RedM Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 While I was down south, visiting my family (yes, I had a lovely time, thank you for asking) I had a few hours to kill. Decided I'd park in the centre of Worthing and run to Smiths for a copy of Japanese Performance. Parked in a pay and display place, went to buy a 30 minute ticket and came back to see an oldish looking guy admiring my car. As I went to put the ticket in the window he asked if it was mine etc and went on to tell me the history of Toyota (which I'm about to check) and the origins of the Supra (ditto). He seemed to know his stuff and talked at length about it all. It was all very interesting and I didn't mind that he was taking up my 30 minutes of parking. But then he started to lose the plot. Apparently he had a friend in the US (don't we all? ) who bought three mkivs (red, black and silver in case you feel like asking) back in '93. Traded in a 911 for them, don't ya know. Anway, this friend waited until '03 and until this old guy was over there before deciding to find out what the car could really do. So, they went into the guys garage and the old guy (who had now used up twenty minutes of my ticket) said all they needed to do was re-bore the engine! So they did, and the next day took one of the Supes to Black Rock, Nevada (drag strip? flat? I have no idea) and under the old guys instruction the American guy built the revs up at a stanstill, very gently and when it redlined, he droped the clutch. Now, what follows is me realising that the one golden rule in life that you should never forget is 'Don't talk to old people or strangers. Old strangers even moreso.' So, the car starts moving an Old Guy says "Guess how fast it reached 60". I said " I dunno, four seconds?" He said "well, you don't have to believe me" (I'm thinking 'I don't think I'm going to be') and he continued "...two seconds! I go "Wow!" and I'm thinking 22 minutes gone. I got the time to 100 wrong as well. Five and a half seconds. *cough* 23 minutes. Then he said "..and what speed do you think it reached?" I didn't care so replied "240-250mph?". He laughed at me! 24 minutes..... No, the top speed, after telling me that he had no reason to lie to me was 330 mph. Nearly 25 f*cking minutes I stood there, politely nodding my head and he lies to me. I wanted to tear his story to shreds but I had just over five minutes to get to the shop so I just told him that was amazing but I really had to go. "Before you go" he said "change your wheels. If you want to have a truly fast and well handling car you need 16's on the front and 19's on the back" I nearly punched the old bastard. However, I did manage to get to the shop and back before my time ran out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian W Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 that'll teach you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Old people are funny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 I think I've met that guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mawby Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Parked in a pay and display place, went to buy a 30 minute ticket and came back to see an oldish looking guy admiring my car. As I went to put the ticket in the window he asked if it was mine etc and went on to tell me the history of Toyota (which I'm about to check) and the origins of the Supra (ditto). He seemed to know his stuff and talked at length about it all. It was all very interesting and I didn't mind that he was taking up my 30 minutes of parking. But then he started to lose the plot.I thought you were going to say you had met Branners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n00b Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 i like this story... just spat cookies out over my desk laugthing... i like how it starts so nice and you end up wanting to punch the old git lol ta for the chuckle n00b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarkey Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 ... funny story! Shame you didn't have time to ask him - with a straightface and in serious mode: "Does using different wax & polish make the car more aerodynamically slippery .. to get my 1/4 mile time down ?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 i like this story... just spat cookies out over my desk laugthing... i like how it starts so nice and you end up wanting to punch the old git lol ta for the chuckle n00b I had everyone in tears at the retelling that evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underworld Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Old people should stay in the film Cocoon. They were a bit cool then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 The old guy claimed that Toyota looked all the back to the 30s for styling cues on the mikv. They had a car back then called a 2000GT. Correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorin Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 The old guy claimed that Toyota looked all the back to the 30s for styling cues on the mikv. They had a car back then called a 2000GT. Correct? 2000gt produced '67-'70 IIRC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 He was partly near the mark then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 They had a car back then called a 2000GT. Correct? http://www.swaqvalley.com/Blueprints/1967_Toyota_2000GT_low.jpg As you can see the Supra follows the theme quite closely.... ugly lights, check.... engine in front, check.... and so on I wish we had the little 'door' on the wing though, I'd keep a gnome in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Nice. Not cheap, I'm guessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soop Dogg Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 The 2000GT was a 60's car. Looks like he didn't get that right either!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitesupraboy2 Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 poor old guy didnt realise the speedo was in kmh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Good point WSB2 but I did actually ask that. He was adamant (stand and deliver) that it was MPH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitesupraboy2 Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 it wouldnt be in mph as in usa it has to be in kmh. and 330khm is realistic mph speed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 Realistic just from 'reboring' the engine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitesupraboy2 Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 well 205mph, i guess with a long enough road why not,also remember speedo will be 10% out so we are down to realistic speed A rebore would mean bigger pistons etc... so its quite a job really. ( i may be wrong in all ive just said ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitesupraboy2 Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 so 330kph - 10% for speedo being out 297kph which is 184mph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted July 14, 2006 Author Share Posted July 14, 2006 The thing is he talked about the reboring and answered my questions as if the job was done in under 24 hours. That, the MPH thing and all makes me think he was a bit short on reality checks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 I think it's fair to say the old fella was full of crap Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seb Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Don't they use mph in America? 55mph speed limits etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 Don't they use mph in America? 55mph speed limits etc. Yeah... Americans + Metric System = Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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