Chevrolet Suburban Silverado (Part 1)

This monster appeared in one of the local restoration workshops quite recently. When this giant was first brought to the workshop, the masters were simply stunned. The condition of the SUV, to put it mildly, was unsatisfactory. A large part of the chassis and body was badly afflicted with corrosion that, in some places, holed those elements altogether. How could it come to pass that a thirty-year-old car reached such a deplorable state? To find an answer to this question and shed light on the history of this car I launched a little investigation.

And so, what we’ve got is a Chevrolet Suburban Silverado belonging to K1500 series released in 1989. This model was produced at the General Motors plant in city of Flint, Michigan, from 1989 to 1991, which, by the way, indicates the sticker on the driver’s door. This Suburban is equipped with 5.7-liter 16-valve V8 carburetor engine, automatic transmission and all-wheel drive system with a mechanical transfer case. This exemplar was released in May, which means the car was intended for the 1989 model year. In the same month, the Michigan traffic police registered this Chevy in the name of a local resident. Over the next ten years, the car had several minor accidents having run in total about 90.000 miles.

After each accident, this SUV was repaired in private workshops, and over time it ceased to be the only vehicle of the family yielding its position to more modern and compact cars. The SUV found its rest in a cozy garage for a long time being used, from time to time, only for trips over rough terrain. By the end of the 90’s the car had new owners from Los-Angeles, who decided to radically change the image of the SUV and transformed it into a real off-road truck.
To be continued...

The Nissan Skyline Project Car (Part 2)

At that time, there were very few similar sports cars in Yerevan.
As for Skylines, there were no more than five, whose owners were even acquainted with each other. The lucky owner enjoyed his car for over a year occasionally participating in various sport events. However, there weren’t any major achievements in that period.

On May 9 2011, there came the crucial point in the fate of this car. The owner lost the control of the car at high speed and crashed into a tree with the back of the body. During the accident, besides the driver, there were two passengers in car, but fortunately all of them survived. Thanks to the experts from the rescue service, the injured were safely taken out from the wrecked car. After months of forensic examination, the car was returned to its owner. This Nissan Skyline stood idle in an open parking lot for a long time. Its further existence was questionable. Even the famous scrap dealers did not dare take it.  However, in early 2012 there appeared a brave man, who decided to restore this car. He managed to obtain a new independent rear suspension. The on-board power supply of the vehicle has already been restored. There has been also carried out some works in stretching and geometry of the body.

However, the car is expected to have its final form only after its new fiberglass body in the style of Nissan GT-R R35 is ready. This project has been lasting for years and it is still unknown when it will be completed. I will try to periodically visit the workshop, where the guys are working hard to revive this amazing Skyline.

The Nissan Skyline Project Car (Part 1)

The model named Skyline has always inspired deep reverence among the fans of Japanese sports cars and brought honor to its owners. One of the most famous and oldest models of Nissan has been on the line since 1957.

There has been released numerous generations of this legendary vehicle, among which you can often find quite rare and amazing modifications such as the nicely charged GT-R version. The most limited editions of the Skyline are to be found starting from the 10th generation that bear the body index R 34. Today I will introduce one of the 217.133 released Nissan Skylines belonging to the 9th generation with the body index R 33. It wasn’t by chance that this exemplar found itself in Armenia.
With a chassis number HR33-109153, this car was produced in March 1998. In the summer of 2009, Ashot Matevosyan, an inveterate car enthusiast, big fan of this make and finally, an aspiring actor, bought this car at one of the Japanese auctions.

The preference was given to the 2.0-liter RB20E atmospheric engine and 5-speed FS5W71C manual transmission, since this pair is very durable and requires minimal maintenance.
Besides, this was the owner’s first right-hand-drive car, so at first the dynamic characteristics were in excess. At the end of October 2009, the car arrived in the Georgian city of Poti, from where it was brought to Armenia.
The snow-white coupe was in excellent condition; as a hefty bonus, the new owner received sports body kit with a massive rear wing, custom high-performance exhaust system and expensive alloy wheels.
To be continued...