Honda’s last hurrah
It’s few and far between that you see anything remotely interesting let alone ‘classic’ in a run-of-the-mill car auction these days. Everything is sent off to specialist auctions for the public to bid themselves into a frenzy for. However, Wilsons in Newcastle had a Honda S2000 in, direct from a national dealer group. This is a truly magical car, engineered like nothing else. I’ve two friends who’ve owned them from new and utterly adored them and one who found the handling too difficult to handle (but then rolled an Audi TT). And they will bite; they are RWD with a 9000rpm rev-range. Later ones are more faithful, but being Hondas, they are mechanically trouble-free.
This was a one-owner example with a full Honda service history totalling 14 stamps. It had covered an astonishing 134k miles, which may put off those who don’t ‘get’ Honda. I checked the oil – such a delightfully engineered dipstick, which goes through the (crackle-finished) red head – and saw golden lube up to the max. The oil filter was genuine and new. There was no trace of a leak of any kind under the bonnet nor of crash damage or corrosion. However, the battery was original. So, I couldn’t start it, although it would crank lazily. Reassuringly, all warning lights came and went. I didn’t check the electric hood operation but could see no reason why it wouldn’t work; it looked fine. The passenger electric window was stuck down, however. Inside, it was used but damage-free and easily spruce-able.
Externally, the alloys were starting to show their age, which was good because it meant they hadn’t been clattered from over-steery mishaps. They were shod with OE Bridgestones too, essential if you intend to keep the car on the road as opposed to in the scenery. The rear ones, though, were close enough to the wear-bars to warrant replacement.
Bodily, the nearside of the car was mint, but the offside would require a good mop or blow-over if you wanted to mint it – there was the start of surface corrosion in the seam on the sill and a dull patch in the lacquer by the fuel filler. Thankfully there were no dings along the length.
This was a car that you could use guilt-free, then mint to retail or even chuck in a classic auction after a year of ownership. Chances are, you’d take a tidy wage out of it after a year. Booked at an astonishing £7k, given the age and mileage, it hadn’t sold the previous week and was due back through the ring that evening. Not surprisingly, it was bought for book before it even went through that evening. That, then, is the power of dreams in action.