tweedbean's Orange GT86

[tweedbean]

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

The Story
Over the past couple of months I have been considering a number of more exotic cars however I decided I didn’t want to go down the route of getting an older car just so I can have a 911, GTR etc. I would rather wait until I can afford an nearly new version of those cars. Therefore I decided I had unfinished with the GT86 and so a few weeks ago I decided to purchase a GT86/BRZ. I have already been asked a lot around why get another one, well I feel I have unfinished business in this space, I sold the last one at a difficult time having just lost one of my closest friends to the big C. At that point I just wanted to get back to what I knew and the usual mini faces for a little comfort which really helped at the time.

So a few weeks ago I travelled all the way to Edinburgh to collect this beauty. The seller was a joy to deal with and the car was as clean as he had described before I placed a deposit and booked my one way flight. Its just a shame that it took nearly 9 hours to drive home due to crazy traffic on the M6 which double the journey time. I had to resort to plenty of sugar and double expressos in the end to keep me going.

Previous and current cars:

To give you an idea of what I have done in the past, here is my car history from when I passed my test to now. The bottom three are my current cars:

Car history by James Baker, on Flickr

My previous GT86:

This isn’t the first time I have owned a GT86, as some of you may know, about a year and a half ago I sold it on and since then I have wanted to get another when the time was right. My previous one:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87437

Front by James Baker, on Flickr

Rear by James Baker, on Flickr

My new GT86:

So onto my new one, its very low mileage (15k) and it great condition. Spec in list above.

Plans

Immediate plans for this car include removing those strips, changing those rear lights and deciding on a new colour for the wheels as the matt black is nice but you lose the shape of a great looking wheel in that colour. Also after that drive home, an arm rest is a must so I will get one of those ordered ASAP, After that I want to adjust the look of the car with the HT Autos lip kit potentially and get this sitting on coilovers. After that I am planning for FI and forging. Hopefully I can get a couple of test drives in different FI applications to see which one works best for my needs. Lots more plans but lets get on to where it is now:

Latests pictures:

GT86 by James Baker, on Flickr

GT86 by James Baker, on Flickr

GT86 by James Baker, on Flickr

Window spoiler and shark fin by James Baker, on Flickr

Carbon badges by James Baker, on Flickr

Work Emotion CR Ultimate 8.5 Front wheel by James Baker, on Flickr

Work Emotion CR Ultimate 9.5 Rear wheel by James Baker, on Flickr

JPM Coachworks Alcantara Dash by James Baker, on Flickr

Perrin Shifter knob by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

[tweedbean]

Progress is a little slower than anticipated as my F56 Mini is still looking for a new home before I get started on this.

One thing I couldn't stand looking at was the stripes on the side of the 86. So out came the heat gun and glue remover:

Stripes removed by James Baker, on Flickr

Before, during and after:

Stripes removed by James Baker, on Flickr

It looks so much cleaner without the stripes. Trying to decide what colour to go with the wheels as they will be powder coated in the new year as not keen on the matt black finish.

[Si_Chris]

The stripe removal definitely cleans up the appearance. Love the Hot Lava color, you never see too many of those.

Beautiful car!