Mvictor
Part of things
@r4v.oli on insta
Posts: 31
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Soo guys, after lurking and trying to initiate a couple projects here, I decided that the only way I could make it work was to fully immerse myself in England...
Nah, joking. Remember I wanted to be a Motorsport Engineer? No? Good Lord... Well, I managed to be aproved for a MSc at Oxford Brookes and my idea is to move out to the UK in September (my missus is coming with me because she will also attend a MSc, but in Psychology, so she can do therapy everyone who wants to buy an old Daimler) and perhaps not get back because racecar, you know, Motorsports is an English specialty (Sad Minardi Ferrari Noises) so probably my career will be based here.
Now, given this introduction, let's talk cars:
I intend to buy a car upon arriving in the UK, because I'm an idiot and I need some automotive headache in my life. My budget is up to 5k £ and I started pretty reasonable to be honest, thinking on a Mk3 Toyota MR2 (I have a Toyota, I know the drill), then I floated towards a MG TF, some Land Rovers, Land Cruisers, now for some sick reason I started thinking about a Jaguar XK8... Yeah... that's why I date a Psychologist...
I was researching on some topics about car ownership, insurance, etc, even contacted the MG Club (I definitely leaned towards the MG just because of the club...) so I got some idea about those, but all help is welcomed.
My objective with this topic is to talk about the car choice (the idea is to have a more weekend - road travel car now, I won't need to commute on it) and specially the garage situation.
I remember quite a few years ago a topic here about a "community garage" where some guys had this place where they shared rent and used to space to repair their cars, I can't find it for the love of God but do someone knows of something like this in the Oxford region? Also, if someone knows a good garage for some repairing I would love to know it!
Also, renting garages to park and tweak this car, is it viable in this region? Anyone got any idea on prices? Remember I'm Brazilian so each Pound is like 7 Reais... bloody country...
Cheers guys, feel free to ask, comment, help, swear, whatever, in any way, the space is open...
Bye!
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you're probably thinking of Area52, in Bristol.
That community space/bruces tat storage as was is no more as Bruce relocated to the sticks in Wales, but the friendship groups that it built are still going strong.
The space itself taken on by a friend of mine that was a local attending the space at the time, more of a Storage and ramp hire space now.
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Welcome to the country! Can't help with a garage group, but if you're thinking of an XK8, perhaps look at martin42006 thread here forum.retro-rides.org/post/2665684/thread where he works on grandad's one. Pics aren't working for me, but that sometimes happens with my VPN - hopefully they'll show for you. |
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,960
Club RR Member Number: 174
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I'm from nowhere near Oxford so can't really help - but have you got room in your hand luggage for a set of 18" Orbital wheels in 5 x 110 pattern?
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Mvictor
Part of things
@r4v.oli on insta
Posts: 31
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I'm from nowhere near Oxford so can't really help - but have you got room in your hand luggage for a set of 18" Orbital wheels in 5 x 110 pattern? Oh ffs, in the land of Compomotive why on earth would you want an Orbital? hahahaha Joking, at this moment I wouldn't try to bring anything like this on my luggage, but I can certainly help you find something here and send it to you by courier or some other time I enter the country, just let me know! Welcome to the country! Can't help with a garage group, but if you're thinking of an XK8, perhaps look at martin42006 thread here forum.retro-rides.org/post/2665684/thread where he works on grandad's one. Pics aren't working for me, but that sometimes happens with my VPN - hopefully they'll show for you. Thank you so much Morris63! Will certainly take a look into it now. you're probably thinking of Area52, in Bristol. That community space/bruces tat storage as was is no more as Bruce relocated to the sticks in Wales, but the friendship groups that it built are still going strong. The space itself taken on by a friend of mine that was a local attending the space at the time, more of a Storage and ramp hire space now. I think that's the one, at least the name rings a bell for me, that was a fun project for sure That is the thing I was looking for, sounds super nice, even on the social side of things, having a group of friends who likes cars is always good, do you guys recon something like this would be better than to just rent a garage in the city? I THINK I saw some for like 110 or 120 quids, what would be your opinion on this? Price-wise is ok? Also will wait to see if someone knows anything like this in the Oxford region... |
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,960
Club RR Member Number: 174
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Oh ffs, in the land of Compomotive why on earth would you want an Orbital? hahahaha Joking, at this moment I wouldn't try to bring anything like this on my luggage, but I can certainly help you find something here and send it to you by courier or some other time I enter the country, just let me know! I've been a fan of rebaixados style cars for a long time, and we don't really have anything similar to Orbital wheels over here. I've tried learning Portuguese so I can understand things more but I can barely speak English properly so it's not doing well lol  |
