In Germany, when you are living on the countryside and turn 18, one of the most yearningly awaited rights is to be able to legally drive a car by yourself. When it was my turn to reach the magic date in late 2007, it took me another few months until I passed my driving exam. By January 2008, I bought my first 900€ car. By March, I had turned into a frequent junkyard visitor. In early April 2008, I discovered this 1987 Sunny Coupe in a U-Pull-It junkyard in Karlsruhe, the city where Karl Drais discovered the draisine the bicycle.
This Sunny was a 1987 low-spec SLX (“Super Luxury Extra”) model, featuring the robust single-point injection 8 valve E16i engine. Later on, I would end up drive an almost identical model with the same engine for almost 10 years.
Overall, the car was in good condition, except for a first-sized rust hole in the right rocker panel, right below the end of the door.
I assume the Sunny failed the technical inspection because of his, and the owner decided the repair was not economical.
Actually, the rest of the car was not too bad – my 900€ beater looked much worse, so I was a bit jealous when I saw the rust-free rear wheel housings. Yes, I took 20 minutes to remove the rear trunk lining, just to be able to take these pictures.
Being very inexperienced, I only took a few easy-to-remove parts, such as the taillights and the indicator lights, and left everything else to the crusher.
The first car you take parts from at a junkyard is a bit like the first girlfriend: an experience you’ll never forget. Rest in peace, little Sunny Coupe.
