My interest started when I saw my first Cordia Turbo, the driver looked at me and knew his car looked good and was quick. So I decided I had to get me a Cordia Turbo. It sounded good in theory until I spoke to my parents and they said I wasn’t “experienced” enough to drive a turbocharged car. So I did the next best thing, I brought an AB Cordia GSL (non-turbo) for $1900.
I did minimal mods to it as I figured I would get rid of it as soon as I proved to my parents I was ready to move up the power ladder. I put on a 2 ¼” Lukey exhaust with Lukey performance muffler, tinted the windows and put in a deck and speakers to make driving a bit more enjoyable. Within about 2 months of “driving…” the engine blew. I went to Jap Auto Mart on Cavan Rd to get a fully re-built 4g37 1.8Ltr carby engine. For the grand total of $1200, I went to my older brother and borrowed the money. A week later I picked it up, drove around for about 2 weeks and the cylinder head cracked. So I took the car back and with the warranty received another engine, this engine then started to blow smoke, was a pig to idle and had about half the power my original engine had, so once again after some abusive phone calls I took the car back and had another totally re-built engine in. This time I actually got the engine I paid for.
I had the car for about 6 months and then my parents told me that if I wanted a turbo I could get one. And so my mission began, I took extra shifts at work, stopped wasting my money on Maccas and generally became a bit of a tight ass. Almost 3 months after the talk I finally found a nice, clean, straight Cordia, I took it for a test drive and fell in love.
Later that night I was the new owner of a Silver 1985 AB GSR. The car came with a 2 ½” exhaust from the turbo back that sounded really nice, HKS turbo timer, CD player and quite a few little spare parts. It had the engine, gearbox and turbo overhauled in 2001 with the “new” engine now only having 45,000k’s on the clock. This car was so meticulously looked after. Receipts for services every 5,000k’s by Mitsubishi dealers, the complete overhaul cost $5,500 and just two weeks before I bought the car it had a new head gasket fitted. And all I paid was $2000!!!! The car was Queensland registered so I had to take it to regency park to get it inspected and get new plates and rego. So all up I paid $2280 for the car and to be SA registered. 1 month after purchasing my new Cordia I sold my GSL for $1600, I lost money on it big time, but at least I was out of debt.