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Old 19 Mar 2021, 18:28 (Ref:4041562)   #1
Mike Harte
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What are the cars that you have owned and absolutely loved?

I'll kick of with two complete opposites.

Firstly, a second-hand Triumph Stag Automatic, that was one of the last dozen to be produced by British Leyland, as they were then.

The other was my "company" car, a Toyota Crown Royal which the then importer managed to get for me, after he had let me have a drive of his. It wasn't anything much to look at, had the aerodynamics of a brick but it's 2.8 litre straight six was a beautiful engine, quiet as a mouse, and wonderfully smooth - it was demonstrated that you could stand up a 50 pence piece and it remain so on it's edge at tick-over. But there was plenty of grunt available, and cruising all day at 140 mph was no problem, and because of it's comfort, after a day's hard driving, one would get out feeling like you had just driven around the block.

It is believed that Rolls Royce actually purchased two Crowns so that they could reverse engineer the sophisticated air-conditioning that the car had, where you could have different systems running at the back and in the front.

Did over 250,000 miles in it over quite a few years, and the only mechanical issue in that time was caused by the petrol station where we purchased petrol allowed water to seep into their storage tank, and that made a bit of a mess with the engine which needed to be stripped, cleaned up and rebuilt, and completely destroyed the engine management computer system. Also, they had to remove the fuel tank, purge that of as much liquid as they could and allow it to be fully vented before they un-welded it to properly clean it out, and then re-welded it.

The petrol station then went bust, but with persistence I managed to get get the fuel supplier to pay the bill for the repairs and to get the car transported to the dealer, plus a hire car whilst it was off the road. And I had only had it for about a week at the time.

I would have carried on driving it, but the bodywork was beginning to go, and when it rained, water would drip down from the top of the driver's side of the windscreen.
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Old 19 Mar 2021, 18:59 (Ref:4041571)   #2
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My first car, a VW Karman-Ghia 1967 in maroon. I was 19. Loved that car but the rust made the wings disintegrate. I had the chance to buy another one, a 1973 model, yellow with a black roof, but I stupidly passed up on it.

Then my 2001 Lexus IS200. Again, a wonderful car that I owned for 7 years before I drowned it on a severely flooded road.....

And now my BMW 125i in Estoril Blue. Just love this car more than any other I've ever owned. Plenty of oommph, comfortable and all the mod cons I need. I've driven L24 HRS to Le Mans twice......

Can we add a turkey Mike? That would be a maroon Ford Orion. The blandest car I've ever driven.... I had to give up my Golf GTi for it as we had a new baby at the time. My youngest son has a lot to answer for......
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Old 19 Mar 2021, 19:24 (Ref:4041580)   #3
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Can we add a turkey Mike?
No, you can't! Oh, you have already, but then you are THE mod so I suppose that it's OK.

Seriously, it wouldn't be a proper 10/10ths if they were disallowed.
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Old 19 Mar 2021, 19:29 (Ref:4041582)   #4
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Loved (and reason for doing so):

1974 Red Austin Mini - first car, enough said.

1980 Canary Yellow XR3 - with fully-fitted sound system, rallye lights and was the perfect car for B-road travel.

1982 Black XR2 - again, fantastic B-road car for rural motoring.

1986 Silver Cavalier SRi Saloon - abused, and sadly caught fire after engine problems. My first introduction to the benefits of regular servicing (or the impact of not doing so).

1988 Red Orion 1.6i Ghia - all the fun of a hot-hatch equivalent, without the associated insurance premium of an 'XR' badge. After being parked up for 2 years, I was excited to get back behind the wheel of this car again. Held that x-factor appeal for me - and probably the one car I would look to buy again for nostalgia purposes.

1997 Silver AMG C-Class - the ridiculously over-engineered W202, that even as an AMG was still a sleeper in terms of looks. Comfort and speed rolled together in a great package.

