It’s a NEW (ish) CAR!

Those who know me know that I get my thrills from two-wheeled transport rather than four-wheeled. Four-wheels is for practical, two-wheels is for fun.

So when my old Diahatsu Pyzar (1996, with 285,000km on the clock) finally gave up the ghost last week, I was a bit stuck for what to replace it with (and how, the Schutz reserves not being terribly flush).

This is what a Pyzar looks like:

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That isn’t mine, by the way – mine looked a lot more battle weary than that. (In fact, I sold it for scrap in the end: I had taken it up to our friendly neighbourhood servo for a service and he took one look at it, sewed it up and told me to take it home so it could die in peace). It looks like a 4×4, but don’t be fooled, it’s a little front wheel drive 1.6ltr. But it had the excellent virtue of being able to fit just about anything into the back. I bought a bookshelf in Prahan a few months back and brought it home in the back. Nothing anyone makes today looks even a bit like it. All the small cars have little tiny back hatches that you could barely fit a suitcase in, let alone a bookcase. There were about 10 used Pyzars for sale in the whole country, and most of them with high mileage, so that wasn’t a realistic option.

Our neighbour had a little Mazda 121 Metro, and, while smaller than the Pyzars and of about the same vintage, it fit the bill – big back hatch with lay down back seats to give plenty of transport room. I found one on the iPhone Drive app for sale in Werribee (pretty much the other end of the earth from where I live) but the price was right – under $4,000 – and it was five years younger than my Pyzar with 111,000km on the clock. So I packed my thermos and sandwiches and headed on over to the West, and drove home with my new car:

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As you can see, same basic idea, just a 1.3ltr engine instead of the 1.6 and a slightly shorter wheelbase. I’ve just had it up with my own servo getting a checkover, and he says it’s as right as rain. So I’m very happy. I don’t like change much, and with this “new” car, I don’t have much change to get used to – except a clutch that works and an engine that doesn’t use as much oil as petrol!

About Schütz

I am a PhD candidate & sessional academic at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, Australia. After almost 10 years in ministry as a Lutheran pastor, I was received into the Catholic Church in 2003. I worked for the Archdiocese of Melbourne for 18 years in Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations. I have been editor of Gesher for the Council of Christians & Jews and am guest editor of the historical journal “Footprints”. I have a passion for pilgrimage and pioneered the MacKillop Woods Way.
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4 Responses to It’s a NEW (ish) CAR!

  1. Matthias says:

    Nice to see you back blogging David. i hope to be at 9am Mass at St Phillips tomorrow

  2. Congrats on the good buy.
    I can relate – I’d rather have a tooth pulled than have to buy a new car.
    Mazda make excellent cars. You should get another 100K/5 years out if it no probs.

    • Schütz says:

      A funny thing happened just on Friday – I received a “recall” notice for the Pyzar – apparently some fault with the airbags and the heating system. I was very happy to be able to inform them that the poor old dear is no longer on the road?

  3. Clara Geoghegan says:

    For different reasons to yourself, I too had to buy a new(ish) car. I had decided on a Camry V6 station wagon for a number of reasons:
    – I have to cart around boys and bicycles (they lay down back seats mean I can just put the bikes in the back.
    – I have a dog who can now sit in the back of the car rather than on the back seat which means she will no longer be able to stick her head between the front seats and knock us out with bad breath.
    – Our last Camry did over 400,000km so I will not look at anything else.

    I drove to Geelong yesterday and my fire-engine red 2001 Camry did very well.

    But getting an new car is very traumatic!

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