HMC- Mr Chowdhury’s Mercedes

[Hertz]

Wow. That's as Dennis Collins would say "The Holy Grail of Nissan 300c's"

[High Jetter]

Very well bought. How does it drive?

[Spottedlaurel]

Fantastic! Certainly brings back some memories.

On the late-reg madness thing, I believe there was an E-reg estate. They were even rarer than the saloons, from memory something like 300-350 sold against 800-odd 4-door models.

Interesting to see about the 280C - initially they look similar, but the 300C is just that less square (it's marginal!).

Edit: Looks like the 280C made it to 1996, getting into the peak era for them being banger raced.

[Broadsword]

Worth it for the velour alone. A truly outstanding purchase!

[HMC]

13 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Very well bought. How does it drive?

Actually quite nicely. The engine is quite Spritely and sounds throaty. 
 

I breifly passed by a loca holstery to capture the early 90s pub landlord vibe

 

 

[Matty]

It looks really clean as well (rust wise). Is it as good as it looks?

[Schaefft]

Epic levels of win, the last one being sold new makes this even more special in my eyes.

[HMC]

On a bit of a late evening cruise, had a thumbs up from a banger racer I know (!) and just stopped for a random photo and a kebab 

 

 

 

[HMC]

There’s also an actual bell 🛎  in the dash that chimes if you leave the light on when you get out. Chintzy yet classy

[HMC]

My banger racing mate just drove by,  it’s a bit blurry but that’s a Volvo 740 limo with truck wing mirrors, and skulls down the side

 

[Tubbo]

Cooorrrrrrr! Is this for sale yet 😆

[hairnet]

furious driving style walkround stat

i would say @Spottedlaurel would be jealous but hasnt he done these even before they were shite

 

[Zelandeth]

Now that is absolutely bloody lovely.  Well bought.

[Spottedlaurel]

57 minutes ago, hairnet said:

i would say @Spottedlaurel would be jealous but hasnt he done these even before they were shite

No. 1, bought for £500 in 1999. Never really seemed to give its full performance.

No. 2, swapped a couple of Laurels with Datman for it. Pair of black doors came from a banger I stripped for somebody, he had the dented white ones for his racer.

No. 3, part-exchanged No. 2 and some cash for it.

I probably spent more on the last one in total, as it needed a full exhaust within days of getting it, but I was fondest of the second one.

Fun fact: The auto-only saloons are something like 155bhp, the manual-only estates get by on just 150bhp.

[Schaefft]

Reading through the Wikipedia article, it's amazing what tech they stuffed into the JDM Cedric. I thought the Eunos Cosmo was impressive in 1989, this did many of it's things 5 years earlier. Shame the UK model never came with the turbo V6.

[HMC]

Although the charging system on the bluebird isn’t charging properly, it rescued the Cedric when it discharged its battery overnight, this morning….

So that’s something to investigate on the 300c. Other than that it all works  spot on and is pleasingly free of rot.

The bluebird itself doesn’t have a battery drain, but it was only showing about 12.9v across the poles of the battery at idle.  Daily, daily short potterings were hammering the battery.
 

I bought a replacement alternator off e bay one  of those ads where it’s a generic photo but it says it will fit. I wasn’t fully convinced of their convictions but actually the correct item turned up. I spent part of today putting the new one on, nice easy job with plenty of space, the main issue being loosening the bolt to swap the pulley over. And my crummy selection of tools.
 

Back together and fired it up, it’s now showing 14.8 volts across the poles when running. Glad it’s sorted as winter and my typical local driving habits were making me get twitchy. No longer do I need to keep the engine running/ park on a hill just in case.

Anyway, I celebrated by going for a drive over a moody moorland B road….

 

 

[grogee]

On 11/11/2022 at 5:48 PM, HMC said:

Actually quite nicely. The engine is quite Spritely and sounds throaty. 
 

I breifly passed by a loca holstery to capture the early 90s pub landlord vibe

 

 

Aah, the Union. Is it still winner stays on for the pool table?

[HMC]

Well the bluebird sold on eBay for £1500 and is due to be collected soon.

 

Meanwhile I’ve bought another lemon Nissan v6 that similarly missed its intended market somewhat. Any guesses? It’s being delivered as I type (local Facebook find)

[JMotor]

2 minutes ago, HMC said:

Well the bluebird sold on eBay for £1500 and is due to be collected soon.

 

Meanwhile I’ve bought another lemon Nissan v6 that similarly missed its intended market somewhat. Any guesses? It’s being delivered as I type (local Facebook find)

Was going to guess a QX.

But to be weird, will say it's a Jap market Cefiro version instead.

[Jenson Velcro]

Was the Murano a v6?

[Markeh]

29 minutes ago, Jenson Velcro said:

Was the Murano a v6?

Yeah, detuned version of the 350Z engine I believe.

[HMC]

1 hour ago, Jenson Velcro said:

Was the Murano a v6?

Indeed it was (is)

 

What an ugly motherf****r

[HMC]

A v6 lemon with mental road tax

 

[wuvvum]

Mental fuel consumption too.  And a CVT gearbox prone to shitting itself.  The perfect* car for a cost of living crisis - well bought.

[Zelandeth]

Looking at that interior I have to guess they were aiming that heavily at the US market?

[HMC]

58 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Mental fuel consumption too.  And a CVT gearbox prone to shitting itself.  The perfect* car for a cost of living crisis - well bought.

It’s also done 172k. We will see how long it lasts. So far it seems well looked after, even the aircon works nicely, and it’s not been trashed.  CVT box is interesting. It was about half what they go for normally so I’m expecting an implosion at some stage. Fingers crossed.
 

It’s quick but sinfully ugly though. 

[HMC]

I narrowly missed out on a cheap Lexus gs300 this morning so this was the consolation prize. A bit of an automotive orphan that’s presumably almost unsellable to most normal people 😂

[Schaefft]

Always liked the looks for the first Murano, CVT is what lets it down for me but could be a nice car anyway. Definitely following this one.

[hairnet]

On 11/11/2022 at 5:33 PM, High Jetter said:

Very well bought. How does it drive?

Fat micra

[cort1977]

22 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Looking at that interior I have to guess they were aiming that heavily at the US market?

Indeed.  There was even a convertible version for our American friends.  Those of a sensitive nature should google carefully...