2011 Chestnut Brown Vauxhall Insignia Tourer - not exciting by any stretch of the imagination, but a diesel specifically bought to eat up motorway miles. Travelling between Yorkshire and Campania a few times a year, this car was the perfect way to get there and have a relaxing journey on the way.

In addition to the above, the following were 'meh':
1979 Gold Ford Fiesta.
1997 Red Toyota Carina E.

Take-em or leave-em:
2001 Black Vectra TDi.
2001 Green Mercedes M-Class 320.


Turkeys:
1987 Silver Mitsubishi Shogun
1997 Silver P38 Range Rover

Both big silver 4x4s that were expensive to run, required regular trips for repairs, and ultimately failed MOTs with huge potential bills that meant they went to the scrap heap.
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Old 20 Mar 2021, 00:06 (Ref:4041614)   #5
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Loved:
Alfa 164 - big, lazy 3 litre V6 twinned with a slushbox made it a superb cruiser on the 'A' roads and motorways, but could still be pushed along quite quickly when it got a bit twisty. Electric everything & air con for a bargain 2nd hand price. Petrol consumption was about the only drawback.

Mazda 6 Estate (the current car), just like the Alfa it's a superb cruiser, but makes surprisingly rapid pace on the back roads. Just looks so right in the Soul Red that Mazda do. Drop the back seats and it will take a large 29er mountain bike without having to remove the bike's wheels. Averages around 50mpg even with the 2.2 litre, top spec diesel.

Turkey:
Alfa 145 (1.8) , Uncomfortable driving position, nasty suspension, little carrying capacity despite its size and went through 3 engines in the few years I owned it. Part exchanged the 164 for it & couldn't wait to see the back of it.
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Old 20 Mar 2021, 05:16 (Ref:4041622)   #6
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Great idea for a thread! I still own it and am resurrecting it right now after three years of neglect. I have a 2005 Pontiac GTZero better known as a VZ Monaro. She has a very hard 36,981 miles, been to track days, on the high banks of Daytona, and is the connection to many of my closest friends. When they come for me it will be the very last possession I let go from my cold, dead hands.

I tried to start her tonight and let the smoke out of a relay instead but will post pics when I get it cleaned up. I hope to finally get it "finished" over the next two years.
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Old 20 Mar 2021, 05:32 (Ref:4041623)   #7
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Also, I think Mike should start a separate thread with the absolute **** boxes that I know we've all owned.
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Old 20 Mar 2021, 09:14 (Ref:4041638)   #8
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Also, I think Mike should start a separate thread with the absolute **** boxes that I know we've all owned.

JH, I did think about for about one second, but then remembered that no-one on this board takes the slightest notice of the do's and don'ts, so what is the point.

Ayse started the rot (), so let it continue and just keep it all in one thread!
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Old 20 Mar 2021, 09:31 (Ref:4041639)   #9
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My first car, a VW Karman-Ghia 1967 in maroon. I was 19. Loved that car but the rust made the wings disintegrate. I had the chance to buy another one, a 1973 model, yellow with a black roof, but I stupidly passed up on it.
Amusingly, the yellow and black Karman-Ghia that was being given away as a prize on Comic Relief last night was exactly like the one I didn't buy.....

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Ayse started the rot (), so let it continue and just keep it all in one thread!
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Old 20 Mar 2021, 18:04 (Ref:4041778)   #10
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I passed my test in 1988 (I'm a yoof, really!) and promptly didn't buy a car as I was still at 6th form and didn't need one at University.

So.. got my first job, needed a car. Bought a 1985 1.1 Fiesta in 1993. It was merely a means to an end, started going rusty, needed a new radiator after a year or so, and generally showed the wear and tear of a workhorse car. Also suffered with the condenser on the distributor failing which a nice chap from the AA fixed with one off a Rover that he had in the van

Traded that in for a bigger car, a horrible faux-gold 1993 Peugeot 306 that was cheap, solid, reliable and could move me & three or four mates about. Definitely nothing special. Brakes seized up a couple of weeks after I bought it in ridiculously hot weather on the A13 in Beckton. Turned out it had the discs fitted from a GTi. Dealer fixed that at their cost.

