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I’m sorry to say, but it looks like my beloved 99 Turbo may be going the way of the dodo. I’ve been considering what to do for a while now and it looks like it’s going to have to be sold as a fixer-upper for someone with the room, tools and know-how to do the job properly, or broken up and sold for parts. Perhaps I could float it out into the middle of the Derwent river and burn it, Viking style.

It’s all very sad. I was planning a full-on restoration of the car and have purchased many bits and pieces in preparation for this. The big hurdle came a few weeks ago when I started hearing a clicking noise from third gear. At first it was only making the noise during deceleration, but now it’s happening all the time. And getting louder.

A replacement gearbox and installation will set me back at least $2K. Even rebuilding this current gearbox will be around $1K minimum, at a guess. Then there’s the other mechanical work: engine, turbo, suspension. The car also needs to be resprayed and the interior retrimmed. This is all pretty daunting when my mechanical and technical knowledge is quite limited (to say the least).

All up, I don’t have the time or the money. Well, I have the money, but the decision is whether to pour $6K to $8K into this car, or spend that money (plus some more) on another, newer car. I love the history of the 99 Turbo, but we only have room for one ’specialist’ car in the family. Therefore I have to decide if that specialist car is going to be an historical one, such as the 99, or a more modern and performance-oriented one.

Well, I think I’ve found the other car. Now I’ve just got to find the rest of the money.