FTO AUSTRALIA

I thought this might make for an interesting topic...

What was you first car & more importantly - what did you do to it?!
How did you get invovled in the world of horsepower and hot cars...

example: a white 84 Corolla with a 8 inch exhaust tip... and wrapped it around a tree.

That kinda thing..

Flame red Falcon XD sedan. 4.1 litre straight six.

Chucked some Genie extractors on it, 2.25" exhaust, Yokahama tyres (235 wide) with white lettering, mags, lowered springs, etc. etc. Bit of a Bogan car, hehe.

Put two 10" subs on the back shelf and a big amp in the boot. It was before in-car CD players were affordable or skip-free, so just a Kenwood tape deck! A pair of 4" two-ways in the front, hand-wound crossovers for the subs (no idea why I wound my own), and the sound was blistering... for 1990, anyway!

I ended up selling it when I moved to France for a job. Was so sad to see it go. Bought it for $5000, spend like $8000 on it, and sold it for $3500. That was my introduction to pissing money away on cars. Ever since, I've never held any illusions about cars being good for your financial position!! They are money pits, so if you're going to burn cash, just make sure you really enjoy the experience as your hard-earned goes up in smoke.

- Rich

Haha.. very nice!

I had a 1978 White Chrysler Sigma (2 litre, 4 pot) - before Mitsubishi took em over & made 'em all plasticy. My old man, being an ex-mechanic, was good enough to let me get it with twin weber carbs, extractors & cams for $2750!

After a while I got bored of the 2 litre (I was studying mechanical engineering at the time) the old man & me shoehorned a fully worked 327 chev into it! 700 Holley, turbo 400 box, 9 inch diff - a sh_t load of welding and sheet metal work - and yep Yokohama A352 tyre with the white writing.

It used to stand up on one wheel! And one fateful night in 95, out at the Wednesday night Eastern Creek street meets (drags) I ran a 12 second quarter with no traction in any gear - so a mate lent me his slicks - and I bent the chassis badly...

As I was 'crab walking' the thing home a guy in a brand new Saab plowed head on in to me. I would of got out & thumped seven sorts of sh_t through him, but I kinda had a busted leg... amongst other injuries

Bennoz wrote: - and yep Yokohama A352 tyre with the white writing.

Such great tyres, they were!!

Bennoz wrote:As I was 'crab walking' the thing home a guy in a brand new Saab plowed head on in to me. I would of got out & thumped seven sorts of sh_t through him, but I kinda had a busted leg... amongst other injuries

Ow.

So far, I'm the only one who actually sold their "first car", as opposed to having it nuked!

- Rich

tehehehe, mine was a Datsun 260Z =)

all i did to it was to absolutely thrash it!

it died in the end, but it was fun while it lasted

What was my first car:
82 Honda civic.

What did I do to it?:
Split the block with a car load of mates and beer in it.

If you've got to go......

Course after that I got an 86 prelude and my love affair with FWD started about there.

First car: 94 Nissan Bluebird had it for 'bout 9 months before I got the FTO.


Sold it to my sister in law.

No nukage;)


No loans either

hmmm the good old TM Magna wagon. Had it for a year then trade it in for a CE Lancer when it first came out. No i didn't put a EVO kit on it ehehehe

first car was a 1987 alfa romeo 90, 2.5l v6 dohc efi, rwd with 9 inch wide yokies (forgot waht but they cost a packet) and a cat back sports zorst

had more switches then a air plane! window switchs on the roof, with a big light, electric seats, was a real luxo car and hell of a lot of fun, still miss the old banger! remember drifting it for the first time and wetting myself becuase it wasnt on purpose... back then i wasnt into performance i wanted the car because it was seriusly nice and comfy.

i used to pride my self on how smoth i could change gears, remmbeber picking up my bros wife on their heans night and getting complemented

then i got a gf and testoserone kicked in


i ended up having it t boned because i didnt see a white commodore agaisnt white houses and trees in a sunny area when i was to stupid to be patient and tripple check.

tehehehe, mine was a Datsun 260Z =)

Hehe, they were a cool car

1987 alfa romeo 90

Also a cool car

CE Lancer

Ahhh, the good old lancers.
I had a CB with Yoky A509s on it that were so fat that when I had more than 2 people in & went over a speed hump - I could see the strips of rubber tearing off in the side mirrors!

i miss my kermie (sorta)

metallic green 1976 Chrysler Sigma - bought it off a guy who owned a body shop so it was immaculate when i got it.

that was then....