Traded that in a bit later for another Pug, a 1997 306 DTurbo 3-door. Sure, an oil burner, but hell on earth that car handled beautifully. It was such great fun to drive, as long as it was driven hard to keep the turbo spun up. Unfortunately in very mundane circumstances the engine blew up on the M1 in rush hour on the way home from work one evening, which turned out to be a problem affecting a large number of PSA diesel engines. Some had stress fractures in the head, and under top boost levels (like dropping a cog and booting it to overtake a truck) they could open up a tiny bit, meaning the injector sleeve dropped into the cylinder. Bang. 6" by 1" hole in the crankcase and the sump ripped apart.

But a bloke offered me ÂŁ1600 in cash to buy it off me because the bodywork and interior were in really good nick, so I took the money and used the wife's Corsa for a few months. That was a truly awful car, which I am trying to forget.

We then bought a rock solid 2004 Seat Leon, also a diesel turbo, which was also great fun to drive and really economical when not hammered. Took us all over the UK on diving trips, then became the family car when the family happened, and we only sold it last October after 16 and a half years.

Alongside that we had a 60 plate Smart 4Two for a while - really *really* good fun and totally misleading to the local teenagers who forget that being 4 up in a 1 litre rotbox means the guy in the 1 litre turbo with a semi-auto box that weighs about the same as a shoebox *will* be able to gun you off the lights

Sold that to buy my first MX-5, which went off in part-ex last year against a new one (the one I posted in the "what do you drive" thread").

It's still just about perfect.
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Old 21 Mar 2021, 04:02 (Ref:4042021)   #11
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JH, I did think about for about one second, but then remembered that no-one on this board takes the slightest notice of the do's and don'ts, so what is the point.

Ayse started the rot (), so let it continue and just keep it all in one thread!
In that case I will add my 2001 Chevy Cavalier. My parents bought it for me when I was in college (I paid them for half) and in need of a car and is only memorable for two things: 1. It took fieldodreams and I to our first GP, the 2005 USGP. 2. When I gave it back to my dad to be his daily, he called me two months later and apologized for buying me such a POS. He bought a new car immediately.

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Old 22 Mar 2021, 02:30 (Ref:4042149)   #12
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In that case I will add my 2001 Chevy Cavalier. My parents bought it for me when I was in college (I paid them for half) and in need of a car and is only memorable for two things: 1. It took fieldodreams and I to our first GP, the 2005 USGP. 2. When I gave it back to my dad to be his daily, he called me two months later and apologized for buying me such a POS. He bought a new car immediately.

Great trip. Horrible Sunday. Should have taken the Monte Carlo.
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Old 28 Mar 2021, 03:58 (Ref:4043358)   #13
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It took several hundred dollars and a solid week of work but I got it back on the road and up to Road Atlanta today! Still needs more time and money but it's a start.
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Old 28 Mar 2021, 12:55 (Ref:4043402)   #14
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It took several hundred dollars and a solid week of work but I got it back on the road and up to Road Atlanta today! Still needs more time and money but it's a start.
Glad see her getting some sun!
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Old 30 Mar 2021, 17:40 (Ref:4043954)   #15
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Looks like an Australian car to me..... (A rebadged Holden Monaro) Were the GTO's made for the US in Aus or local in the US?
Does the GTO use the same (year dependant) LS1 5.7 / LS2 6.0litre engine as the Monaro did? I think here the change over year was 2005.
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Old 30 Mar 2021, 23:25 (Ref:4043994)   #16
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@JHamilton, Forgot to say in Aus the Monaro the GTO is spawned from is becoming quite a collectors piece..... this quick search of the local online car sales site shows prices up to $185,000 for a no miles unused stored manual transmission 5.7 litre version.
The cheapest is at just about $50,000 with close to 250,000 klms on it.
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/hol...ries/?offset=0
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Old 1 Apr 2021, 01:58 (Ref:4044131)   #17
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Looks like an Australian car to me..... (A rebadged Holden Monaro) Were the GTO's made for the US in Aus or local in the US?
Does the GTO use the same (year dependant) LS1 5.7 / LS2 6.0litre engine as the Monaro did? I think here the change over year was 2005.
I love these things because they are a confluence of my two favorite brands. I've always loved Pontiacs and being from Georgia, it is no coincidence that I have a black one. Holden built the best American cars in the world for a couple decades.

