THIS 1985 Toyota Crown Royal Saloon has been Michael Gioffre’s pride and joy for over 23 years, but he said the time has almost come to pass his beloved vehicle onto a new owner.
In brilliant condition, the vehicle has only travelled 274,000 kilometres and Mr Gioffre’s said it is a beautiful car for the open road.
“I still use it everyday and it has been an incredibly reliable car over the years,” Mr Gioffre’s said.
“It is fairly economical on the open road and there’s no road noise at all, so it is a great car to drive.”
Mr Gioffre said he has always had a passion for the Toyota Crown’s, but the 1985 model particularly took his fancy.
“I always wanted this car – I had the ’69, ’70 and ’78 Toyota Crown’s and then I was after one of these.”
“There was not many of these around, so I had to get a few of the car dealers around town to look for one.
“South East Auto Traders found one in Melbourne and I purchased it.”
He said the car has had minimal modifications since it was manufactured.
“The only thing that is different in there, is the CD player and radio, but I have the original at home,” he said.
“I like this one because it changes colours and the other one only plays cassettes.
“It also has original rims, however the hubcaps are different, because the originals cost about $150, so if anyone pinched them it would be quite a big loss.”
With unique features, Mr Gioffre said people would be surprised with the sophistication of the vehicle.
“It has electric mirrors, it has rear air-conditioning and because it has that, it has a little esky that keeps your drinks cold,” he said.
“When it gets to 25kph, it locks the doors and alot of the new cars today have that feature.”
While Mr Gioffre said he would love to keep the car, now in his twilight years he believed it would be more valuable to somebody else.
“I’m not selling it because I want to sell it, I’m selling it because it’s become too awkward to get in and out of the bloody thing,” he joked.
“I’m at a point where it’s as easy to walk where I need to go than drive the car.”