3 engines, 2 gearboxes, three front quater pannels, 2 bumpers, 1 bonnet, 3 lower control arms, a sump and crossmember (don't ask) and the better part of 200000k later (and 4 years) i sold it for $100 and a slab of beer (I couldn't even get a trade in for it )

The third engine was the best - uber lumpy cam (it didn't idle - well.. it did, at 1500rpm) and a manual conversion that involved an angle grinder, heavy duty clutch and lots of scraped knuckles.... got the old school 13x7 jelly bean mags for $50

i think in all i'd pretty much replaced the engine at least one more time in all the bits i'd swapped over the years - bad combination of DIY, old car that was hammered, and poor-uni-student

my FTO is my 4th car - and 4th mitsubishi at that

my first set of wheels is the pretty FTO i still drive to now.

though i do really regret getting such a pretty car as a first car, man! i've done soooo many stupid things to the car and all these "new driver" damages....
1) took a big round-about in the rain too quickly and mounted the triangular kurb on the other side, fitting neatly between 2 poles was shaking all over and couldnt drive over 30kms all the way home.

2) close behind another car and the light turned yellow, he was 1m from the line but tha A@#%& decideds to slam on the brakes. so i steped on the brake and swerved into the other lane, but at the same time had to step on it again, as it was a semi-trailer that i swerved infront of. UNFORTUNATELY the ABS kicked in and did its shuddering thing, wont respond like normal, so i slammed into the HIGH kurb,
and actually snapped the wheel , costly lesson on braking distance...

The car I learned to drive in: 83 Datsun Bluebird stationwagon (my Mum's)
Mods: None
Drove it for about a year while I saved for my own car.

1st car: Blue CE Lancer Coupe.
Mods:
Factory tinted windows
Fy-Gee (sp?) seat covers
Blue alloy Gear Knob

It was fully sick

Drove it for around 3 years, didn't really mod it or anything. I did side swipe a 4wd in it though

2nd car: FTO GPX

Mods:
HUD
Unique CAI stage 2
White neon in the boot
Needle cups and dial rings*
v.3 Dials*
Shiny gear knob*
Footwell neons*
Race Brake RB74 Pads

*still to be installed
Always more to come

88 Honda Prelude.
2 Toned, Navy blue and Silver.
Twin Carby!
Sunroof!
Popup lights!
and a good plate back then - YAN-01D (Y-Annoyed!)

Gearbox was on its way out.
I still see it around Canberra !

89 Mitsubishi Colt

Blew the enigne on the way down to philip island on a 40 degree day. Sent a piston threw the sidewall and took out the driveshaft and smashed the starter motor All while doin 120K down the highway

Replaced the engine until it stated blowing blue smoke, thats when i decided to buy my current ride.

First Car: Burgandy Manual 95 FTO GPX with sunroof.

Bought it December 23rd 1999 as a christmas present to myself, after completing my Uni degree. It was also my first experience at driving in Sydney, as I had moved there from Adelaide 6 months earlier. Of course I decided to pick it up in Peak hour traffic, from Drummoyne.

Seen many people come an go over the years, but wouldn't change a thing. Still got it today more than 5 1/2 years later, and love it just as much.

Yeah sure cars are money pits ... but if you enjoy them, and can still afford other things in life, does it really matter?

A fine 1984 Mitsubishi Tredia GLS.

I don't know if you got these in Aus, but they're basically a 4-door Cordia. Mine had the mighty 1600cc SOHC 8v carby motor and a 5 speed manual, and was silver. Mods - cool hubcaps, driving lights, Cordia steering wheel and headrests, Tredia turbo bonnet scoop and 'GSR' badges to make it look like the turbo version (which it wasn't).

I sold it to my parents 18 months later when I bought a 4WD turbo Cordia, and like so many 80s Mitsis it ended up dissolving into a big pile of rust...

Since then I've had:

86 Mitsubishi Cordia GSR turbo 4WD
90 Honda Prelude Si (last of the pop-up headlight shape)
93 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4
97 FTO

I think I have a thing for Mitsis

My first and only car has been my 95 GPX.
It took me 2 years of cookin chicken at KFC from when i was 15 to get the beauty, but it has been well worth it. I love my car
Another few years of KFCin is goin into gettin a kit and wheels, but thats a few thousand more chickens away.

So many folks out there with the FTO as their first car!
Not sure what to think about that... its sorta like a right of passage in Australia, to own and kill at least one sh_t box in your life...
This is what I had to go through before I got into the style of an FTO...
1978 V8 Simga - written off
1972 Mini Clubman - worked it then sold it
1969 Mini Cooper S - worked the bejesus out it & kept it to this day (my hobby car)
1982 Toyota T18 - worked it, blew it up, then written off
1984 Ford laser - caught driving it unregistered - its still sitting in cop shop yard some 5 years later..
1985 VK Calais - sold it cause the old 5ltr drank 3 litres of juice per meter!
1986 VL Turbo - worked it, sold it
1988 190E Benz - had a g/box like a sydney train - sold it.
1990 CB Lancer - worked it, sold it
1997 Ralliart Spec GR FTO

Faark... when I look up at that list... whatta money pit!

Mine was a 85 RB Gemini.

And I still have it to this day.
Even more amazing is that it still runs.