25MM TO LIFE
When you’re a member of the modified fraternity and spend your time surrounded by steel of the non-factory variety, it tends to be a rare moment of euphoria when you stumble on an example that looks as though it were manufactured only yesterday. Seeing perfectly straight bodylines, cared-for paintwork, unpumped arches, and not a single drill hole on the interior trim will occur very few times in your lifetime; there must be only a handful of elderly people left out there today who have retained and maintained a car since new. If you’re lucky enough to find yourself standing in front of one such car, and even luckier to be offered the chance to own it for yourself, you’d be a fool not to scramble down to the nearest ATM, withdraw an enticing stack of crisp $100 notes, and blast out of that driveway before the owner changes their mind — you simply won’t be that lucky again.
When Ryan Van Pelt spotted this 1986 Toyota Mark II wagon (YX76) parked on the side of a suburban Christchurch road while driving
