Inspiration

Special Kei

April 6, 2011

Petrol prices are rapidly approaching NZ$2.50 a litre for the “good stuff” (read: 98 octane) and public consciousness is once again turning towards small fuel efficient vehicles as a form of personal transport. While I still love my daily driven supercharged AW11 MR2 and wouldn’t give it up for a newer car in any great hurry, I’ve warmed to the idea of importing an ’80s kei car to take over everyday duties if the MR2 ever gets sold. But no way an hell am I gonna settle for something with less power than a wet fart, so I did some interwebs trawling and came up with this:

Presenting the CC72A Suzuki Alto Works RS-R.

550cc of fury.

Publications all over the globe have spent years waxing lyrical about the kei car phenomenon, and the Japanese penchant for shoehorning the latest technology of the time into the most compact and mundane of things really shines through here. Where else in the world could you find Grandmama’s Little Shopping Cart with a twin cam, turbocharged, injected, intercooled 3-cylinder engine with full-time 4WD? Even better when you consider this was all the way back in 1987.

If you haven’t already read Autospeed’s 2004 writeup on the Alto Works, I suggest you go read it post haste. And then go watch some of the nutty Japanese videos on youtube. Those 3 cylinder engines sound AWESOME!

And if forums all over the web are to be believed, you can get 100kW out of the damn things with a bit of effort.

Though I’d have one without the hot pink interior, thanks.

Test fitted some 15×7.0J +3 offset Watanabes on squid this morning. Like a glove/bauce/virgin etc.

This is a thing which is good.

They look so good I suppose I should just buy the damn things, trash the Hankooks and roll some sweet Toyo rubber. Doubt anyone would pay me what I want for the deep-dish Ewings, so into permastorage they shall go.

now that just leaves me with the conundrum of what to do with the Linea Sports I bought just the other week…

The details of some of the other attending vehicles…

 

Boot lid of one of the most beautiful cars ever.
Powerplant of the ever popular Ford Escort

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MOAR!

Grid’em up.

Then send ‘em out… (more…)

Some of you may either know or recall that Richard used to own a white Triumph Mk. II Sedan.  It was a car that I was privileged enough to be allowed to use while I stayed with him on a visit to the northern island, that was some time ago now and Richard had since sold the car and then almost immediately regretted it and pined for another.  Some time later he bought this 2500PI from some Goat.

Good for it's age, no doubt.

It needed a few bits and pieces sorted and a general little clean up so Richard proceeded to spend more money on it than he initially planned.  Ahh cars, it’s a tale often told amongst enthusiasts.

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