The Journey Begins

I’ve dreamt for years about a project car. Occasionally, I’d click around craigslist and look at some overpriced, abused, clattering deathtrap and consider it for a few hours. But I would pass it by, certain that I’d soon find an affordable example of one of the models that I was intent on building. hah.

Eventually I came to realize that my chances of finding a clean example of a MK3 Supra, 300ZXTT, 240SX, or some JDM model sporting an engine starting with KA, RB, or 2J, were slim. These legendary cars were once affordable dime-a-dozen project platforms, but as years passed their numbers dwindled while their popularity only grew. Even the most abused, neglected, questionable examples were plagued by the drift tax which pushed them out of my budget. I knew I had to expand my search, so expand I did.

If I didn’t make a move soon, I may never get the chance to. The golden age of tuner cars ended decades ago and with each passing week, fewer and fewer examples from this era survive. I began combing through craigslist and facebook nightly. For weeks I searched and waited for something to speak to me while meeting my small set of criteria. It had to be affordable, running, rust free, turbocharged, and have its interior in tact. Finally one night I stumbled across the picture at the start of this post, and the last listing I would need to read.

A 1990 Eclipse GSX, a family of cars that I had honestly forgotten about by this point. They weren’t even on my radar and I don’t really remember how I found this listing. Regardless, the longer I looked at the car and read about it, the more I immediately fell for it. The first generation DSM was a car I’m not sure I had ever laid eyes on before finding this one, which only added to its coolness. The car was 150 miles away and the next morning at 7am I was climbing into a friend’s pickup with cash in hand and trailer in tow.

I’ll never forget seeing the car in person for the first time. We sat in a Walmart parking lot waiting for the seller when I saw it in the rear view mirror roll in. I did my best to contain my excitement until I had thoroughly looked over the car and done the haggling. The seller was nice, knew a fair bit about the car and its modifications but also attributed some to previous owners. He wore an old t-shirt sporting the name of a tuning company though, and spoke with confidence, so I found him trustworthy.

The car wasn’t without it’s shortcomings of course. The clutch slips, the steering rack leaks, the paint and trim have baked in the Arizona sun, the trunk hasn’t held itself open in ages, and the AC is long dead. A previous owner also saw fit to bolt two large CB antenna mounts to the roof which wouldn’t be going anywhere. But these are all things that I could either fix, or live with.

All it took was one drive. By the time I got back to the parking lot I knew the car was coming home with us. I put on my best show, appearing uncertain as I picked at the car’s flaws before throwing out an offer below the seller’s already very cheap asking price. It took a few minutes and some meeting in the middle, but as the existence of this blog probably already reveals……

I brought it home.