So, with a heavy heart I sold my Porsche 911 last weekend to one of my best friends, with the promise from him that I'd have the option to buy it back as and when he decides to sell it in the future.
The 911 was the car I'd always promised myself I would own one day and now I've had one.
Box ticked, and a fabulous car but the truth was I really didn't use it that much and as someone who has spent most of their life driving and loving cars and classics from the cheaper end of the market and somehow I always felt not quite right about having so much cash tied up in a car I didn't use that much.
I've got a modern daily driver and a while ago I bought a beach buggy - my 7th beach buggy, having got my first one and fallen in love with them when I was 18.
This is it -
Very sparkly, very loud, loads of fun and usually chosen above the 911 for a Sunday morning blast around (another nail in the coffin for the 911
)
So, with the 911 gone, a space on the drive and cash in my pocket it was inevitable that I'd be looking for another car straight away.
After briefly considering this.....
which if it had been a bit cheaper I might well have gone for, my eye was caught by an MGB on eBay and just a few miles up the road.
I know it's a Rubber bumper model and all the purists in their string back leather driving gloves will be turning their noses up but I don't care. It's my car, and I like it!
You know how you sometimes get a feeling about a car?
I did about this one. The auction listing wasn't that informative, and there weren't loads of photos, but somehow it appealed to me.
After a chat with the owner on the phone I was even more interested. The owner was an ex-engineer, retired and a real car enthusiast who had sadly had to give up driving due to age and health issues. He obviously loved the car and had maintained it very well until about 5 years ago when he stopped using the car and it sat in his garage until his very reluctant decision to sell it. Fortunately his son had run it 'around the block' every few months with I think has helped it stay basically as a runner.
When I saw it I was impressed - apart from being dusty, it was a really solid car. There was a box file full of invoices and history going back to the early 1980's. The car has had an older restoration, about 25 years ago, but has only done 20,000 miles since.
First plan is to take it to my mate's workshop on Monday and get it on the ramp and make sure I haven't bought a lemon!
Then check the brakes over (they are a bit spongy) and give it an oil change and service - it hasn't gone many miles since the last one, but it has been a few years so preventative maintenance is the way forward.
Paint is a bit flat, but a quick T cut and polish on a test area had it gleaming
Then just use and enjoy for the summer.
The 911 was the car I'd always promised myself I would own one day and now I've had one.
Box ticked, and a fabulous car but the truth was I really didn't use it that much and as someone who has spent most of their life driving and loving cars and classics from the cheaper end of the market and somehow I always felt not quite right about having so much cash tied up in a car I didn't use that much.
I've got a modern daily driver and a while ago I bought a beach buggy - my 7th beach buggy, having got my first one and fallen in love with them when I was 18.
This is it -
Very sparkly, very loud, loads of fun and usually chosen above the 911 for a Sunday morning blast around (another nail in the coffin for the 911
)So, with the 911 gone, a space on the drive and cash in my pocket it was inevitable that I'd be looking for another car straight away.
After briefly considering this.....
which if it had been a bit cheaper I might well have gone for, my eye was caught by an MGB on eBay and just a few miles up the road.
I know it's a Rubber bumper model and all the purists in their string back leather driving gloves will be turning their noses up but I don't care. It's my car, and I like it!
You know how you sometimes get a feeling about a car?
I did about this one. The auction listing wasn't that informative, and there weren't loads of photos, but somehow it appealed to me.
After a chat with the owner on the phone I was even more interested. The owner was an ex-engineer, retired and a real car enthusiast who had sadly had to give up driving due to age and health issues. He obviously loved the car and had maintained it very well until about 5 years ago when he stopped using the car and it sat in his garage until his very reluctant decision to sell it. Fortunately his son had run it 'around the block' every few months with I think has helped it stay basically as a runner.
When I saw it I was impressed - apart from being dusty, it was a really solid car. There was a box file full of invoices and history going back to the early 1980's. The car has had an older restoration, about 25 years ago, but has only done 20,000 miles since.
First plan is to take it to my mate's workshop on Monday and get it on the ramp and make sure I haven't bought a lemon!
Then check the brakes over (they are a bit spongy) and give it an oil change and service - it hasn't gone many miles since the last one, but it has been a few years so preventative maintenance is the way forward.
Paint is a bit flat, but a quick T cut and polish on a test area had it gleaming
Then just use and enjoy for the summer.
