nberry:
WOW, that is gorgeous!
Iain, terrific find.
I looked at 3 cars Nick. One was fairly tidy but had a full (and costly) respray a little over a year ago but it wasn't a great job as the paint shop hadn't removed the glass. They hadn't taken enough care with shut lines either so overall it was less than pleasing. It had some other issues as well including missing service history from it's early years and had also done another 30k miles more than the car I've bought. The second car I went to see was priced at the same level, same year and same miles as the one I've bought but was truly scruffy upon close inspection and had a very poor repaint and was fitted with fibre glass inner front wheel arches There were numerous other issues with it as well.
The car I've bought has had extensive restoration work carried out on it around 10 years ago when it was bought by the owner of a car dealership chain. He insisted on any panels showing signs of age/rust be replaced with brand new original steel items and this has left the body in great shape. He also had the interior retrimmed in the correct, original heat seamed vinyl and that also is in great shape. The paintwork is excellent with only a very minor section of bubbling around the left rear wheel arch so I'll have that taken care of.
My dealer is going to do a thorough safety related overhaul of the braking system and also check and replace the fuel lines if necessary. I've ordered a bunch of cosmetic items to enhance the car and I'll do a full detail on it as I've recently invested in a new DA polisher which is excellent and gives a great finish to the paintwork.