before the resto begins....

Tags: Corrado | resto | Paulc | grave | nice garden

So here's how the story begins......

Me and Mel were up in Autowerks last summer, getting some work done on the Ur-S6, when we spotted a dusty, dirty Corrado siting under one of the lifts, looking very sorry for itself....

I took a good look round her, and spotted the all important 'G60' badge under all the dust.....suddenly we were interested....very interested!

She was straight, but looked like she needed a fair amount of tlc......but she had potential....

A quick enquiry then turned out that she was for sale.......after a bit of conversation, some negotiation and a handshake, a price was agreed and the deal was done......'Jessie the G60' was moving to the Deise!

As she hadn't moved, never mind being fired up, in over five years, she needed some remedial electrical work and some mechanical fettling before the drive down to her new home in Co. Waterford, so Alan, Kevin and James, Autowerks-Cork's intrepid trio, set to work preparing her for the trip.

While they were at it, they fully installed a later-spec all-black interior and converted the historically troublesome electric windows to manual trouble-free items. Some optimistic alarm wiring by a previous owner also had to be rectified, so this was all done too, along with a full service and comprehensive healthcheck.

Finally the phone-call came.....''that yoke is ready to roll, come up and collect her''.....I could almost hear the relief in Alan's voice! But credit where credit is due, the lads did a great job, and she was running like a swiss clock....

The trip home got off to a dubious start....we ran out of petrol before we made it out of the Autowerks yard!! A quick splash 'n' dash of juice from a jerry-can and we were on our way.

I can remember every mile of that first 60-mile spin.......Alan's words ringing in my ears ''go easy with her for a while, she hasn't been driven on a long spin in years''........I faithfully stuck to 50-60mph in 5th most of the way .......well, almost most of the way....

The power and torque from the 1.8 supercharged engine is awesome, even in standard tune........and the soundtrack that accompanies it is fantastic; the whine of the 'charger along with the roar from the wide-bore stainless exhaust system sounds like God clearing his throat when you press down on the 'loud' pedal! This car doesn't need a stereo, I thought to myself, when you've got a noise like that to listen to!

We arrived home safely, and sent a quick SMS to Alan to let him know we'd made it home without incident......''Good Stuff...Enjoy!'' was his reply.

So now the plans are afoot as to how we're gonna fettle her for her planned debut in Fermoy 2011.

Mel's plan is some refurbed Keskin KT1's, some SWG Motorsport goodies, Lupo GTi wiper conversion, lots of Lamin-X Gunsmoke and a debadged grill......with one or two more litle touches to put her Pixie stamp well and truly on this gem of a car....

Stay posted for regular pics and updates on how this project progresses......

Tags: Corrado | Restoration | Autowerks