Don's MR2 Passion
Mid-life Rejuvenation II
Ever get tired of driving the van? I did, so I went out and got something "old" and "fun". It's the original Mid-Engine Japanese 2-seater sports car - the Toyota MR2. These are classics-in-waiting, and definitely a great mid-life crisis car.
As you see from the pictures, I've found this car to be SO much fun, that I have had a couple of them at the same time! The project MR2 we call "MR 2wassen" or "MR2WSN" for the town I live in which is Tsawwassen. It is the first fully restored one of the two blue 87's in 2008. The second, in rougher shape, we called Rusty, and he was destined to be a donor-car. However, I couldn't just leave it in the garage as parts. I had what was needed to make it like new again, so a local custom car restoration shop (Eye Kandy Kustoms) did the body work and then I got the whole car painted. It was now also as good as new when it went to my daughter (shown above) to be her MR2 once again.
The blue MR2's are nearly identical, both registered as Collector cards, and look great as a matched pair. No matter how they show, all the MR2's drive exceptionally well in the city and on the open highway (yes, and that means going pretty fast too).
Restoring the MR2 Mk1
The first Project MR2went through a rejuvenation of it's own. Starting in 2000, we starting bringing this car back from 13 years of regular use to near-new condition is the Restoration Project now underway. This project includes everything I've done since buying the car in February 2000 through March 2009 (when I found some rust creeping back). Over that period, I have driven it just 15,000 km. AND, to top it off, at the 2007 BCMR2.com Show and Shine it placed 2nd against some very tough competition in the Stock Mk1 category. We weren't able to compete in 2008 but MR2WSN (Mr Tsawwassen) was ready -- it's just we weren't in town.
A restoration of this scope tends to cost a lot of money, but in comparison to buying a BMW or Porsche it is a mere fraction of their cost. It takes roughly the cost of a the MR2's original cost to bring it back to a top-notch used car condition, so this kind of thing isn't for those who are hesitant to drop money into such a project.
One big step I took was to start stockpiling parts for the future. This included a full second MR2 (same year, colour, power train, etc.) to be an organ donor. The second MR2 was a high mileage car (>340k km) and is in daily use. As can be expected for a car with such high mileage, it has its own challenges. One of those is that became a second project, but one that I'm not afraid to work on myself (particularly the bodywork restoration). But, time ran out and I got it done by pro's so the body work and paint job on the 2nd car were outstanding.
Interested in more info? Here are some more pages about the restorations, and some useful info concerning these cars.