We’ve been walking past this MR2 for some years on our way downtown. I shot it five years ago, and it was the subject of the second CC ever posted here. And it was faded to a sickly shade of pink, having sat outside for probably all of its life and never getting polished. And then the other day, heading down the same street again, I’m dazzled by a shiny red object down the street. Wow; is that a Ferrari down there? No, just the same MR2, but with the benefit of a good polish and wax job. What a difference from how it looked before.
Quite the transformation. This twenty-five year old car had been aging very gracefully enough, showing no signs of aging except for the faded skin.
And now it looks positively youthful. Gorgeous, actually, except for the stock steel wheels and wheel covers. This car is just crying out for a really nice set of appropriate alloys and a wee bit more rubber. Nothing too radical or crazy; just not those Camry-spec wheels. In my CC, I called this car “A Camry In Italian Drag”: All the durability and longevity of a Camry with a very healthy dose of Ferrari flair.
It looks so nice I’m even going to redo the combined shot with the F355 that I did for its first CC. Looks even more Ferrari-like, even if the shade of red is not genuine Ferrari red.
Given the similarities, it should not come as a surprise to learn that this generation MR2 was the subject of at least one kit to transform it into an even closer facsimile. If you have bad eyesight that is, or just willfully ignorant. But the lifetime maintenance cost of this Toyota F355 will be less than one oil change on the real thing. Trade-offs; like everything else in life.
I’m guessing its owner walked out one day and said to himself Jeez; it’s not like there’s a whole lot of pristine gen2 MR2s left in the world. I’ve really got something here, so maybe it deserves a good polish and wax. It’s not like it’s going to need anything else for a long time…
I own a red ’91 just like this one (but with alloy wheels), have had it since ’95. For some reason even with a good wax it seems to start oxidizing the next month. The plastic parts are the worst, the spoiler even develops bubbles. I’ve had the spoiler repainted and the bubbles came back. Not sure what’s up with that. At any rate, mine will need to go in for an overall repaint soon, as the paint is so thin from the years of polishing that it’s breaking through.
Oh, and while the reliability is obviously in a different league than the Ferrari, in my experience it can’t really be compared to a Camry.
But, bottom line, I’m not planning on getting rid of it 😉
I wonder if they repainted the black parts or used a restoring product. I’ve never been able to find a product that does much for more than a month or so. I really, really hate matte black plastic for that reason.
Bubbles on the spoiler would indicate outgassing from the plastic, but I’m surprised you’re getting that on an older car.
Red fades fastest of any color…
At first glance, I thought it to be a Ford Probe from the front 😉
I know from experience it takes a lot of elbow grease to restore paint that far gone. Nicely done.
I’m surprised it cleaned up so nicely. Usually when the paint is that neglected you’ll also find peeling and rust.
While I was married, I hand polished my wife’s faded red ’89 Corolla back to life. It took hours and hours and hours. But it looked good when I was done.
It faded back within six months.
Nice to see someone actually take car of an older car rather than beating the crap out of it and eventually letting it get junked. For some reason in this country we think of cars as disposable items far too readily.
Ah, the joys of single stage red paint on an old car. But as Phil L noted above, with (a lot of) effort, an old dead finish like that can be brought back quite nicely.
I got a shot off a year or two ago of an older Sprinter with red paint that looked like the “before” picture of this MR2. But I failed to upload it before my phone killed itself. It made me think about how seldom we see badly oxidized red cars anymore.
Amazing transformation. But how do you know they didn’t get it repainted, rather than just polished?
It’s usually pretty easy to tell in person on paint that old. There will still be chips and scratches and such.
It does look like a whole new paint job in photos, but the difference would probably be clear in person. That’s one heck of a difference though, night and day. I bet the owner wishes he’d done it sooner!
Maybe a friend decided to do a surprise spit shine on it. It’s hard to believe that the owner just woke up one day and decided to erase years of neglect
I think this looks better than the Ferrari. The wheels and front overhang on the 355 look awkward to me.
Had a at the the time 8 year old red ’75 Rabbit that was faded to pink as badly as this Toyota on the roof and hood, though somewhat better on the sides. A detailer friend power polished and waxed it, and it came back looking just about like new. It stayed looking good for the next 3 years until it was wrecked.
I once purchased a 6 year old, well worn, high mileage, burnt-orange colored 1971 Datsun 240Z from a used sports car lot.
Imagine my amazement when, after an entire Saturday spent with a can of Dupont #7 polishing compound, a glass jar of Turtle wax and a pile of old t shirts, a smooth, shinny RED Z-car emerged!