They were all made in Elizabeth, South Australia on the same assembly line. They moved the fuel tank of all of them into the trunk or boot for American regulations. Same goes for the Pontiac G8 and Chevy SS which were Commodores. I only found out after they stopped making the SS that you could have it badged as a Holden as an $1,100 option.

The 2004 has the V2 Monaro body style with a flat hood, exhaust on the left side, and the LS1. 2005 got the hood scoops, true dual exhaust, bigger brakes, and the LS2. 2006 changed the tail lights and it got faster seat motors for access to the back and wow I am a massive dweeb and you're probably sorry you asked.

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@JHamilton, Forgot to say in Aus the Monaro the GTO is spawned from is becoming quite a collectors piece..... this quick search of the local online car sales site shows prices up to $185,000 for a no miles unused stored manual transmission 5.7 litre version.
The cheapest is at just about $50,000 with close to 250,000 klms on it.
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/hol...ries/?offset=0
Unfortunately, that's not the case here. They are more of an oddity. A nice, low miles, LS2 GTO will go for $15-20,000 - Decent money for a 15 year old Pontiac but nothing like the Monaros. I think because C5 Corvettes are so affordable and parts for the GTO (outside of the drivetrain) are really expensive and rare.

edit - I have a factory Holden center gauge pod (GTOs didn't have this or auto climate control) that a company called JHP in Melbourne would modify for left hand drive. You could get new gauges to change the oil pressure to PSI but I left mine in Bar. That is quite rare and sought after now.

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Old 1 Apr 2021, 03:05 (Ref:4044135)   #18
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edit - I have a factory Holden center gauge pod (GTOs didn't have this or auto climate control) that a company called JHP in Melbourne would modify for left hand drive. You could get new gauges to change the oil pressure to PSI but I left mine in Bar. That is quite rare and sought after now.
I know of JHP.... they are on my side of town and offer a lot of bolt on performance goodies for all brands.

'Twas a sad day when Holden ceased to exist an a manufacturer. Of course we have had huge money paid for 'the last one made' and other rarities. We even had a one off one of four HSV GTSR W1 Maloo Ute' sell at auction for over 1 million!

A Commodore SS-V Redline sedan was the final Holden production car to be allocated a serial / VIN number. That went for 750K.
Crazy prices. Auction / car details and pics of what was sold:
https://www.carexpert.com.au/car-new...ion-at-auction

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Old 1 Apr 2021, 07:42 (Ref:4044153)   #19
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It's been a while since I drove my old Capri, but I'm not looking at upgrading it to a Sierra
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Old 20 Apr 2021, 10:32 (Ref:4046856)   #20
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Most of my cars have been bland and/or downright awful. Ones that come to mind are:

2002 Nissan Almera 1.5 van - truly an uninspiring drive made all the more complicated by the fact that I made a rookie mistake of trusting the seller to post the logbook without getting any details (met him in a conspicuous rural car park). Lost contact with the seller and couldn't tax the car as a result. It didn't last long.

2002 Opel Combo van - it was driven into the ground and billowing black smoke but I didn't want to return home empty handed after travelling across the country to buy it. The smoke used to enter the cabin through a grate in the floor (it was previously used by Guinness so I guess the grate was for air circulation or something?) and one would often feel dizzy after a few minutes of exposure.

But, there were a handful of decent motors along the way:

1991 VW Jetta - Probably my favourite for its retro appeal, lowered stance and BBS alloys. It also had a 1.9TDi AAZ engine put into it which gave it more grunt than the original 1.6 straight diesel would have. Escalating insurance costs meant I had to sell it after a year.

