The journey of one man and his Mule(s)

[matt-mr2]

Picking her up on Friday

Any pics

[Ben]

Yes, chop chop man! It's dark now, you can't still be out blatting around?

[synXero]

...TVR? It could be a TVR...

[Magic Beans]

She's home Got home late (past 1am) last night after a pretty chipper 50 mile drive home. God bless helmets and gloves (clue)

Words and all that later after a wake up

[slipping clutch]

Got home late (past 1am) last night after a pretty chipper 50 mile drive home. God bless helmets and gloves (clue) [Wink]

Thats pretty die hard Phil - you must really be excited about this one. Will look later for the pictures

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Looking forward to the big reveal Phil

[slipping clutch]

She's home Got home late (past 1am) last night after a pretty chipper 50 mile drive home. God bless helmets and gloves (clue)

Words and all that later after a wake up

[Magic Beans]

Sorry, been too busy playing. Even had time to do a few tweaks

Words soon, promise

[slipping clutch]

Love it - had it less than 5 minutes and your already fiddling - I am thinking this is one of those man/car/love things with this one

[Gullzter]

Hurry up already!

[slipping clutch]

You promised us pictures

Enough fiddling with the new toy and driving about in it - the most important thing is the big reveal on here!

[craig]

[Magic Beans]

Sorry for my tardiness but with weather like this and a new car it would be a crime to sit in, spending hours type type typing on the tintermaweb all day

Ok, right then, here we go...

Let's take ourselves back to summer of 2013 and the days on Mule v2 *Cue wavy lines*. We all know that car consumed more than it's fair share of my existence and whilst being an absolute monster, there was always something niggling job I felt needed doing. I basically spent a massive amount of time working on it with very little time actually driving and enjoying what had been created, making it feel like a second job and not a pleasurable hobby. That thought, amongst other reasons, was the reason I decided to sell up and get something I could just get in, blat around having fun and then stick back in the garage. Fun over faffing was the priority, so off he went to his new home. Which he didn't stay at for long as I suspect that, in true Mule style, he tried to kill his new owner I'm actually not sure where he is now Answers on a postcard if anyone spots him

After that I spent a whole bunch of time thinking, pondering, searching and YouTube video watching to help decide what to get next. I knew it had to be fairly extreme, as it needed to be enough of a contrast to my daily to warrant the expense. I love my little 1er, especially the fact it's a company car so costs sod all (well, not a great deal at least)

I eventually found myself looking at the many Lotus 7 based kit car offerings around, as they can be insanely quick but without the need for huge turbos and everything that comes with running such a setup. After more searching I had a shortlist of a few I was interested in, a list which included the car in the link below. The reason that one appealed to me was not only the car itself but the work that had gone into it and the passion of the builder. I had a natural affinity with him and his approach, as I too have a small touch of the OCD about me Have a good read of the thread, it's impressive as hell and I love the attention to detail.

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/2 ... tid=167149

Anyway for one reason or another I didn't buy that car, instead I got the Westy. While the Westy is/was a great car, I just always regretted having not bought Olly's car, which was now no longer for sale.

Next up was the track day at Blyton. It was to be my first track day ever and my first real chance to push the now nicely tuned Westy closer to it's limits. Olly and his Busa (THE Busa!) were also there, so I obviously took a moment to go sniffing around and admiring his work Loved it, loved everything about it and felt a bit gutted it wasn't mine Onwards and upwards though and an opportunity to go out an insanely quick Hayabusa engined Locost, driven by a talented and experienced driver, helped focus my mind. So much so as I came out with my pen and chequebook in hand asking who I needed to give money too Sufficed to say I was old on the whole Hayabusa powered kit car thing..

