Story (below) | Pictures | Aftermarket Modifications | Gadgets

In August of last year, I saw a magazine's "sneak peek" of the MR-Spyder, a convertible version of the MR2 that I was driving at the time. Although I had always had my eye on the Boxster, my Toyota had treated me so well for so long (just a clutch adjustment and a regular replacement of the car battery), I instantly fell in love with the thought of having the same wonderful experience I had with my old car. So, for months, I called, visited and harassed the local dealerships. Most, having the same level of expertise as a Fry's Electronics employee, said things like "Oh, we'll be getting them in September of 2000" or "I don't know anything about this car".

Finally, on April 2nd, I visited a dealership that had just received their first MR2 Spyder. It had been sold within an hour of hitting the showroom floor. I asked if I could sit in it, and they took me back to the "preprep room" where the car was being detailed. With it's beautiful lines, and curvy body, I knew this was the car for me.

For the next few days, I called every dealer within 450 miles of my house. My brother even called dealerships in Southern California, but most dealers had markups from $2,900 to $12,000. I had quite a few close calls where dealers sold the car between when I called them and when I could get there. But finally, I found a dealership with an MR2 Spyder just about to hit the showroom floor.

I left work in the middle of the day and drove all the way to Ron Goode Toyota in Alameda (on the East Bay, near Oakland Arena). As soon as I stepped into the dealership I saw the black Spyder that I knew had to be mine. After hours and hours of negotiation, I finally drove the sleek Spyder out of the dealership and back to the office. (Where I had to partake in a meeting that I was 2 1/2 hours late for!)

My car, right before I drove it out of the dealership.

The side view, notice the active air ducts and the smaller-sized front tires.

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The metallic rear grill.
(Move mouse over picture for the "before")

	Well this was much to cool to reduce in size... Here's the TRD (Toyota Racing Development) team's gas cap cover that I had to have imported from Japan. (more than 6 weeks to deliver) The picture on the left is a close up of the detailing and the picture at bottom is how it looks on the car.

The Interior Chrome Package

To keep my Spyder from looking like a cheap Mazda Miata, I added a few chrome accents to the vehicle interior. The only one I wasn't able to obtain was the chrome accessory for the center (see UPDATE below!) console. When you mouseover the image, you'll be able to see the old shift knob and the way the vehicle looked without the chrome gauge rings, and shift boot trim.

Update!

Almost two years after installing the chrome package, I was finally able to secure a dash panel! Special thanks go out to Steve Ganz from Carson Toyota/Lexus Parts who special ordered the kit from Japan! Looks nice doesn't it? It came with matching side vent covers (photo below right) and matches the rest of the chrome kit from the photo above!

BlueTooth Phone Kit This small panel pictured at left is all that you can see in my car as far as a "car kit." The rest of the unit is concealed underneath the dashboard. There's no phone cradle or huge hardware, because the car kit connects wirelessly to my cell phone via BlueTooth. The moment I turn the key, the car kit searches for my phone. The system will connect even if my phone is in a pocket, or in a bag in the trunk of the car! And when a call comes in, it is automatically routed to the car kit. Outgoing calls are made by voice. The mounting location for this panel is shown in the image above. The microphone for this unit can be seen in the picture two up from this one: it's the little oval unit to the left of the A/C temperature dial.

Paging Alarm The little remote on the left side of this picture is actually my car alarm. The unit can receive pages from my car when the alarm is triggered. On the LCD screen, it even shows what zone has been triggered, so I can see if a door has been opened, the engine compartment has been broken into, etc. The unit also includes keyless entry, remote start (to warm up your car, or just spook people near it) as well as the ability to remotely crack the windows on hot days.

GPS/Vehicle Tracking System OK, hold on to your hats...I have now officially surpassed anyone else in the MR2 Spyder modifications with my latest 007 gadget! Although I have had an advanced GPS system (as shown in the screenshot at left) for years, my latest upgrade includes real-time vehicle tracking. Below is an actual screenshot from a computer tracking my vehicle while I was in transit. People using this technology can see my next destination, my ETA, current speed and much more. Plus they can send a new destination to my GPS system (for example, to re-route me to the pizza place before coming home) or send messages to the unit.