MR2 "Armarnie" !!!

[ldavies83]

Ok thought id pass this little gem along! Driving around a couple of weeks ago, pulled up at a place called Aberaeron in west wales. anyway, one guy start pointing frnatically at the front of the car, shouting to his mate "Its an armarnie, its a xxxxxx armarnie!". Anyways he asks me how much am I willing to sell the car for, I say £800 if I was going to sell but theres no chance of me selling! He then procedes to tell me I know nothing about MR2's and that the badge of the eagle on the front bonnet means its an armarnie edition .

Anyway, I tried to conceal me laughing to bits, and he said his "mate" has just bought said car for £6k (you heard me!) as it was an armarnie edition and to look on my V5. I almost wanted to say to him he can have mine for a tidy 3k, half the asking price and I'll get myself a nice original example!

Anyway I've had many a chuckle until today when I was driving around I've seen 2 Mk1s in the local area. One absolutely gourgeous light blue Mk1b on a G plate totally original that had just been written off. I used to see this car a few months ago as its next door to my friends place.

And the second MR2 Mk1??? Dark blue Mk1a/b was for sale as a:

MR2 "Armarnie" edition
Aparently "6k worth of receipts"
for sale at £800 "NO OFFERS!"

I almost died in laughter when going up to look at it the arches were not metal but 2 ENOURMOUS bubbles of rust either side (I mean the rust bubbles were at least 6-8 inches wide!!!!)

Needless to say the interior was poor, wheels were not original (not really a problem, just saying I prefer a car with originals on there), no MOT/Tax, LOADS of rust (and I thought I had my work cut out!) on the side of a main road.

When will these people learn to price cars accordingly!

So Mk1'ers, check your paperwork, 'coz if you have an eagle badge on your bonnet, then you could be sitting on a goldmine "Armarnie" edition

If theres enough interest, I'm sure I can post pictures (anonymised of course) as I have a hunch it will be there for a while!

[kaiowas]

WOW, just checked and both of mine are these limited edition versions. How lucky am I?!?!

Any idea how many of these armarnie editions were made?

[pkmr2]

I can't believe it i've just cheched my bonnet badge out i've got an armarnie aswell!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You other mk1 ownners check out your cars you might be surprised!

[tommymr2mk1]

i have had 2 mk1s and they both had the eagle on the bonnet!
what are the chances of that??????????????????

[kevin..in]

yep I've got a rare one too

[RickXSi]

I have, but when I remove the badge and pop a tophet Mk3 badge on it does it loose it's "Armarnie" Status?

[crazylegs]

hmm is it a welsh thing??

[kevin..in]

giving this some thought when I was initialy looking for a mk1 and reading everything I could find I'm sure I've read about an Amani edition but cant remember where I'm now off to Google land Just had another recollection isn't it the super white edition? rarer than the super edition cant find anything on google though

[kevin..in]

for a change I am talking absolute B*LL*CKS the all white MK1 that I am thinking of was a MK1 golf convertable of about the same time '88ish I think, 'cause this was the Channel edition not amanii. though I am sure there was an all white MK1 sc MR2

[JMR_AW11]

i have had 2 mk1s and they both had the eagle on the bonnet!
what are the chances of that??????????????????

There must be someone out there sticking fake Armani 'Eagle' badges on all our mk1s in a devilish attempt to destabilise the Armani mk1 MR2 market.

[kevin..in]

Just to throw some more confusion into the plot isn't it a Phoenix? Emblem of the Central Motor Co. set up by older Toyota workers who wanted to continue working after Toyota's retirement date, who then whent on to produce the MK1 MR2 for Toyota

[jimi]

According to the AW11 archive

And finally, for those wanting to know, Toyota says that the MR in MR2 stand for Midship runabout, while the bird found on the car (some jokingly referring to it as a screaming chicken) represents "aerodynamic beauty through evolution"

But it doesn't say what kind of bird

[Lauren]

Just to throw some more confusion into the plot isn't it a Phoenix? Emblem of the Central Motor Co. set up by older Toyota workers who wanted to continue working after Toyota's retirement date, who then whent on to produce the MK1 MR2 for Toyota

I've only ever heard it referred to as 'Screaming chicken'

Anyways, Kevin thats an interesting story if it true.

[kevin..in]

Just to throw some more confusion into the plot isn't it a Phoenix? Emblem of the Central Motor Co. set up by older Toyota workers who wanted to continue working after Toyota's retirement date, who then whent on to produce the MK1 MR2 for Toyota

I've only ever heard it referred to as 'Screaming chicken'

Anyways, Kevin thats an interesting story if it true.

cant think why it would scream attached to the front of your car The 4AGE engines were manufactured in the Shimoyama plant where the parts were milled, assembled, and run on a dyno for 15 minutes to pass in house quality tests. The MR2 was assembled in the Central Motor Company plant in Sagamihara, a plant started by retiring Toyota workers who wanted to keep working.

[Jimbo_Jet]

giving this some thought when I was initialy looking for a mk1 and reading everything I could find I'm sure I've read about an Amani edition but cant remember where I'm now off to Google land Just had another recollection isn't it the super white edition? rarer than the super edition cant find anything on google though

You might not be imagining the super white edition, I think I've seen one come up on ebay in the last month! The seller was claiming it was a special edition of some description but I was suspicious when I read it, perhaps he wasn't bull5h1tin' after all? It was all white, looked like a MK1b if I remember correctly, but it had a full white leather interior and even the trim panels in the rear boot behind the engine were trimmed in white leather! Looked seriously pimp-daddy to me tho!

[kevin..in]

giving this some thought when I was initialy looking for a mk1 and reading everything I could find I'm sure I've read about an Amani edition but cant remember where I'm now off to Google land Just had another recollection isn't it the super white edition? rarer than the super edition cant find anything on google though

You might not be imagining the super white edition, I think I've seen one come up on ebay in the last month! The seller was claiming it was a special edition of some description but I was suspicious when I read it, perhaps he wasn't bull5h1tin' after all? It was all white, looked like a MK1b if I remember correctly, but it had a full white leather interior and even the trim panels in the rear boot behind the engine were trimmed in white leather! Looked seriously pimp-daddy to me tho!

yeah saw that one but looked a bit iffy sort of mismatched blue/white interior. I think the super white edition I saw had Super white logo on the doors same as super edition/super charger ones do

[ldavies83]

Well this one was most definately not armani, it was dark mica blue, oh and rust!
Not a piece of leather in sight (apart from steering wheel !)