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New member Birkin (1996


KiwiBirkin

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Hi all I have just joined this forum which I found by working through google hits looking for sites with info about Birkins. Im not in the USA but in New Zealand but have found some great info here on these forums and decided

it was well worth joining them as there was alot of help here and you all seemed so freindly.

 

Anyway info on the car from me and what has been supplied to me by Birkin in SA

 

I have just purchased a 1996 Birkin 7 which was fully built by Birkin at there factory and then exported to Japan and sold by a dealer there in 1997, I have been told there were 2 owners in Japan and then the car was put up on Ebay (Nov 2008 )and a car sales yard here in Christchurch New Zealand imported it in and put it up for sale on New Zealands version of Ebay called Trademe. I purchased the car for NZ $14K after doing some research into the car and what a Birkin was and decided it was a good buy. We have 3 Lotus 7 replicas built in NZ called the Fraser 7, Liech 7 & McGregor 7 all cost NZ $40K new and kits start at NZ $15k so it was a good price I feel.

 

The car is running as a unmodified Birkin with a 1600 Xflow motor 2x weber 40s and type 9 gearbox, it was a bit untidy when i purchased it but then it was 10 years old and had 20000 Kms on the clock, I have a plan to tidy it up over our winter but for now im just enjoying driving the car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers KiwiBirkin

Connie2_resize.jpg

Akaroa_1st time (2)_resize.jpg

Edited by KiwiBirkin
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Hi Kiwi - Being located in Christchurch you have some of most magnificent roads and scenery to enjoy with this car. I had a blast touring around when I lived in NZ many years ago. My favorite road has to be the one from Te Anau to Milford Sound.

 

Also you can stop quickly to avoid the sheep on the road :D

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Cheers for the welcome.

 

There are some great roads over here thats for sure, the pictures were taken at a little town called Akaroa which has one of the best driving roads in Canterbury (the area of New New Zealand I live in) and its very popular with the biker boys for runs over from Christchurch for a coffee and then back again.

 

Here is a link for google maps for Akaroa

 

Akaroa, New Zealand

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  • 2 weeks later...

It was a lovely day here in Canterbury New Zealand so Grace and I (thats my Birkins name) went for a blat around the Christchurch port hills road, this road follows the top of the hills that surround Christchurch and is a very twisty & narrow road just perfect for sevens, we stopped for a photo shoot :)

Porthills (6)_resize.jpg

Porthills (8)_resize.jpg

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Porthills (7)_resize.jpg

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Hi Kiwi,

 

This brings back great memories of my time in NZ. The scenery has not changed in 15 years. Your post made me dig out a photo of me next to my rental car (Holden Commodore) on what looks to be a very similar vantage point overlooking Christchurch and the ocean to where you have photographed your Birkin. Slightly different angle but same elevation and outlook. I don't recall the road name but I do recall it was deserted, winding and narrow with stunning views.

 

I spent 6 weeks that trip roaming the south island exploring places and tramping at every opportunity and could have done another 6 weeks. Much nicer down there than the north island - probably because of the smaller population.

 

Are the Keas still the lovable little pests I remember? The little devils took out my windscreen wipers that trip.

 

Cheers

mike

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Ah yes Croc the Keas still causing trouble for the unsuppecting tourist :) I remeber my first year in NZ (1998) and went sking for the day to the closest local ski field (Mt Hutt 1.5 hrs away from Christchurch) I had a car with a vinyl roof well after a day up the ski fiels these pesky mountain parrots had turned the cars roof into dredlocks and tore most of the rubber window seals out.

 

JohnCH, it seems so compared to other countrys we do have quite good prices on sevens, the roads are good but can be poorly maintained on some of the more intresting roads, the scenery is really quite awsome here but its not hard to find awsome scenery in other countries either.

 

The people are friendly in NZ and there are only 4.5million of us in a country the size of the UK.

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And dont forget the beer is cold and tasty in NZ!!!! :D

 

As an aside I had my car out for a drive this afternoon and less than a block out from home a guy in a really beat up Suzuki Swift pulls up at the red light and yells across "Nice Lotus Seven". Turns out it was Bruce from Dunedin NZ visiting NYC while driving across the USA. What a small world! :)

 

mike

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well Grace (my cars name) has had some updates over the last 3 weeks, new exhuast and a new front grill, the new exhuast has made the 1600 xflow pull much better down low and has improved the middle range too, the orignal birkin grill has been cut and a caterham 7 put in to the middle and has been painted chrome to match the aluminum I think the new grill makes the car look very smart along with the new exhuast too.

 

The next upgrade for Grace are some new seats which are in the process of being made and coverd, these will give me some longer leg room and also put me lower in the cockpit.

 

Anyway here are some pics of the grill & exhuast.

 

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/No74.jpg

 

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/newbirkin3_resize.jpg

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Nice job on the exhaust and grill KB!

 

"The next upgrade for Grace are some new seats which are in the process of being made and coverd, these will give me some longer leg room and also put me lower in the cockpit." - If you don't mind, I'd like to see pics of your seats when you get them done. Thanks

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Looks great. I have always liked the polished ali look on these cars despite the pain it must be to keep it looking shiny.

 

Yehh its a bit of a bugger and takes some time, the whole car needs some wet a dry to bring it up to Slomove's car, I keep swinging back and forwards to painting it / not painting it :confused:

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Yehh its a bit of a bugger and takes some time, the whole car needs some wet a dry to bring it up to Slomove's car, I keep swinging back and forwards to painting it / not painting it :confused:

 

Don't paint it, don't paint it looks great that way but I am partial to that style finish.

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Nice job on the exhaust and grill KB!

 

"The next upgrade for Grace are some new seats which are in the process of being made and coverd, these will give me some longer leg room and also put me lower in the cockpit." - If you don't mind, I'd like to see pics of your seats when you get them done. Thanks

 

Cheers for the comments, here is a pic of my car with simlar seats mine are being based on, these were built by McGregor Motorsport (http://www.mcgregormotorsport.co.nz/index.html) for another client and I spotted them in a corner of their workshp when I was visiting them and thought they looked better than the standard Birkin ones, so I tried them in the car, they felt much better to sit in and put me futher back in the pit and a bit lower too, mine are having the head rest kicked up to 90 deg's and not back like the ones in the picture.

 

I will post a new picture when mine are fitted in.

 

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/newseats2-1.jpg

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Kiwi,

 

Nice looking seats.

 

I suggest you take your helmet with you and try those seats before you have the headrests on yours kicked up.

 

I have to remove the headrest on my Caterham seat when using the helmet as it hits the headrest and forces my head forward and down. Hard on the neck and it feels weird trying to look down the road from under my eyebrows. Kind of a Neanderthal thing but, hey, it matches the car's knuckledragger behavior. :D

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Another update for those who wanted to see the seat shells.

 

I have just picked them up so I can test fit them and mark the fiberglass up where I want it trimed up so they look even before they go off to get coverd.

 

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/glass_seats2.jpg

 

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu326/Hotdognz/bits%20and%20pieces/glass_seats3.jpg

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