1995 Fiat Cinquecento - a very fun car which I bought for buttons as a run-around when I didn't want to use my work-van (Renault Master). It got burned out within 24 hours of purchasing.

2003 Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon - really nice to drive and to look at. I had it for about 8 or 9 months then the clutch failed and was going to cost an absolute bomb to fix. I got a quick job done on it (didn't replace the dual mass flywheel) and then promptly swapped it for something cheap and reliable with the disclaimer about the clutch.

Currently driving a 2004 Suzuki Liana. It's definitely one of the most vanilla cars I've ever driven especially in my hilly locality. But, it's bulletproof reliability and for someone with low income and the need of a reliable car on a daily basis, I have to live within my means for the moment!
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Old 20 Apr 2021, 15:32 (Ref:4046897)   #21
Plantagenet
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Plantagenet should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridPlantagenet should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridPlantagenet should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
I had a Lotus Elan M100 in my 20s. Condemned as the front-wheel drive lotus, I thought it was a great car. Never put me anywhere near a hedge, utterly reliable (Isuzu engine) and I loved the shape.
Criminally undervalued until recently too (all IMHO obviously!).

It was sold for a Renault Megane. Oh, the joys of becoming a responsible parent!
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Old 27 Apr 2021, 19:37 (Ref:4048157)   #22
MartinH
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MartinH should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Having owned Mini Coopers & 'S's (mk 1 & 2s) plus Pug 205, 309 & 306 GTI, Golf mk2 GTI, Alfa Sud & 105 coupe & saloons & now an Audi A2 FSI, plus a lot more mundane cars, the answer is weight (or lack of) ..... all heavyweight cars are flawed as soon as you show them a corner !!!

300 plus hp & 1500 kg plus, is never goimg to be any fun other than in a straight line & anyone can push the loud pedal in that situation.

Lose the weight & get some excitement back into your life !!
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Old 27 Apr 2021, 20:30 (Ref:4048163)   #23
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Mike Harte will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMike Harte will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMike Harte will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMike Harte will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMike Harte will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMike Harte will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMike Harte will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMike Harte will be entering the Motorsport Hall of FameMike Harte will be entering the Motorsport Hall of Fame
Martin, if I didn't know better, I would wholeheartedly agree with you. However, when I was much, much younger, a friend of mine was a driver for a rather well off gentleman who owned a newish Bentley saloon.

The owner permitted this friend to borrow the car when it was not required by the family, and our friend would often join in our fast driving pursuits around the roads of North London. At that time we had an assortment of cars including my Escort GT, a hot Imp, a Cooper S and a 1500 Anglia plus other such vehicles. And none of us could keep up with the Bentley especially around corners and bends.The road holding of this heavy car was absolutely phenomenal, and so hard to believe, and with very little roll to boot.
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Old 28 Apr 2021, 00:21 (Ref:4048179)   #24
chrisklein90
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1988 Jeep CJ7 - This was my dad's vehicle, it is still working.

2002 Mitsubishi Montero - My dad sells it so that I and my sister can go to college.

2012 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD - It took a while for me and my siblings to save for this truck so we can give it to our Dad. Recently, I avail a new set of
dually wheels and tires.

2015 Subaru Outback - This SUV is my daily driver to work and other stuff.
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Old 28 Apr 2021, 15:08 (Ref:4048293)   #25
BertMk2
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BertMk2 is going for a new world record!BertMk2 is going for a new world record!BertMk2 is going for a new world record!BertMk2 is going for a new world record!BertMk2 is going for a new world record!BertMk2 is going for a new world record!BertMk2 is going for a new world record!
Ok, my car history and basic assessment of each:

