Congratulations
on winning December 2011 COTM Neil! Another member to become a 2 time COTM
winner with 2 different cars WOW! Your Nissan Primera P11 GTSE (Mystic) really
dropped jaws at the recent JAE event. How does it feel bagging this exclusive
award and the awesome COTM trophy as well?
Words can’t describe it really; It was
an absolute honour to be awarded “Best Nissan Primera Runner Up” at JAE 2011
but to be awarded COTM as well! I was honored and overwhelmed to think that the
NPOC members thought that both my Mystic and myself were worthy of such a high
accolade. Thank you so much, this means much more now, than probably the first
time I won COTM.
Before we talk
cars, modifications and mechanics, we’d love to find out about you the owner. You
first won COTM in November 2005 (6 years ago!), any changes in your life since
then? Please tell us about yourself and what you get up to, away from the NPOC.
Many things have changed since the
last time I won. I have a different job now, working for Clays ltd who are a
large book printing firm. I’ve worked there for nearly five years as a bundler
operator / barrow driver on the night shift, in the web room. I’m due to move
into my own flat (hopefully soon), it’s closer to work and closer to Angela my
new girlfriend. Talking of which, it’s going really, really well and with the
Ace Xmas meet coming soon, the NPOC members will be able to meet her.
How did you
find the NPOC forums and are we any good? You’ve also been a member for over 7
years now, would you still happily recommend the club to other Nissan Primera
owners?
Since becoming a member the forum has
changed and definitely improved over the years, it’s better than ever now to be
honest. It’s run well and fairly, which is very important for the community
spirit we have at the NPOC. There is a great “family like” atmosphere to the
forums, a real friendly group. I’ve got some great lifelong friends here, it’s
a great club! So hell yeah, I recommend the club to any Nissan Primera owner.
You’re an Elite Member
here (our highest level of paying membership), are you getting value for money
with that? And please sell us the reason, why everyone should become Elite.
I decided to become an Elite Member
for a few reasons, mainly because I have been a member for so long and I wanted
to give something back to the club, that’s given me so much advice, help and
friends etc. To me that is reason enough. All the other stuff that comes from
being an Elite Member is just a bonus really, the discounts on group buys,
meets and major events / shows. Elite Membership is well worth it, you are
doing yourself and the club a favour!
You went from a silver Nissan Primera
to the Mystic (chromaflair) one we see today – Was it always an ambition or
goal to own one, or was it just a chance purchase?
It was purely by chance. I was
debating at the time what to do with the silver SRi, I had big plans for a
respray but after realising the bodywork was far from perfect with rust and other
stuff, added to that the mileage was creeping up (150K+), I thought better of
it.
The Mystic came up for sale from
another local NPOC member. It was in such good condition and much lower mileage
compared to the SRi. So when I went to view it I just fell in love all over
again and I had to have it. I’m still paying off the loan that I took out to
buy it but I’ve never regretted it one bit.
We all know
about the cost of this legendary KV7 Platinum paint (eeks)! How does this
affect your ownership of such a car, does it also limit your imagination and
want to do any cosmetic modifying?
You wouldn’t believe how much it
affects my daily ownership! I’m always worried about where I park it, supermarkets
are hell for me and I always park well away from other cars, as I know it’s
more likely to get hit by some careless person.
As far as cosmetic mods go, the paint
is so expensive it really can limit my imagination somewhat but I have managed
to do a few mods. The Impul grill and the shark fin aerial both had to be
painted and it wasn’t cheap either, so worth it though in the end though as it
really makes the car stand out.
I had a
recent read through of your COTM feature from way back in November 2005.. And I
noticed the alloys from that car, are now on the Mystic. Are you just a tight
bastid who won’t pay out for new alloys, or are these KEI alloys just a classic
“must keep” design that work well on the Nissan Primera?
Yeah they are same alloys LOL, I’m not
tight either, they cost a hell of a lot back in the day. Honestly I haven’t
found another wheel design, that I think suits my style better. I have looked
at so many sets of alloys over the years, thinking I could replace them but I’ve
not found a set that has the same wow factor to me, apart from stupidly
expensive polished 3 piece forged wheels hmmmm.
Your previous COTM winning Nissan
Primera P11 SRi had some big visual modifications – Specifically the rear
spoiler. Your lovely Mystic is more subtle, any reason for this, or does the
Mystic do “all the talking” all by itself?
I took a conscious decision to be far
more subtle with the Mystic, a major factor in that decision was the very
expensive KV7 paint but I did want to take it in a far different direction to
the SRi. I think that I realised that “over the top mods” are very much out nowadays
and a cleaner, more simple style has been employed -Plus I think the Mystic
paint is the real wow factor here.
