Inbound.. Project Unit Shuttle. 02 Smart ForTwo (450) Passion, 599cc's of fury

[DaveDorson]

You'll no doubt have seen this on the "So I've been offered a Smart Car thread.

For those who haven't, it's a low owner, sub 76k mile Smart Passion Coupe Soft Touch.

It has the 3 cylinder turbo charged 599cc engine, which I think puts it at around 50bhp when new.

The rear tyres have seen better days, the engine management light that was on for the last MOT has vanished (the light works, and I've not scanned for old codes), its been sat since March.

Car has a stainless exhaust and that "natty" stainless steel exhaust covering in the rear bumper.. lovely.

It's also got a rev counter "pod" and a clock "pod" on the dashboard.  I've no idea if these are additional bits, or whether the Passion came with them.

Battery was so flat it wouldn't unlock, or turn on the interior lights.  It'd been sat since March of this year.

The owner lives in sheltered housing in Peterborough and has given up driving due to ill health.  She asked me if I know anyone that would want the car.

Here's some pictures.

 

As you can see, it's actually a nice looking little thing.  I can't find any signs of body rot on the car.  The corrosion listed at previous MOT's I can only assume relates to the black paint on the suspension having seen better days.

[DaveDorson]

So after a bit of back and forth discourse with the owner, I agreed I'd take on the responsibility of taxing this fine steed, and insuring it so she didn't have to do so.

I managed to revive the battery using the optimate charger at the workshop after a considerable charging cycle and touch wood, all is well.

The car starts, it runs, but I've not driven it as the handbrake is a bit stiff and I don't want to just "drive it off" as I know the wheel cylinders in the rear of these are a bit sensitive to getting hot, so I'll get down at some point with a hammer, some wood and a jack and see if I can persuade the car to roll a little better.  It does actually move though.

I ran the car up to temperature last night, and started to get some of the leaf detritus off the car, and evict a couple of local spiders that had made it home, but really it wants a full hoover of all the vents, shuts, and interior before it's driven home.

I should explain, I'm quite allergic to insect bites and stings, they can literally knock me out for a day if I don't do something about them immediately, and not everything is as obvious as a bee or wasp sting... luckily for me as they can make me a lot worse a lot quicker.

 

Anyway..  The paperwork..

 

[DaveDorson]

I've not gone through all this but the battery and front tyres aren't very old relatively, and it's had a fair bit of work from specialist places in its life.

 

Have I stumbled upon a good one by accident?

[DaveDorson]

So, after a chat with Jenny and my wife about this car, we've decided that I'm going to buy the car and make sure it gets some use, as the market values are a bit shit for short MOT early cars.

 

It should save me a bit of wear and tear on the Mondeo and it's expensive tyres and save some fuel for the short shit we do around town, commuting if that ever happens again, and by workshop to and from when doing evening and weekend work.

Sensible right?  If I don't get on with it, or find I'm just not using it, it's going up for sale.

[dollywobbler]

Oooh. Despite driving several, and disliking every one, I'm still fascinated by these.

[DaveDorson]

Just now, dollywobbler said:

Oooh. Despite driving several, and disliking every one, I'm still fascinated by these.

I had an early pulse  one and blew the engine up.   You kind of grow to enjoy the crapness and appreciate the clever stuff in them as time goes on.

 

You're welcome to have a go once I know it's not going to grenade itself and it's got a decent bit of MOT on it.