The next day my Mother, in all innocence and sincerity, asked me if I had traded off one sports car for another SO quickly?
Those license plate frames…ewwwwww.
My truck, ’83 Ford Ranger, 4X4, is faded red also. Will keep it that way, as the Rat Rod / Patina look is in. And 4WD trucks wear it well, while on a car it just makes them look like beaters. And I maintain my truck very well, lots of body lube, and stay on top of any rust issues that may crop up. But I won’t paint it. Red primer is my friend.
It now looks like a million bucks. Now it looks the way its great styling deserves. This post reminded me of getting car product recommendations from the guys I used to work with in golf course maintenance. Products I used that served me well (and with similar results): Nu-Finish for the paint; Armor-All for dash, vinyl, and black vinyl trim pieces; cherry-scented Tire-Wet, and Mother’s car wash solution. I’d spend many Saturday mornings in my 20’s getting my Mustang looking right before heading out to do stuff.
I remember this generation MR2. I found it more attractive than the 1st generation MR2.
+1.
Surely that MR2 has had a new paint job. In my experience ( and as a lover of red cars I’ve been there) polishing only polishes the clear lacquer. Unless you use an abrasive to polish the lacquer off you are not going to restore the colour of the paint.
Can’t believe they sold the MR2 as a stripper in the US without decent wheels.
I’ve seen a red MR2 Ferrari locally – OK from a distance, but get closer and you realise it just isn’t long enough…..
It sounds like you are assuming that this Toyota has clearcoat paint. I don’t think clearcoats oxidize like this. I have seen many an old single-stage red finish brought back like this with rubbing and polishing compound.
Reds and blues without clearcoat are the hardest to maintain (that means you have to be prepared for at least seasonal polishes. While there are the latest and greatest “waxes”, the best has always been Carnuba – yes, it wears off but that is the point – the worst thing you can do to a paint is to seal it where heat is trapped and cooks the paint from the bottom up and fades it prematurely.
One of the best “polishes” for a paint is made by 3M – professionals use it – glazes – start a more abrasive and work your way up to remove the swirl marks. Then wax it with several coats to protect it.
Worked in the automotive paint business 30 years ago – what was true then still holds – the new fangled stuff is not the best – it is the best for people who don’t really care about their car and don’t want to put effort into it. A well polished car looks amazing and then waxed to protect it – and doing it seasonal is always the best.
They didn’t get clearcoats. The paint on my ’93 was in similar condition, when I bought the car. Here’s a picture taken during the polishing process. I couldn’t believe the difference.
And one more:
Beauty!
I agree that it was most likely repainted. I don’t think any amount of waxing such heavily oxidized paint would bring back the luster of the original paintwork like in this MR2. The power antenna on the rear passenger side is missing, probably from prepping the car for repainting.
I brought back a turquoise Bel-Air whose paint was just as bad. Others here have reported the same.
It could be a repaint, but I’d assume Paul would be able to tell the difference in person.
Waxing does nothing to restore a paint – wax is a protective layer – glazes/polishes are what work to remove “dead” paint – compounds are old school and highly abrasive – most of the time you wouldn’t use – and never on a clearcoat.
Chances are this is not a respray – it would be much worse than this and likely checked and cracked. The uniformity of the condition would be hard to replicate on a respray – you only get uniformity of condition like that from factory work.
Except for a retired school teacher’s car, I haven’t seen an MR2 this nice in eons. I hope it stays this way, and keep the steel wheels. I’d love to have this car.
Mebbe the owner finally came across your earlier post, Paul, and saw this car in everyone else’s eyes. These are still not uncommon in Melbourne.
Transformed from invisible to cop bait Red. Wonder how many tickets in the next 6 months.
It looks like its had a thorough detailing silicone on the black plastic hubcaps repainted etc a real good going over. Looks great.
They have probably doubled the value of the car with the polishing!
My dad’s 1968 Falcon has most of its original paint that has been colour-polished. Years ago when our water restrictions were in place he wanted to wash it after a trip before going to a car show, and the harsher detergent at the local hand car wash place stripped off all the polish leaving a much worse appearance than the ‘before’ picture here – he went ballistic! He soon had it polished and looking good again though, and I don’t think he has washed it with anything other than water away from home since.
I think the 2nd gen SW20 MR2 was supposed to imitate the Ferrari Mondial, not the F355.
Almost the same dimensions, and going for that “bargain Ferrari” look, which the Mondial was.
I think one automotive did a side-by-side comparison of the two around 1989/90.
Even Toyota references the Ferrari Mondial, in their ad for the 2nd gen MR2.