‘So far this week I’ve done 1500 miles’
1991 Daihatsu Applause 1.6Xi: Stephen Pike, Sweden
So… the miles, in a week?
‘I drove it to the UK for the Festival of the Unexceptional, all the way from Sweden. It was a bit of a trek for a car that has literally not been driven for decades. As soon as I set off I knew it wasn’t right, there was very little usable power and a huge induction roar. But I needed to make the ferry, so I pressed on. At my parents house in Hampshire, I rechecked the timing and found that it was one tooth out on the belt! It was worth the stress though because I made it to the FOTU and the car won first prize in the Concours de l’ordinaire. I know I am wearing a Daihatsu T-shirt, but usually I only specialise in English cars, so this one was a complete anomaly.’
Where did you find it?
‘I love unusual cars and this caught my eye. It was advertised locally and I went to see it. It was in a terrible condition and I didn’t need it, so obviously I bought. It had 115,000 miles on it and it came as part of a deceased estate. There was rust on the arches and lots of dents including a huge gouge. So nothing special other than I had never seen one on the road in Sweden before. I dragged it back to my workshop.’
Was it a big project?
‘Well it took me two years to get it back on the road. The rust was worse than
I had expected, so I needed to do a lot of welding. Of course there are no panels either, so I also had to fabricate those myself and then I needed to paint the car, I decided to blow in where I could and do individual panels as well. I think it’s pretty successful for a rattle can job. I'm very happy with the result.’
Did anything nearly defeat you?
‘The front wings were the worst, but the job that nearly killed me was replacing the alternator. The steel bolt had seized in the aluminium mounts and it took a week to get it out. Had to cut and drill it in the the end and then find a new one somewhere on German ebay. A total nightmare. Then the timing issue… it has fought me, but it's been worth it. I believe it's the only one on the road in Sweden.’
And what about driving it?
‘Well it goes like a rocket now and the interior has survived remarkably well. Of course it is the saloon car that is actually a hatchback, so it gets the looks and is quite eccentric. You can fold and lock the rear seats in different positions, very useful and usable… but also weird. I love it.’