After Blyton I got talking to Olly. He wasn't selling his car and I wasn't looking to buy it, however it seems the fates intervened.. Within a couple of days the car he wasn't selling was sold and the guy who wasn't looking to buy had just given him the cash Everything just fell into place, like the whole thing was fated to be from the very start

*I'm getting close to the point where I stop rambling and just give you the photos you really came here for, promise*

Collected it on Friday night and after a great evening we eventually headed off home.... At around 23:45.. Cue cold Phil The drive back was awesome, albeit a little cold. The car is just amazing to drive! It handles beautifully, it sounds awesome and my god it's quick! It doesn't feel fast in the same sense as something with a turbo, until you look at the speedo and it climbs from 0-77 (no faster, honest ) in around 4 seconds I got home cold, loaded on adrenaline and wide awake but so happy to have this car in my life. Since then I've basically been out and about in it, getting used to bike clutches in cars (stalling lots ) and basically having fun. Had a few visitors randomly appearing at our door too, weird how they choose to come see us the day after a Busa powered car comes into our world...

Photos time, finally (sorry), taken this afternoon.











Easy access to the pedals, disco!



Fully set-up by Procomp in Birmingham. It absolutely transforms the handling!



Finally, a car with a functional rear view mirror!









The clocks and loom are from a Hayabusa and have been properly installed, so everything works as it should. The indicator stalk os from a Clio and has been fully wired in so it's fully functional and doesn't require any extra switches etc on the dash



One for Peter



The full spec etc is in Olly's epic thread, so I'll not clog this post up even more right now. I'll add them in later though.

It also came with a load of extras:

Flat floor





Ultra rare Ford 3.14 diff, from a Sierra 2.3D.



Full exhaust with a Westfield can



Trickshifter set-up, allowing for flat shifting and throttle blip on down shifts.



And my favourite bit, a rear diffuser made from part of the 2012 class winning Strakka racing LMP2 car! This car:







I was so excited about it I had to fit it





On. I love it! I especially love what it is and what it's from. It feels quite special to have part of a car that took part in Le Mans, especially after going there a few months ago.



Oh, I also swapped the indicator relay over. The one it had was for "normal" lights, this has LED lights so goes mental when you indicate. Olly already had the part I just needed to fit it.



Finally the car I already adore tucked away in it's new home. Which as been tidied since this photo...



All in all I couldn't be happier with it. It's an amazing car and hats off to Olly for creating it. He's a great guy and now a good friend. Sometimes things just works out perfectly

I guess I'll shut up now, for a while at least Sorry if your eyes are dry and tired, I needed to do the brain dump... Also, apologies for any typos or grammar whoopsies, it's taken an hour to write all of this and I now have 6 minutes to get ready to go out for a meal (in the bad books now...)

If you are feeling up to it take some time to read Olly's thread, it's a brilliant read

[craig]

Aw man, Phil! Thought you were buying a new car, not painting the westfield yellow!!

[slipping clutch]

Well done Phil, worth the wait for the write up and I don't blame you at all for wanting to be out and about in it in this nice weather.

[Magic Beans]

Aw man, Phil! Thought you were buying a new car, not painting the westfield yellow!!

Might seem that way from the outside but it's a whole different beast

Nearly bought loads of different things like a 996 or 887 Turbo, Cerbera, Tuscan S and a few others. Really for what I actually want a toy car for these are perfect. Beyond this there's not really anywhere to go as I've already decided I'm not prepared to stump up £42k for an Atom SC with aero kit, especially when I can stick an RPE engine in this and destroy it for almost half the price.

[Magic Beans]

Image Replaced With URL For Quote [url]http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h117/slippingclutch/mello-yello1.jpg[/URL]
Well done Phil, worth the wait for the write up and I don't blame you at all for wanting to be out and about in it in this nice weather.

Thanks, Martin I could have rattled on for longer, however I didn't want to type that much and nobody really comes here to read my nonsense anyway


I'd get used to seeing this one though, it's going to be with me for some time I reckon.

[ashley]

Good choice Phil- it does look a good 'un.....you mastered the hill starts yet?

[Magic Beans]

Good choice Phil- it does look a good 'un.....you mastered the hill starts yet?

I think so. Did lose a bunch of Man Points sat at the lights repeatedly stalling it though. Using your foot to do the same delicate job as a hand takes a bit of getting used to.

I'll get a video up in the next few days, you won't believe the speedo number!

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Great choice Phil, I wasn't a million miles away with my guess then