Here for sale is my fantastic and quite rare now, butterfly door Toyota Sera, what a car and one of my dream cars.
I bought this particular Sera as she had the best body I’ve ever seen, I had a full bumper off body re-spray in the original Dark Grey Mica 188 in 2022. The engine is the 1. 5L 5E-FHE I4 engine from a Toyota Starlet so all parts are pretty easy to get except those that were special to the Sera.
Once the body was sorted I moved onto the engine and over the last year have had all work necessary to get her to the great state she is in today. All engine work was carried out by the wonderful, Tom at Sporting Classics in Andover and what a job he’s done, superb.
Okay firstly the obvious stuff:
This is a 1991 “J” registered 1. 5L Toyota Sera, automatic transmission, imported in the early 2000s. She has just got her full MOT which runs to December 2024, she had a couple of advisories so I’ve had those done and have the invoices to prove it, so clean as a whistle now. She is the model with central locking and an alarm.
She’s completely unmodified apart from some Wolfrace wheels (which I’m not too keen on but others seem to love) and an uprated stainless exhaust (very throaty) as well as an aftermarket stereo, which I know nothing about.
She’s covered around 90, 000 miles (150, 000kms) and is tip top.
The Great Stuff.
The body is immaculate, “A++”, absolutely fantastic, blemish, scratch, rust free and just superb, the new grey paintwork gleams in the sun like it is just out of the showroom and when it rains it looks even better with the water slipping off the fantastic re-sprayed panels. The car sits on low profile Wolfrace wheels and new tyres.
The interior is great, not blemish free, probably “B+”, there are a few fabric pills on the passenger seat and a blemish on the driver’s seat. The carpets are very good but I had a set of specially made footwell carpet mats made up, badged Sera and cut from the original pattern, so they’re spot on.
The plastic fascia and dashboard is really good and all the knobs and buttons are perfect and have all the original (including the Japanese) decals on them.
The boot cargo cover is missing, I’ve got my feelers out in the community for another one (preferably the one with the high line brake light on it) but will probably have sold her before that happens, they are available from Sera breakers, I recommend Cosmic Bandito, he knows everything about Seras.
What needs improving?
The wheels could probably do with a minor refurb there are some curb dings. I was going to get a set of the original wheels and put those back on and sell the Wolfraces, I think the Sera should have the factory specific wheels…. but that’s just my taste.
There are two small bits of interior trim required, the first is cracked under the passenger side door handle the other is missing on the interior passenger side wing mirror mechanism.
The driver’s side door gas powered strut is fine but I’ve noticed that the passenger side one is not so strong so I’ve got a new set of struts arriving before she goes so will be sold with the car, an easy job.
The glass is pretty near perfect but the plastic on the roof above the rear screen looks a little tired, I know it looks like carbon fibre but it’s just reinforced plastic. This is an easy job although I was going to have the parts made out of real carbon fibre, which is a little more pricey, but would look great.
When the refurbishment on the engine was done the air con fan needed replacing but I have been unable to find one anywhere, Toyota said they could find one in Japan for me but have come up short, so although it doesn’t affect the heater or anything the air con doesn’t function. I am keeping an eye out for a second hand one but they seem to be like hens’ teeth.
So there we are, my Toyota Sera.
I’m going to be so sad to see her go, I’ve been after one for years but I’m downsizing a lot and the easiest thing to go is the whacky cars, my Citroen C6 went (I miss her so much on long journeys), my Nissan Cube (quirky little gem, four wheels of joy) has gone and I’m left with the Sera (butterfly doored beauty) and my everyday Toyota IQ.
Any questions please feel free to ask and of course please come and see her, I’m always happy to make the acquaintance of another car junky and Sera lover. Happy with any test drive or if you want to bring a mechanic along. She’s lovely and I know it and should go to a really good home.
I also am a bit of a Sera nerd so have some of the original Sera garage sales and marketing materials and am happy to discuss those as extras or to be thrown in if the price is right.
Many thanks.