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Mvictor
Part of things
@r4v.oli on insta
Posts: 31
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Mar 12, 2024 18:12:21 GMT
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Oh ffs, in the land of Compomotive why on earth would you want an Orbital? hahahaha Joking, at this moment I wouldn't try to bring anything like this on my luggage, but I can certainly help you find something here and send it to you by courier or some other time I enter the country, just let me know! I've been a fan of rebaixados style cars for a long time, and we don't really have anything similar to Orbital wheels over here. I've tried learning Portuguese so I can understand things more but I can barely speak English properly so it's not doing well lol That's really unexpected, not gonna lie haha, if you need help with anything let me know! The funny thing is that a "rebaixado" in Brazil is viewed like you are a furry, or the lowest scum on the neighborhood... (Not joking, most people despise this style, mostly because of the owners haha) Setting this aside, let's make something happen, I would laugh my ass off seeing a rebaixado in the UK haha On another hand, I'm narrowing down on my car list and exploring new possibilities, I decided it will be a sports/GT car (going to let the missus have our 4x4 beast), been seeing some topics here on past builds, etc. Mind you guys I also worked on the financial market, so I love to think on getting something that is near its rock bottom market value (I don't want to use the buzzword "neoclassic", but whatever). Would greatly appreciate any input: Honda S2000 - ~8000£ - Absolutely beast of a car, I imagine it's already past the best time to buy, but perhaps it's a case of "now or never". I always liked the S2000 but it never was my dreeeeeam car, although I highly appreciate its engineering and the appeal Suzuki Cappuccino - ~7000£ - This is something different, I understand it's just a small car with too few arguments to win over me, but there is one strong enough: it's the first car I thought about when I defined I would move to the UK, and I absolutely ADORE this model, definitely one of my dream cars F*ck you Gran Turismo 2Honda Beat - ~6000£ - Same as the Capp, but I always preferred that one, but price-wise this is a bit better Toyota MR2 Mk3, MG TF, Miata NA/NB - ~4000£ - Also a bunch of first options for me, all of them small and quirky roadsters. I have a Toyota already so my mind moves towards the MR2, my heart is English, so MG TF it is... but Miata is always the answer after all... Jaguar XK8/XKR - ~6000£ - Purely heart over mind, I think it's a lot of car for the money, but seeing the topic Mr. Morris63 indicated... boy I was scared... also being just automatic kind of kills it for me Mitsubishi 3000GT - ~5000£ - Now that would be totally bonkers, non-rational whatsoever (my favorite kind), the value is low, it's relatively rare, impossible to service and full of eletronics... I would love it. The problem is that it is relatively common in Brazil so it loses a bit of appeal... Mazda RX-8 - 4000£ - Let's be honest, nobody likes the RX-8, not even Mazda... But hey, it's a cheap rotary, even if it looks like a Finding Nemo character... Celica ST185 GTFour - ~9000£ - Running on the outside, I would say it's a dream car also for me, but it's quite rare and expensive... who knows, if I found one in good state for a fair price... Again, my idea is to buy this car and stick to it for ever (I practice automotive monogamy I'm just starting to build my Harem), which means at least 6 years of headaches, joys and memories on my current planning... Don't tell me to buy a Civic, please haha That's it, thank you for all the replies! |
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,960
Club RR Member Number: 174
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Mar 12, 2024 19:16:41 GMT
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S2000s are great but a lot of the cheaper ones are getting a bit tired now. Personally as a dream buy I'd contact Blown_Imp on here and do a deal on his Celica GT4. It's a really impressively specced car and not that expensive. |
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Mvictor
Part of things
@r4v.oli on insta
Posts: 31
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Mar 12, 2024 21:11:55 GMT
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S2000s are great but a lot of the cheaper ones are getting a bit tired now. Personally as a dream buy I'd contact Blown_Imp on here and do a deal on his Celica GT4. It's a really impressively specced car and not that expensive. Yes, that's the thing about the S2000, the good ones will skyrocket from now on, leaving just the rust buckets at fair prices, it's creating a soft spot on me, for sure... About that Celica, tbh the ST205 is not my cup of tea, I'm a ST185 guy all the way, but, seeing the topic on the car... a lot of good information, will keep it close to my heart for now... Thanks for the tip stealth! |
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Mar 14, 2024 11:41:49 GMT
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I'm ex F1 (Red Bull), pm me if you want any tips about jobs or getting into F1.
Oxford is a handy place for F1. Loads of teams and supporting industry in the area.
