Cheers to Francis.
Francis came into my life a few years ago, and has kept me occupied for a few years in which I restored and brought out the beauty in this timeless classic.
Francis is actually a 1991 MX5 Eunos roadster, with Botswana registration. She was named Francis due to the fact that she was registered in Francistown Botswana.
I bought her off a dour Scotsman, Dave Rough. This was a deal that would have made Richard Rawlings of Gas Monkeys look like an amateur.
It went down like this. " Hey Dave how about I offer you R30,000 for your Eunos? "
He replied "How about giving me R20,000 cash and you can take it! "
" OK its a deal ! " I`m thinking ,doesn`t this Scotsman know the art of negotiation ? I offer 30K, he should counter with 35K and then we negotiate in between.
So deal done, I picked her up and then started the restoring episode, about 2 years worth.
I had her for about three months, and the old Dave passed away, leaving me in a quandary, because I could not transfer Francis into my name.
Why are old cars stored under pine trees?
Why do rats nest in said cars stored under pine trees ?
Restoration was mainly cosmetic, steam cleaning, re-upholstery of seats and panels, dashboard restoring, original wheels restored, and relaced the soft top.
I watched the U-tube where they remove and replace the soft top in 2 hours, no way, it took me a weekend, 6 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday, 10 hours in total.
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| soft top start |
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| Soft top, very hot work, so jumped in pool. |
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| Replacement parts for soft top, rain guard in the back,competely rebuilt with duct tape. |
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| Old soft-top removed, ready for new one! |
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| Dashboard before restoration |
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| Console restored and Nardi steering and gear lever added. |
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| Seats and panels were pretty bad,looking much better now, back to original. |
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| Before original wheels restored, looks better than this! |
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| Stared the clean-up, looking better |
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| First Arrival back home, so the work begins |
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| Using the Hardtop from my silver MK2 waiting for soft-top replacement |
New battery, Cam belt, water pump, radiator and after market radio, completed most of the restoration. So in my humble opinion, Francis is a true Classic car, 26 years old, and going very well.
So in part of my downscaling I had to sell her off.
Sold her today, to Chris and I know she will be well cared for.
Cheers Francis
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| All done, isn`t She lovely? |
