottom (even underneath), new piston seals in the front brakes, a reco'd radiator, new front driver's brake line, new hoses (original radiator hoses from factory were still on it), a set of venetian blinds and lots of little tidying up. He still has a couple of little shopping trolley type dents, but he's all original and that's how he'll stay. He gets used a couple of times a month for various club runs, but most of the time sits in a windowless garage with a soft cover on (very spoilt). I often get asked, "who did your interior?". I like to answer "Mazda did, in 1977".
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