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Mvictor
Part of things
@r4v.oli on insta
Posts: 31
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Mar 15, 2024 11:55:30 GMT
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I'm ex F1 (Red Bull), pm me if you want any tips about jobs or getting into F1. Oxford is a handy place for F1. Loads of teams and supporting industry in the area. Hey Jonny69 ! Thank you for your reply, will certainly PM you now! About the car, I received a bit of a punch in the face. According to the Oxford City Council, students living in Halls can't maintain a car in Oxford...  Well, what a hindrance, but then, this can be an advantage, this means I can look carefully on the best offer (it took 6 months to find my RAV4 here in Brazil) AND this means it can be a proper headache, since I will have 1 year to work on it before properly driving... Will see upon arriving what to do, but I would love to find something like the garages cited above, would let the car sit for this season without skipping a heartbeat... If someone knows of something like these in the Oxford region, but not IN Oxford, let me know, please haha Cheers! |
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Mar 18, 2024 19:55:11 GMT
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Hi Mvictor, welcome to the Fold: I emigrated to the UK (I am Dutch) for the same reason as you are planning to: Motorsport. I never regretted this move, and here we are 25 years later I am still here. I live in Oxfordshire, and space unfortunately is the most sought after commodity, whether to live or to store your car. Car storage which involves also the ability to work on your car is harder still, and it all comes down to what you can spend. When I arrived, I managed to hire a barn from a farmer, similar to the one you linked. I build my Landrover in this barn, many late evenings during a 4 year period. (I lived in Cambridgeshire at the time)This is probably the most likely way for this to happen, but as said, oxford is very busy and there is very little on offer, so building your network is vital.
I now own a house with a double garage in Oxfordshire, which was a live long dream come true. But now I realize a triple garage would be better...
You will realize that the further away from Oxford you go, the more afordable it becomes. So keep that in mind.
Not meaning to disharten you, Oxfordshire has the highest house price relative to wages, higher than London even, so that gives you an idea about space.
Wish you all the best with your venture.
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Mvictor
Part of things
@r4v.oli on insta
Posts: 31
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Mar 19, 2024 18:17:33 GMT
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Hi Mvictor, welcome to the Fold: I emigrated to the UK (I am Dutch) for the same reason as you are planning to: Motorsport. I never regretted this move, and here we are 25 years later I am still here. I live in Oxfordshire, and space unfortunately is the most sought after commodity, whether to live or to store your car. Car storage which involves also the ability to work on your car is harder still, and it all comes down to what you can spend. When I arrived, I managed to hire a barn from a farmer, similar to the one you linked. I build my Landrover in this barn, many late evenings during a 4 year period. (I lived in Cambridgeshire at the time)This is probably the most likely way for this to happen, but as said, oxford is very busy and there is very little on offer, so building your network is vital. I now own a house with a double garage in Oxfordshire, which was a live long dream come true. But now I realize a triple garage would be better... You will realize that the further away from Oxford you go, the more afordable it becomes. So keep that in mind. Not meaning to disharten you, Oxfordshire has the highest house price relative to wages, higher than London even, so that gives you an idea about space. Wish you all the best with your venture. Hello Dieselmax, thank you for your reply! Always good to see people don't regret doing this hahaha, certainly is a morale boost! Since you touched on the subject, I will be honest with you guys, then you can help me kind of not dreaming too much. One of the things I'm planning to do after graduating and getting a job is to buy a lot in the countryside (definitely not a city boy) and build a house (not in one go, but steadily for some years, as money can buy) with some garage space and an adequate house size. It's no denying that I want to follow on the F1 career path so I can live with the fact of commuting up to 2h per day (I did 2.5h daily when I worked in Stock Car in Brazil).  Something on this area perhaps, cost wise I'm thinking about 50k for the lot (been seeing things from 10k to 100k) and, I don't know, some 300k to build(?), let's say, for 5 years... Imagining I have some funds here and I would say that me and my girl would be doing some 70k per year... Looks plausible, what you have to say about it guys? I would say 3-4 bedrooms and a little garage/barn for my projects, depending on the costs involved... Would love some down to earth inputs about this. Thank you soooo much for all the information given here, I owe some beers for you guys in the Pub of your choice... hahaha |
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Mvictor
Part of things
@r4v.oli on insta
Posts: 31
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Ok guys, it's happening, I found something that caught my eye, finally. It's a 1994 Subaru Impreza WRX STI v1, the OG STI. Need some welding work which was something is REALLY didn't want to do but... I think this car deserves it.
The thing is, can someone give me an idea of costs to weld rear arches and sills in a garage in the UK? I know it depends on a series of factors, but just so I have an idea on the costs involved for this.
FYI, there are pre-made sills available for 130£
Also, windscreen needs changing, since it's a normal Subaru screen, I'm thinking at 500£ max to buy and install it, would this be correct?
Thank you everyone for the help!
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