Well, Coral is gone, and I decided I needed to get into a nicer/better DD than the Element. The Element is super useful, but its such a boring assay car to drive. It's slow, gets meh fuel economy, is fair loud inside on the highway, I needed something better, more...luxurious.
Back in the winter, I drove my buddy's B7 A4 for a week and loved the cushy leather seats, heated seats, quiet interior and most of all, surprisingly, the automatic transmission. (I've been driving only stick cars since I was 17, and I'm 32 now..lol). What I didn't like was the German price tag on repairs and parts, and the unreliability of the car.
So I started hunting around for alternatives that would be suitable for a nice daily driver, big enough for the family, but with all those creature comforts available, but not the expensive euro repair bills.
A couple of phone calls between some of my buddies came up with the perfect option...I present...Archy!
One of my co-workers decided to sell the car to me to fund his new fun car build. Archy is a 1998 Lexus GS300. He's got 260xxx km on it, but it's running a VVTi 2JZGE, and has had a TON of work put into it recently with all original Toyota parts. The car is essentially stock with some minor exceptions (JIC Magic Coilovers, Adjustable rear camber arms, LED tail lamps, LED interior lights, replica TTE (Toyota Team Europe) front lip, small trunk spoiler and rear window spoiler, TOM'S front strut brace, Cusco rear strut brace, and the 18x9.5 CR Kai replica wheels).
I got it for a really good price and my buddy who owned it before bought it off the 2nd owner who owned it for 19 years, never winter drove it, and kept a 5" thick package of all services done at Lexus.
Archy is also a time capsule. When I brought him home, I decided to poke around a bit to check out the car a bit more indepth. In the trunk, I found a treasure trove of new items from 1998. A brand new Lexus medical kit, factory tool kit with all the wrenches, 2 spare 6 CD changer cartridges, brand new labels for the cartridges, the factory child seat tether bolt, and the factory spare wheel and tires...ALL brand new. And when I say "brand new", I mean, BRAND NEW. The spare tire has never been mounted, no marks on the lug nut holes. The tire still has the original nubs on the tread from 1998. Not a single mark on the tools, the CD changer cartridges and the seatbelt anchor were all in their original packaging. Just nuts.
Archy does have some minor issues that need addressing. Some minor paint issues due to his age and being as low as it is. There are some other minor mechanical issues too like the tilt/telescoping wheel doesn't move, and the parking brake won't set, but they are all easily fixed.
I'll be posting up more about him as I get a chance to work on him and as I have time too. lots more to come!
