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November 2014 - Grim

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Joined: 18 Dec 2013
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    Posted: 25 Oct 2014 at 1:03pm

Congratulations on winning November 2014 MOTM Graham! Now most of us know you’re a man of few words but what little you do say, is always straight to the point LOL, so this will be an interesting feature! How does it feel to be our exclusive Member Of The Month and having your name up in lights?

Chuffed would be the honest answer.

We’d love to find out about you the person. Please tell us about yourself and what you get up to, away from the NPOC.

We'll I'm 46 years young and live in Colchester with my partner Alisha and our three daughters, Ellise who is 9, Dannii who is 5 and Lolla who is 2. I work as a mechanic / MOT tester.

I know it’s been a while now but can you remember how you found the NPOC forums and are we any good? Would you happily recommend the club to other Nissan Primera owners?

I Googled you if I remember correctly and yes I've often recommended the club to other Primera owners.

You’re an Elite Member here (our highest level of paying membership and respect to you too)!! Are you still getting value for money with that? And please sell us the reason, why everyone should become Elite.

If you took up all the discounts us Elite Members are offered over a year, being an Elite Member is a no brainer.

Your join date from your profile shows November 2008, so happy 6 years to you! Which means you are part of the furniture now hahaha! What keeps you coming back and signing in every day here?

Just addicted I guess and besides I like it here too!

So let’s get to cars sir.. Give us your car ownership history from the day you passed please and I’d love you to accompany this lot with some olde photos if you have them?

There's no way I could recall every car I've owned in the last 6 years let alone since I passed my test in 1988 haha. But back in the day my life was full of old school Vauxhalls VX4/90s and Fords like Cortinas, Capris and the likes.

Oh and the occasional Datsun 120y. I did have a hearse and a Dodge Day Van too.

Have you got a favourite out of the “previously owned” list above and why?

The Day Van, it's just V8 coolness!

Being an Essex boy (Joey!), you must have grown up with Ford this and Ford that being the ride to have? As a youngster, was there ever any genuine “you must have a blue oval” vibe to fit in?

There were just so many old Fords around, everyone had one at some point.

So bringing us into the Nissan Primera era (happy days!!) But sticking with the cars “you have owned, which you no longer own”.. Give us a list and any specs you can remember please matey, oh and hopefully you have some photos stashed away too?

I've had them all from a P10 eZX to a P12 SVE!

Have you got a favourite out of the “previously owned” Nissan Primeras list above and why?

My first P12 SVE to be honest. I know it's still around somewhere as I've checked the MID, so I do keep an eye out for it on various sale sites.

What got you into a Nissan Primera to start with, was it on the list of cars to own back in the day, or a chance encounter?

I became a mini cab driver back in 1996 and they were the car of choice for cab drivers at the time.

Back to current day and I know you have that gorgeous white 144 saloon! But knowing you, there’s another one stashed in a garage somewhere.. Tell us about the current fleet you maintain please, what’s your daily (and do include Alisha’scars here), what’s being done up / worked on and any other projects you’re taking on to?

Well I'm down to just two cars at the moment and both are 144’s.

Alisha's is a P11 144 hatch and the only modifications are a boot spoiler and some 17 inch alloys but I've also changed the seats and door cards for SE+ ones.

My 144 white loon has the following mods:

P11 GT wiring

P11 GT dash and clocks with plasma dials

Custom P11 GT seats and door cards

4 branch header and custom cat back exhaust

Nissan Skyline front brakes and braided lines

Hubcentric wheel spacers and 17 inch alloys

As we all know, you also have the odd supersonically fast sports bike too! Tell us about the motorbikes in your life and show us some photos.

I currently own a Kawasaki ZX-9R / Suzuki GSXR 600 SRAD and a beast of a Honda Express haha!

You’ve probably owned (short term and longer term) more Primeras than anyone else around here and some have lived on and some have been broken for parts, are there any you have broken but kinda regretted it, cos it could have been saved?

