Opel Kapitan (Part 1)

This Opel Kapitan is one of the few vintage cars in Armenia, which received a relatively better fate than many other samples from its epoch.
We met the owner of this car many years ago; if I am not mistaken, it was in 2001. At the time, we were involved in organizing just another retro event with participation of many classic cars. In order that the event could take place, we needed to gather a certain number of old vehicles, which were supposed to be in excellent condition both technically and externally. The event was going to be attended basically by the permanent members of the Automobile Federation of Armenia, or rather, by those car owners who had already been registered for the club of classic cars at the federation.

However, it was still necessary to find at least one car, in order to replenish the list of participants. On the eve of the event, we happened to see this Opel in the street on our way home. At first glance, the car was in a quite fresh condition, so we offered the owner a place in the convoy of classic cars. In addition, we issued him a membership of the club and federation.
The event went perfectly and we had enough time to get to know each other better afterwards. It turned out that Albert Sargsyan, the owner of the car, had owned it since 1984. According to Albert’s statement, this Opel had been brought to Armenia in the early postwar years as a war trophy, after which it was used by a family of a former army officer for many years. During that years, many native units fell into disrepair and were replaced with soviet ones; some details were lost forever. This “Kapitan” passed by inheritance to Albert Sargsyan in a dreadful condition. At first Albert did not know what to do with the scrapheap he inherited in 1984. After some time, he decided to get down to the rehabilitation of his retro-car.
To be continued…

The Modified Honda Prelude (Part 2)

Special attention needs to be paid to the seriously modified exhaust system. There are three exhaust pipes connected to a handmade manifold. The pair of the exhaust pipes, which come out from the rear body, only work at high revs, when the turbocharger operates, providing sufficient ejection of exhaust gases.

At low revs, there engages an additional muffler taken from a CZ motorcycle, which comes out from the side. By the way, the owner has invented a special mechanism, which, at certain engine revs, produces fire flames through the exhaust pipes. This Honda Prelude is equipped with electronic four-wheel steering system, which was also broken, but later restored.

As a conclusion to all the modifications that changed the dynamic performance of this sports coupe, the owner has modified the original breaking system. Now the rear wheels are equipped with disc brakes. As for the front ones, the standard two-piston discs have been replaced with powerful six-caliper discs. The wheel rims have also been replaced with larger and ventilated ones. Now the car has got 17-inch wheels with 245/45 Nitto racing tires.

The Modified Honda Prelude (Part 1)

At first glance, it’s quite difficult to identify what car this is. No wonder… the cars of this make can be rarely seen in the streets of our city. This is the Honda Prelude of the 4th generation produced between 1991 and 1996. The car in the pictures was produced in 1992, specifically for the EU market, which is evidenced by the underhood label. By the way, this is the rarest version of the Prelude, equipped with 2.3L 4-cylinder 160HP H23-A2 petrol engine.

Let’s start with the exterior.
Firstly, the car has an eye-catching airbrushing: the flames are so masterly and realistically executed that you frantically start thinking of a fire extinguisher when seeing it for the first time. The unique bumpers in the style of F1 are designed by the owner of the car. Neither could the owner resist intervention in the interior of the car, which is nicely realized in two-tone style. On the dashboard, next to the huge factory gauges, there are additional devices to watch the operation of the  turbocharger.

The last owner purchased this car in 2010 with a faulty engine and transmission (at the time the mileage was about 156.000 km).
Since it was initially planned to install a turbocharger, the engine and transmission have been reinforced only with high-strength parts of known brands that have maximal operating endurance. 

After a major overhaul, the presumptive engine power increased a few times reaching around 470HP. For more precise measurements, the car needs to undergo a "dyno" test, which is impossible, since there is no such equipment in Armenia. We have to content ourselves with the recommendations of the manufacturer of the turbocharger.
To be continued…