"Pooh the 3rd" ('93 405 Mi16 latter edition, Cherry Red)

    Just after Pooh the 1st's dead, I could not think of buying a successor due mainly to the emotional shock. But by the time of middle August, I started looking for cars which cars would be suitable for "Pooh the 3rd". I already decided to look for PEUGEOT 405 again from the beginning, except ones that is exactly the same car: same colour, same grade, etc.
    I was very lucky that several members of PEUGEOT Mailing List kindly sent me some good information of second-hand 405. And I started to think carefully which one should be Pooh the 1st's successor.


    First one was '90 405 Mi16 of Mr. H. But it's colour and the grade are exactly the same as Pooh I, so I declined this good offer.


    The next one was '90 Mi16x4. I got to know this car through the kind introduction of Mr. Makino, who is a member of PEUGEOT ML. He even sent me a test-drive report! However, this car turned out to be actualy Mi16: he mistook it for Mi16x4. Its price was reasonable and the condition was good enough, but I declined this good offer because of the same reason as above.


    Although it was not a canditate of Pooh the 3rd, I was very lucky to dig a test-drive the latter version, '93 Mi16. This one belongs to Mr. Asami, who maintains the famous Japanese PEUGEOT Freaks web page. He drove to Kansai in the mid-August and kindly came by Ohtsu.
    This was the very first time to drive the latter version of Mi16, and found that there were many important differences between the earlier model and the latter model. Which is more attractive for me? Well, it's a very difficult question. Anyway, the latter model costs much expensive for me.


    And the next one was '91 Mi16x4 of Mr. T, who lives in Kyoto city. The condition was not very good, mainly because it ran much mileage than the standard. But Mi16x4 is the one of my dreams! I nealy decided to buy this car, but he stopped to sell this car because he loved this car too much. So, this Mi16x4 has disappeared from my canditates.


    There were many other canditates, but among them one good car became more realistic canditate: latter edition of 405 Mi16 ('93 model). This car was Mr. Makino's, who kindly introduced Mi16x4 (but actually turned out to be Mi16). Yes, latter edition of 405 is also the one of my dreams! And I love 405 coloured with RED!


    I went to the foot of Mt. Fuji in order to test-drive this car at once. Mr. Arai of 205 GTi kindly came with us. The engine of this latter edition seemed to be less attractive than the one of earlier edition, but the latter edition has other good points: interior quality and rigidity of the body is definitely better than earlier version's. I thought over whether I took this car, and finally decided to buy it.


    Then in October 25, 1997, I got on Hikari superexpress to Tokyo terminal, got this red Mi16, and drove back to Kansai on the highway.

"Pooh the 1st" ('91 405 Mi16 earlier edition, Magnum Gray)

    It was in April holidays of '90, that I finally got a driver's license. Several months before the day, my father switched his own car from NISSAN BlueBird (U.S. name "Altima") ('81, 1,800cc, 4MT) to TOYOTA Vista Etoile ('90, 1,800cc, 4AT). Of course, I wished I could have my own car, but I didn't have enough money (due mainly to buying Macintosh computers), so I could only drove my father's VISTA. And it was too expensive to lend a garage for my own car in Osaka, where I lived these days.


    In December '95, I got a job in Shiga, and at the same time my father switched his car again from Vista to HONDA Inspire 2.0G ('95, 2,000cc, 4AT), so I finally got my father's hand-me-downs, and I decided to have my own car to match my own taste before December '96.


    Around '93, I had a strong interest in automobile, but I never dreamed of being a owner. So, taking an advantage of this opportunity of getting a job, I tried to get enough knowledge about automobile to make it my "hobby" - reading various automobile magazines, going to the dealer to dig a test drive of several cars, discussing with owners of various cars. At this time, Mr. Yamamoto, who was a elder student of my lab's next-door in Osaka University, purchased FIAT Panda, and I enjoyed discussing about automobiles with him, and I had a chance to dig a test drive of his car.


    I set a rather extravagant request for my next car : 1.5 million yen as a budjetary limit, manual transmission (stick-shift), at least three doors (more than four doors if possible), at least four seats, smaller than 5-number size (note: in Japanese "5-number" means a dimension smaller than 4,700mm x 1,700mm), fun to drive (absolute speed is not needed). And I started looking for a car that comply with this request.


    Domestic (Japanese) cars has been dropped out of canditates. Most of Japanese cars didn't have some strong charm and appeal for me, although they were technologically state-of-the-art. Some exceptions were EUNOS Roadster (MAZDA Miata MX-5), TOYOTA MR2 and HONDA Beat. But all of them were two-seater.
    Next, I thought of VW Golf: when I let me drive VW Golf I of my underclassman, I had an extreme satisfaction. But the charming Golf II GTi was too many in the road, and massive Corrado G60 seemed to be limited for some use. I even considered Jetta II GTi, but 5MT version had stopped imported in '89, and it seemed very difficult to find a second-hand in good-condition.
    ALFA ROMEO 155 was very cool car, but was too expensive for me. Other Italian cars were rather small for me.


    And finally, I encountered PEUGEOT 205 GTi. What a charming and attracting style! How brisk it runs! How comfortable when cornering? I was moved very much. It was my first experience to have such cool driving feel!
(Right Picture: '92 205 GTi of Mr. Arai, my classmate of junior-high)


    But I wish to have just a bit larger car, and I found 309 GTi and 405 Mi16. I remember the day I first saw 405 - I was very much impressed with this too beautiful styling. "Wow, I wish to drive this automobile!" "I wish to have this car!" - since then, my target had been fixed. Soon after that, I joined the PEUGEOT Mailing List , although I didn't owned any Peugeot automobile yet.


    "If I have much money to buy 405 Mi16, I'll buy it. If not, I'll consider 309 GTi". And I began buying Kansai edition of "Car Sensor" (used cars magazine) every months. Unfortunately, Shiga prefecture is rather local country, and Peugeot automobiles couldn't be easily found here.
    In November '96, when I neally gave up looking for 405 in Shiga, I found it! The shop "Mille Miglia CSJ" had an excellent condition of 405 Mi16! Several days later, I went to the shop.
    Yes, I was completedly knocked-down at a first glance! "Yes, this car should be bought by myself!"


    Two days later, I had a chance to dig a test drive with this car. Easy to drive, quick handling, excellent drive feel, comfortable when cornering, magnificient response and sound of the engine - all of them has completely knocked me down! And just after the test ride, I soon signed a contract to buy this car.

Last Updated: 10:35:45 JST, 04/05/2004 .