I've never regretted breaking any Nissan Primera because there's always been a good reason for it.

And with your epic experience of probably every model of Primera ever manufactured from P10 right up until the P12, if you had to call it… Which model was / is the best Nissan made?

Ah! They’re all good and all perform better in certain areas but as an all rounder… The P11 wins.

I often ask the winners of this one how handy they are with a spanner but seeing as you’re a time served (and rather good too) mechanic as your chosen profession, asking you for your own spanner rating would be cheeky LOL! I am interested in how you got into car mechanics though, so how did that happen?

Kerbside Autos was my original training ground - Many an evening spent under a Capri or a Cortina with a torch LOL!

Ever wanted to have done anything else, or are you happy playing with cars all day long?

If I could have done anything I wanted, I would have been a SuperBike or MotoGP rider.

Time for the quick fire question round!

What makes you smile? 

Knowing I was right

What makes you sad? 

Finding out I was wrong

Tell us something we don't know about you..

Oh hard one… But did you know I'm a licensed radio amateur!?

Your favourite colour? 

White

Your lucky number? 

I don't have one but I'll say 5, don't know why though

What will it say on your gravestone?

Gone to find the 72 virgins

Your favourite drink (any)? 

Tea

Your sub £10K second hand dream car would be? 

A 280 Ford Capri, I might just find one for that money

Your sub £30K second hand dream car would be? 

A Plymouth Fury, same as Christine (from the film)

If you could steal the keys to someone else’s car (on NPOC) for 1 day, which car would you steal and why? 

Japsnipers track car (pictured below), so I can see what all the fuss is about haha!


You’ve shown up at a few meets over the years now and you haven’t dismantled anyones car as yet hahaha! Which Club Meet has been your favourite so far?

2012 Japfest 2 at Donington Park, that was a great day out!

Tell everyone who has never come out and joined us at a Club Meet, why they should..

You’ll find a great bunch of Nissan Primera lovers in one place, that has got to be worth the trip alone.

So over 6 years of NPOC membership now Graham, is there a defining club memory in that lot somewhere?

Probably this.

With all the Nissan Primeras you’ve owned, the good, the bad, all the different models and all the awesome mods you’ve seen on a Nissan Primera, if you could build your dream Primera, what would it be.. Go nuts Graham!?

A P11 2 door coupe with every trick bit I could bolt on and under the bonnet I would have a 3.2 NA Alfa Busso engine.

NPOC for life (regardless of what car you own and drive) or leg it when you change car?

Lifer with no chance of parole haha!

Tell Carlos Ghosn why he needs to bring back the Nissan Primera brand:

I would drag him round a Nissan show room and tell him he should be ashamed of himself.

As I have asked all of the 2014 MOTM winners so far, we all read the debate in the December 2013 COTM about my decision to change the name of our monthly feature to "Member Of The Month" and also change the criteria and so on.. I do appreciate as a winner of this new feature, it’s going to be potentially hard to speak out against the new format LOL but did I make the right call in changing things around here? Or should I have left it as it was?

It was the right decision mate, some of those Car Of The Month motors looked like breakers to me haha.

Member Of The Month is all about highlighting the unsung heroes around this club and also their cars, should they be driving a Nissan Primera. You won this feature because you have spent 6 years plus, owning and driving a variety of Nissan Primeras and the odd other car too. The mechanical and technical help you have given our members (paying and non paying) over the years, has been selfless and massively appreciated – Not forgetting that for every car you dismantle, the parts get sold on or given away to our paying members, which in turn keeps the Clubs fleet of Nissan Primeras, healthy and running year after year - Thank you Graham! With my thanks out of the way, it’s over to you.. Congratulations once again for winning Member Of The Month for November 2014! Please end this feature, in your own words and feel free to thank anyone who’s made this one possible.

I’d like to thank everyone who has taken time to visit me at the barn of doom! Brave souls all of you and thanks to Club Admin for not banning me back in my early days!

Congratulations once again to Graham!

November 2014 MOTM - Grim

Written by essNchill

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