On to the modifications,
now would be a great time to tell us all about your gorgeous Mystic P11 GTSE! So
please list your full spec and all modifications, inside and out:
Performance mods:
Magnecor blue ignition leads
A&S cold air intake with an Apexi
air filter
Stainless steel exhaust manifold
Longlife custom rear backbox
Styling mods:
Impul grill
Shark fin aerial
Jdm “crystal” headlights with HIDs
Clear side indicators
Clear rear lights tinted red with
lamin-x film
Tinted windows and sunstrip
De-badged
Wheels and tyres:
18” Kei racing force ten alloys, with
a custom black chrome finish
Falken 452 215 / 35 / 18 tyres
Suspension:
MeisterR coilovers
Shade custom front strut brace
Engine bay:
Polished cam cover
TDMimports & Kuo’s Garage silver
washers
What’s the
most enjoyable change you’ve made so far?
Probably the MeisterR coilovers, they
are so worth it!
If I gave
£500 right now and told you it had to be spent on the car, what would you buy?
Paint - There are some chips and dents
I wanna sort out.
If money was
no object and you could do anything you wanted to your Nissan Primera, what
would you do?
A full nut and bolt restoration, new
engine rebuild with a supercharger added and all new paint.
We have a
great collection of lovely Mystic Primeras in this club, so to stand out and
get noticed is bloody hard at the best of times! What do you think made your
car so popular at JAE 2011?
I’m thinking it was probably the wheel
colour, as it really compliments the body colour.
You’ve
famously admitted that after winning your award at JAE 2011 for “Best Nissan
Primera – Runner Up”, that your winners / acceptance speech was, errrrmmnnn..
kinda shite LOL! Here’s your chance to get it right and say something to all
the members that voted for your car - In your own time now:
LOL thanks Shaun.
Ok I just wanna thank everyone for
voting for my car and I can’t express how much it means to me to have won that
award.
I’ve had some real trials in the past
few years but this moment makes up for all of that. I still can’t believe it,
thank you all so much again.
Time for the
quick fire question round!
Nightshift or
Dayshift? –
Nightshift
P10 or P12? – A tough one but P12
Xbox or Playstation? – Xbox
VE or DET? – DET
Snake or Snail?
– Snake
Beard or Shaven?
– Beard
Tell us your
favourite NPOC car?
– Again another tough question but Mad Maru’s GTT is up there, riggsy99’s
monster and Geordie’s wagon too but bigsydney’s Nissan Primera P12 is my
current favourite.
You have
always been a familiar face at our Club Meets – Tell everyone why they should
take the time to get out to the NPOC meetings.
Talking on the forum is all well and
good but there is nothing like meeting up with the members and really getting
to know each other. Every time I go to these meets everyone is so welcoming and
always happy to see you and it’s like a big happy family atmosphere.
What’s
happened to the East Coast Massive and their regular regional Meets? A few
years back you guys were rampant.. But it’s been a while now! Say something
inspirational to your crew and get them to feel the love for a meeting in 2012:
I don’t know really. I think life got
in the way and a few of us have moved away and I do think petrol prices are a
very big factor, plus lack of money has put paid to the local meets really.
Remember the meets we have had in the
past, the fun and games roaming around the countryside looking for photo
locations, not to mention pubs with beer and food, come on let’s get back to
the old days and sort an East Coast meet out!!
NPOC for life
(regardless of what car you own and drive) or leg it when you change car?
Life, no question!
Tell Carlos Ghosn why he needs to bring back the Nissan Primera
brand:
Carlos, open your eyes! The Ford Mondeo
is out selling the crappy new Laguna, stop letting Renault walk all over Nissan
and bring the Mondeo some real competition with a new Nissan Primera.
I personally will never buy a Ford or
own a Renault again. You want my money, build a new Primera but don’t dare style
it on the same lines as the Juke.
Many thanks
for telling us all about yourself and fliptasticly painted Nissan Primera P11
GTSE Neil. Second time you have won this award now and both you and the car are
just as deserving this time around too! Congratulations once again for winning
Car Of The Month for December 2011! Please end this feature, in your own words
and feel free to thank anyone who’s made this one possible.
I want to thank all my family.
I also want to thank all individuals
on NPOC who have helped, inspired and supported me, specifically: Grim, Mad
Maru,Tom-P10,Sluffer and bigsydney.
I wanna thank the Club Owners and Moderators
for all their hard work keeping NPOC as good as it is.
Also a big thank you to the traders
and companies I have dealt with so far:
Meister R
B A Wheels
Delf’s Garage
Congratulations once again to Neil!
December 2011 COTM - Neilistic Written by essNchill
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