We were saddened to hear the news that Simon Emery, a past member and great supporter of our Club, passed away last month.
I first encountered Simon many years ago through his Saturday morning Motoring Spot on local Cypriot radio. He regaled us with short stories, motoring tips and advice in his dry witty North-Eastern style, and always finished with the “Bargain of the Week”. He obviously knew his market as these proved to be popular. I only remember one car being repeated the following week, this being a Fiat Multipla, which is hardly surprising as it is one of the ugliest cars ever
Simon tried, unsuccessfully, to sell me a car on several occasions, as unfortunately, he did not share my love of Citroens, (“too complicated, difficult to work on, over-priced, and French” he would say). He will be greatly missed but I like to think that Simon has already opened a shop up there selling pre-owned Angels` wings, made in Japan, of
Simon would have approved of our featured car for September as it is from one of his favourite Japanese manufacturers, Honda. PCVC`s Classic of the Month is a Honda CR-X del Sol which has been recently restored to a better than factory fresh condition by its current owners, Graham and Jayne Flint.
Honda manufactured the CR-X from 1983 until 1998 as a two seat, compact sport saloon which was originally based on the Honda Civic. However, in 1982 they substantially redesigned this car to produce the Third Generation CR-X (also known as the “del Sol”). Whilst it was still front wheel drive they gave it a mid-engined sports car look equipped with a removable targa roof. Power came from the famous Honda 1600cc VTEC engine which in its single overhead cam version produced over 130bhp. In a car weighing less than 2500lbs. this produces a more than spritely performance!
The featured car dates from 1994 and has spent all its life, apart from the first 6 months, in Cyprus and was, as a consequence, in a remarkable corrosion-free condition when found by Graham 2 years ago. However, the Cypriot sun, as is not unusual, had taken a toll on the paintwork, and ravished the interior, also, for some unexplained reason, the boot lid had rusted through! Graham knowing how special the “del Sols” are, was undeterred by any of this and set about a 15 month restoration, starting with the removal of the engine and gearbox and stripping the bodywork back to bare metal. With the defective boot lid replaced a full respray was undertaken, and the car painted in a highly popular modern colour, Mazda Metallic Red, which superbly suits its sporty styling. Whilst the car was running and driving when he bought it, Graham decided that he may as well overhaul the engine and running gear. Work to-date has included the replacement of all the suspension bushes, engine and gearbox mounts, timing belts, radiator, water pump, clutch, various seals and the ECU. The interior has been completely stripped, renovated or replaced, (including the moulded carpet), and the seats have been re-upholstered in two-tone grey.
Graham and Jayne are justly proud of their renovated Honda “del Sol”. They will never tire of demonstrating one of the special features of this car, this being the way the targa roof panel stores in its own compartment under the new boot lid! But most of all they just love driving such a beautiful, responsive and nimble, open-topped Honda sports car.
If you would like to see this or other Classic Vehicles come to one of our many meetings. Full details of which are on our Facebook page, or our website www.paphosclassicvehicleclub.com, or telephone 97760997.
