New arrival

[Malc Holmes]

New car in the drive today. '89 Excel SE in Steel Blue. Picked it up on e-bay for under £3K, bit of a bargain I think! Drives very well, hardly any rattles or bumps and near silent compared with the Esprit! Front brakes where binding on the way home (I loath those Toyota calipers, the are always sticking!), but after a strip down and clean up all seems well.

Anyone know the history of this car? Seems to have spent its life in Merseyside.

Actually, I have bought it for my Dad (gift from all the family). He had to part with his previous Excel a few years back and has been pining ever since. Last week he had to part with his S-type Jag and he was heart broken! He knows nothing of this yet, so will come as a bit of a surprise when it arrives on his drive tomorrow.

Malc

[Guest mkelite]

hi Malc. think its a bargain too! seen a few on ebay n pistonheads lately. some really good looking late Excels go for cheap prices. good luck with her. regards. DC.

[matk]

That's lovely Malc. Congrats to you and your Dad.

[Emmerg]

A gift !? Holy Crap! He will be over the moon! Try and get a shot of his face when you all give him the keys. It looks absolutely lovely.

[rocket63]

Nice one Malc

[Simon350S]

Looks nice, i'm sure he''l be the most chuffed person in Chufftsville when he sees it!

[USAndretti42]

What a great present, Malc. Your dad will be over the moon. That is a really nice looking car.

[Dazza_22]

Very nice looking Excel. I hope your dad loves it.

I originally bought my Excel for my dad too. He's loved Loti since the 60's but had never owned one. I saw the Excel going fairly cheaply about 8 years ago and thought, what the hell? Some reward for what my dad has done for me. Telling him it was his new car is the only time I've seen my dad speechless. Priceless!

My dad has retired now and unfortunately can't afford the regular registration/insurance/maintenance costs. Neither of us could stand to see it leave so I ended up adopting the car.

Happy motoring.

Daryl

[Malc Holmes]

A bit late with the outcome of last weeks surprise.

He was utterly lost for words. Pure silence for a few minutes, then he could only come out with 'how many miles has it got on it'.

After about 3 hours it started to sink in. I honestly think he though we where pulling his leg to start with.

One week on and nothing has broken yet, so its a good'un!

[Bibs]

Awesome, lovely gesture Malc

Has you pa joined the forum yet?

[red vtec]

Very nice, Think I saw it on ebay a few weeks back?

Would have made a great partner to my Esprit, both in same colour.

Looks a good one

[GavinT]

Just a brilliant thing to do for your Dad. Hats off Malc.

[Mark Blanchard]

Wow, that looks a very nice example for 3 grand. What a great present.

[Malc Holmes]

Just to be totally clear on this, its was from all the family, not just me. In fact my Mum financed more than her fare share, despite hating anything remotely car-ish. I just had the pleasure of the shopping (and no doubts the hours of maintenance to come) and finding the funds for my share of the bill.

Don't think my Dad will be on the forum any time soon. He loves his cars but anything more technical than a remote control leaves him stumped. I don't think he has ever ventured on the the new fangled internet without my Mum to hold his hand.

He may well be out on a few events though in his car, he has come along with me to a few in the past and went to the 60th Anniversary bash while I was away in 2008.