I bought an old (1995) 306 Cabrio about 18 months ago as I desperately wanted a convertible. 'Rio' (as my misses named it) has been really good but, not surprisingly, has all sorts of faults and problems needing to be sorted. I had the radiator replaced last week and now the master brake cylinder's gone t*ts up so I'm searching around for a new one (which is how I discovered 306oc).
It's just gone 4am over here and I'm typing in the dark so I don't wake 'her who must be feared' up, so I'll keep this brief. If there are any other members near me (Gympie) I'll say a special hello.
Having read a number of posts I feel honoured to be joining what seems to be an excellent and friendly club.
I also have a Toyota Soarer. In fact I've had it for 15 years. I've been a member of Soarer Central for most of that time and although it's primarily based in Oz and New Zealand, we have members from all over Europe.
I am English born and bred though so it's not all bad news.
Thanks for the welcome. I'm looking forward to learning more about the 306 and hearing you guys stories.
Yes the truth is people do tend to only use the services of a club when their car's got problems, especially when so many of us seem to have so little time 'spare' from demanding jobs, hundreds of chores or projects around the house needing finishing plus of course, the insatiable sexual needs of one's lady.
However, just as with my Soarer, after that initial need to gain info, I did indeed hang around as there was a shared passion for the car.
Nice to hear you know this area tigerstyle. Gympie's an acquired taste. One thing's for sure, you'll never hear 'New York, Paris, Rome, Gympie'.
I love my little 306. She's a bit shabby and has had a badly done respray but for the money I paid out here (where car's are ridiculously expensive) I get a lot of bang for my buck and I'd like to share that appreciation of the 306 (particularly the Cabrio) with others.
Yes the truth is people do tend to only use the services of a club when their car's got problems, especially when so many of us seem to have so little time 'spare' from demanding jobs, hundreds of chores or projects around the house needing finishing plus of course, the insatiable sexual needs of one's lady.
However, just as with my Soarer, after that initial need to gain info, I did indeed hang around as there was a shared passion for the car.
Nice to hear you know this area tigerstyle. Gympie's an acquired taste. One thing's for sure, you'll never hear 'New York, Paris, Rome, Gympie'.
I love my little 306. She's a bit shabby and has had a badly done respray but for the money I paid out here (where car's are ridiculously expensive) I get a lot of bang for my buck and I'd like to share that appreciation of the 306 (particularly the Cabrio) with others.
Never had a cabby but I do love the 306 for every reason mentioned and unmentioned on this site!
No matter what you drive after owning one there just seems to be no cure/replacement for it and I've driven a lot of marques and models after eons in the trade!
OVERALL! You just can't replace it without speding a few grand on a 205
30-08-2015, 07:49 AM (This post was last modified: 30-08-2015, 07:50 AM by Beanie.)
I've been a big fan of convertible's since my early twenties. I've had a Triumph Spitfire (anything over 70 mph and the whole car would threaten to shake itself to bits), Renault 17TS (not a true convertible but with a full length sunroof), a Fiat X19 (my ears have never been the same since due to the proximity of that engine), a Ferrari copy, a Marlin and now the 306. In every single case I got the cars for wind-in-the-hair motoring and had a blast.
I dunno, there's just something special about driving a convertible. The 306 just makes the whole experience so much easier (as long as the roof's not playing silly buggers) as you have a simple to drive car with the bonus of getting your noggin burnt as you go. The other advantage is that unlike some convertible's, there's not much jealousy or nastiness from other drivers that could see your paintwork scratched or worse.
I've had to do the usual 'trick' of replacing the 'knicker elastic' in my roof to encourage the roof supports to fold inwards as the roof lowers. But even after doing that, the roof would still not always behave itself and often the roof would then snarl up on the rear headrests. In the end I fixed the problem by replacing the elastic with 6mm (approx.) bungy cord -or shock cord as I found the only elastic I could get hold of over here was pretty weak and would lose it's elasticity in the 35 -40 C degree heat we regularly have and since then the roof's worked perfectly.
I took a photo of my car this afternoon but I'm damned if I can work out how to attach it on this thread. I'm probably missing something obvious (like a brain). Can anyone tell me how I post a pic?
(31-08-2015, 07:06 AM)Beanie Wrote: I took a photo of my car this afternoon but I'm damned if I can work out how to attach it on this thread. I'm probably missing something obvious (like a brain). Can anyone tell me how I post a pic?
Use the black "new reply" button just above the text box at the bottom of the page and you will find a green attach file button at the bottom left of the page!
02-09-2015, 07:23 AM (This post was last modified: 02-09-2015, 07:28 AM by Beanie.)
Well hopefully you can view this photo.
Wow- it seemed to work.
She's had a re-spray at some time and it wasn't done particularly well (as it's possible to see old damage or possibly areas of rust that have been cut out) but for the money, she's not bad. Rio has one of the sweetest manual gearboxes I've ever used and she can dart about pretty well considering her age (a bit like her owner).
It's amazing just how many comments I get from friends or co-workers when they see her with her roof down.
![[Image: P1060836_zpsz3xgxt7q.jpg]](http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g427/wingnutz2/P1060836_zpsz3xgxt7q.jpg)
![[Image: Cn91r40h.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/Cn91r40h.jpg)
