And here I am!
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Yes, it was my one.
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I did sell it to Lee on a
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"buy-in-now" ebay auction.
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I also offered it up for sale on here first.
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The history with the car shows that it was serviced by St.
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Leonards Motors in Hastings, from new, throughout it's life.
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And in fact I had a rubber bush or two replaced,
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and that dealer gave me the life-time service discount that they promised for the car when new.
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.
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.I don't think they expected it to last so long!
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35% discount on all parts and labour, a bargain!
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It was faultless, as I'm sure it still is.
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Even original radio.
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And it was one of the very first UK cars on the road,
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the chap purchased it from the Birmingham motor show where they did a launch event on it.
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He got blue because in the queue to sign up for one he noticed everyone ordering the alternative silver
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(iirc),
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so he just blurted out
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"blue" to be different.
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The colour was not popular and discontinued just three months later,
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which makes it rarer.
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He originally purchased it for his wife.
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She used it for three years but sadly died.
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He kept the car in her memory, just taking it out for the odd run round the block,
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and polishing it every Sunday.
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But serviced according to schedule.
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In year 18 they finally decided it needed a new set of tyres because the side-walls were cracking!
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He used a Merc for his own use, so this car was sentimental value only.
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He moved into a old peoples home and the car had to go.
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What I paid, and what Lee paid is irrelevant.
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It's what it's worth now that matters.
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If you want a mk1a,
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not restored, 100% genuine, then you don't have much choice!
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I have loads more pictures and the article.
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If anyone is seriously interested then drop me a line.
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For the record,
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I went to over to the Smart Roadster Brabus Coupe,
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which I loved
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enough to write a site all about it:
www.roadstermodelguide.co.uk.
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But I always secretly wanted a Lotus Elise.
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Now I'm over at SELOC with my Lotus Elise, which I also love, but one day I'll be able to afford to run a Smart too.
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I still advise people who want a good little sports car to try and find an MR2 MK1.
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I tell them to avoid the MK2
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(sorry but I didn't like my mk2).
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If they have more money, I advise the Smart Roadster.
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And if they want a cheaper Lotus, that is still a Lotus, then the VX220.
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And thanks for attracting my attention to this.
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Finally, the reason I sold?
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I never really used it.
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I ran around in a MK2 instead.
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This car went into my garage, was polished a lot, taken to the odd show, but stood idle.
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Driving it was sort of a pleasure, but I was always worried about picking up a stone chip!
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Since then, I've driven my cars just for pleasure,
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I don't worry too much about the odd chip on my Elise
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- it's more about driving.
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Having a show car wasn't for me.
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