Newcastle Herald stories can travel a long way these days.
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Take for instance an article we published on Tuesday in which Steve from Wangi told us about an old Mitsubishi Sigma he acquired a few weeks ago for $1800.
An Icelander named Agnar Baldur Steinarsson saw the article online, so he told us about his Sigma "or Galant as we call it in Iceland".
In 2012, he found this "gem of a car" with only 45,000 kilometres on it.
"The car was bought new in 1982 by a gentleman in my home town. He bought the car for his wife and only used to drive two kilometres to the store each day and a few summer trips with the grandchildren.
"However, due to the amount of snow we get here every winter - up to three metres - the car was never used over the winter."
Agnar said the car's owner died in 1989. The family used the car for the funeral. After that, it wasn't used until 1995 due to the man's wife "not trusting herself to drive anymore".
"She passed away that year and the car didn't see the sunlight until 2012 when I bought it from her grandson," he said.
Agnar said he bought the car with two conditions.
"I was not allowed to clean the gearshift or the sun visor," he said.
This was because the woman used to "pull down the visor, check her makeup and fix what needed fixing".
"Then she'd always check if the car was in gear. Doing this every day for some years left a decent amount of thick '80s makeup on both gearshift and visor. That gives the car a lot of character."
In the summer of 2015, Agnar moved to Norway.
"I drove the car over here and I took a road trip to Germany through Denmark, Sweden and half of Norway," he said.
"I have taken it on some scenic routes through the beautiful fjords of Norway. The car has been solid and never failed me.
"Currently, it stands in my garage undercover and waits for perfect summer days in future. I haven't driven it the last three years."
Agnar can't see himself ever selling it.
"I have made that very clear to my girlfriend - hahaha," he said.
"The car is my baby and I will do whatever it takes to keep it in my possession and in perfect running order."
But this is easier said than done.
"As people can imagine, finding parts for this car on this side of the world is impossible," he said.
"I have tried to find a right-side front indicator light due to a little crack in it, after I hit a deer in the middle of the night driving home from a car show I attended here in Norway."
When he does drive the vehicle, it feels like "taking a gold nugget out on the road".
"Almost no one knows what type of car this is in Scandinavia. It dwarfs the American vintage cars by the attention it gets here. It's a truly, truly special car that is very near and dear to my heart."
If anyone could help Agnar with an indicator light, contact him at agnar76@hotmail.com.
Top 20
Meanwhile, Steve from Wangi dug out an old copy of Wheels magazine from 1984, which reported that the humble Sigma was the fifth biggest seller in Australia in 1983 and the third biggest in 1982.
Have a look at the Ford and Holden vehicles up top. How times have changed.
Sloggin' Mullet
Elermore Vale's Tony Davis enjoyed our piece last week about the publication of a new book titled Mayfield Girl.
The book recounts the life of Jean Sharp, who grew up in Mayfield in the shadow of the BHP steelworks. Her lifespan stretched from the steelworks' beginning and almost to its end.
"It reminded me of my own life growing up in Cooks Hill," Tony said.
"My young life was particularly happy. I loved playing in the quiet streets, going to Junction School, sloggin' mullet in the stormwater drain and enjoying Bar Beach."
Tony went on to become a teacher. He did his "unsupervised teaching practice" at Cooks Hill Primary on sixth-class boys.
After several teaching appointments in the bush, he married fellow teacher Elaine and came back to teach at Mayfield West.
"We have now moved into an over 55s development. Imagine my surprise when I met a bloke here who lived in Cooks Hill, went to Cooks Hill Primary and has written a book on his life growing up there.
"He even gave me a copy of his book. I later discovered that he was in the class I taught during my unsupervised practice."