1) Vauxhall Nova saloon:
A total shed. 1 litre of leaf green old man car (with matching green interior). The drivers door could be unlocked by putting your hand through the rust hole and yanking the mechanism. The drivers side window would drop into the door if you went over a bump too fast. The first stereo expired in a cloud of smoke, the second would randomly set itself to full volume as you were driving - the only way to get it to sort itself out was to jiggle the volume knob until the decided it was ok again. The drivers side windscreen wiper stopped working, the passenger side wing mirror fell off on the motorway. If it was wet you had to take the distributor cap off and dry the inside of it before the car would start. It finally met its end when someone pulled out in front of me on a main road and took out basically the entire passenger side (the door was ripped off its hinges but wedged firmly in the opening, rear seat was punched inwards and upwards, rear wheel at a jaunty angle).

Bloody loved that car. It was utter crap in every way you looked at it - but it was my first car - and represented freedom - me and my friends could now pile into the car and off we'd go - the world was our oyster. For the memories alone it was great

2) Vauxhall Nova hatchback:
Following the demise of Nova 1 I bought Nova 2 - a cunning plan as I'd salvaged what I could from number 1 and now had a pile of bits in my parents garage. Over the years with number 2 I managed to make use of quite a few of them. The 1400 engine in number 2 was a nice step forward but it refused to idle when cold so I'd have to sit with my foot on the throttle until it warmed up a bit - never did get to the bottom of that.

3) Peugeot 306 Dturbo:
I'd been at work for a few years and could now afford something half sensible - so chopped in Nova 2 against a 306. Fantastic car - when I bought it there were 20K miles on the clock, when I sold it there were 190K on the clock. In between times it had been crashed into twice (neither time was I moving ) and the result of that was the front end really wasn't straight anymore, tyres would scrub out the inside edge in about 5K miles. On the whole though it was a great car, loved driving it - superb handling, enough power/torque to be fun, lift off oversteer on demand for grins (and brown trousers the first time). Utterly bulletproof reliability - other than servicing the only time it needed anything doing was a battery (ignoring the accident rebuilds obviously!).

4)Renault Clio:
My wifes car at the time we got together. Dreadful in every possible way. I had to have the seat as far back as it would go so the pedals were a comfortable distance away - which meant that the gearstick was now uncomfortably far forward. My head also smacked against the roof (the edge of the sunroof opening) when you went over a bump. It permanently felt like it was driving on ice. Hateful car.

5) Skoda Fabia Vrs:
I got this to replace the 306 - similar idea really, diesel (for the mileage I was doing) and fun. A great car to blat along the lanes on my route to work, punchy, handled well and stopped well. The only thing that let it down over it's lifetime was reliability - turbo failure, turbo pipe failure, head gasket failure. In the end it had to go (at just under 150K miles) as it was heading into big repair territory again.

6) Honda FRV:
The family bus. A bit of an oddball - 6 seater (2 rows of 3). Great when the boy was young as he'd sit in the front with us. Dog in the boot, stuff in the middle. Still got it now (on 150K) - put a shed in it to go to the tip on Monday. It's been a real workhorse, great on the motorway, dreadful on the lanes - you simply cannot hustle in this car - poor brakes, understeer like you wouldn't believe. Zero fun. Can't complain though - it's very much done the job we bought it for. Was warned that "it's starting to get a bit scabby" underneath, the clutch is failing and the exhaust isn't going to last long - so it's days are numbered.

7) MINI Cooper D :
My wife's current car - in theory it's in the mould of the Fabia/306. The reality is I hate it. The engine has the narrowest power band of anything I've ever driven, there are 6 gears and you're only ever in the right one for about 5 seconds, the handling is odd bordering on evil. It's got just over 60K on it now and it's had to have a new dual mass flywheel and clutch as well as new shock absorbers all round. So unpleasant to drive and unreliable/expensive to maintain - as an introduction to the work of BMW it's eliminated them from any future purchase.

8) ???????
The time is approaching to replace the FRV - I'm thinking estate, petrol - current favourites are Golf/Leon/Octavia (essentially the same thing in different clothing). Anything else I should consider? Not an SUV.
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