| maikeru |
07-27-02 06:41 PM |
My First Rotary, a story of longevity
I had posted my story in the RX8 Forums, when someone suggested I post it here as well. Hope that's ok.
My First Rotary
I was 20 in 1992 when I bought my first RX7. It was a 1981 Sunbeam Silver beauty with 200,000 miles on it. The guy I bought it from was the first owner of this car, an older gentleman recently retired who had kept all the maintanance records. He really didn't want to part with it, but his wife somehow had convinced him otherwise and so there we were. He gave me some backround on the car besides the records. Outside of changing the fluids,spark plugs and cables the car was stock. This was his baby, he drove it everywhere. He told me it was the best car he had ever driven and the best car he would ever own. Seeing the pain in his eyes as I gave him the money, I almost didn't want to take the car, but I figured if it was going to be sold I'd want it to go to someone who would take care of it and I planned on doing just that. With his wife looking over his shoulder he reluctantly took the money and parted with his longtime friend.
The car had been sitting a month by the time I first saw it but honestly you really couldn't tell. Over the next few years I drove this car quite a bit and was constantly amazed by it's durabilityhandling and it's engineering. By the time I swapped the engine out it had 275,216 miles on it. The engine was not dead however. On one of my trips to the junkyard I had come across a 1982 RX7 with only 40,000 miles on it and decided it would be a fun project to swap out the engine in my yard. So on the morning of the expected engine delivery I proceeded to do some prep work on the car such as removing the exaust and radiator etc. By that night I was able to hear the new engine run in it's new home. Looking back at it now I wish I had left the original engine in to see how far it would go, despite the noticeble power increase with the new engine. Well to make a real long(sorry readers) story shorter, after a few weeks I started a new project, taking the old engine apart. When I was done I decided that I would display one rotor in my living room, the other I would give back to the man who sold me the car. So about four years after I bought it I headed back to his place of buisiness were I first layed eyes on my car. After a little catching up with the car's previous owner I presented him with his gift. He was very gratefull to say the least. A few years later I was starting a family and gave the RX to my younger brother who drove it a few more years before retiring it to the junkyard, the New England winters had secured it's destiny and final resting place. That original rotor still sits on my desk at work these ten years later to remind me of the best car I had ever driven and the best I ever owned, unless the RX8 proves otherwise.
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