Tons of work later..

I bought my first MR2 in July 1997. It was delivered by Autohaus Wieser in Munich, Gemany in specially imported for me bu ABC Auto Ostfold. The odometer read 147.000 km, and the car seemed to be in great condition. At least, that was what I thought.....

When the snow started to fall a few months later, the fun really started. This was when all the RUST!!! More bad stuff in the Picture Gallery...


When I washed the car, I discovered some souspicious looking flaws in the paint, and a closer inspection revealed that about 40% of the rear wheel arches had rusted away and been replaced by fibreglass. To top it all of, it was rather poorly done as well.

Having discovered this, I started my quest for weld-in wheel arches for my poor, battered MR2. The best I came up with, was genuine Toyota complete fenders to the nice peice of 3260,- NOK(Approx. 400 USD) per fender(!) On top of this, they wanted 14 labor hours per fender. Plus the paint job, of cuorse. This Didn't look good! :-(

This settled the case: The paint on the car was 10 years old, and needed vast quantities of polish to look good. I decided that it was time for a full renovation of te body. I was lucky enough to find a good body work artist that made me new arches and welded them in for me. About a week and $ 500 later, it was time for a full repaint. A friend who has a body shop did the paint work, and my MR2 came out looking better than when it was brand new. I started to plan for modifications to speed up the car, but a supercharged MR2 surfaced. This was the car I always wanted, and I could not wait for another one to come along because this was, and is to my knowledge, the only one in Scandinavia. I sold my first MR2 with 176.000 km on the odometer.

Technical data for the normally aspirated MR2:

Engine Midship inline 4, 16 valves DOHC, crossflow. Rpm limited electronically to approx 7900
Displacement1567 cm3
Torque 142Nm @5000 rpm
Effect 124 bhp@6600 rpm
Wheels 185/60-14 på 6" rims. Offset 39 mm
Weight 1050 kg (T-top version: 1080 kg)
Luggage cmopartment 1 case of beer, 1 sleepingbag. If you need exra underwear, there is room for that in the glove compartment. Toothbrushes can be taped to the gear lever In other words, plenty of room
Gas consumtion 6.6 l / 100 km. (My own measurements)
0-100km/h 7,7 sec (Autocar 13.3.1985)
Top speed 200 km/t (Autocar 13.3.1985)
Length 3,925m
Width 1,665m + mirrors
Height 1,250m
wheelbase 2,320m
Weight distrubution 45% front, 55% back
Misc. Camber, caster and toe are adjustable in all 4 corners
Price in Norway 1987 213.300 NOK (Approx 26.500 USD)

Best laptime at Rudskogen: 1:16:41