|
|
Apr 14, 2009 10:20:53 GMT
|
I'm not the only one then! I keep saying my car-mojo's been gone since winter but in reality it's been far longer than that... now and again life moves on almost without you realising, and it takes a while for old habits to die. That's not to say it won't come back - it always does for me - just in a different way! I've gone from old Vivas to Minis to (then) modern Sierras, newish Cav SRi, back to Sierras, now I'm messing about with old J motorbikes because they fit in the garden and you can put 'em away in the shed if it goes wrong! I'll be back on the 3-door Sierra soon, having had some time out, plans are forming.... Perhaps I should just take the opportunity to sit back and save some money, then when the right cars come along I can get it. That's probably the best plan. And like HTW says get out and about, look at different stuff, find something different which floats your boat. I never thought I'd be pounding the back roads on a big old motorbike, same as I never thought I'd drive a Cavalier with a huge stereo etc. Keep us informed!
|
|
My fleet: Suzuki GSX-R600Y SRAD with bald, melted tyres A borrowed Mondeo
|
|
|
|
Apr 14, 2009 11:28:06 GMT
|
It is common I think, specially with a bit of age/'wisdom'/pressure/hassle/heckles etc. I have just bought another car to get me up and down the motorway and so people don't yell, "ya should scrap that", well mostly cos it was cheap and a pretty good car I fancied trying and utilising. old enough to be 'retro' but feels modern to me. it feels wierd being in a not that special car, but in my eyes its quite cool. But what the hell, so i have an old Diesel family car, and a not quite retro shabby Fiesta van outside, and I cycle to work anyway! not what I had in mind at all. Theres a Sierra V8 thats looking less like finished at the mo, in a lot of pieces and miles from home. Sierra was a compromise in the first place! and a pile of to-do projects i'm frantically trying to rehome indoors before the next 2 year winter! ;D Taking time away is healthy. I've gotten into bikes a bit more over the last year, which is double edged, provides a nice break but adds to the project count! People do and can change, in this case i gotta agree with Hotwire, come at it at a fun angle. try something new, I'm sure its still in the blood, I've had a lot of fun in the Fiesta that I didn't expect. Or saving ready for the Mojo return, thats good too. Is there nothing you fancy? Of course theres the two sides of Motoring, Domestic tool, and fun hobby. Could you build/buy something that satisfys both these, or hve two very opposite cars, a motorway chugga, and a no compromise weekend toy! Good advice from me there wish I could take it myself! ;D
|
|
it doesn't matter if it's a Morris Marina or a Toyota Celica - it's what you do with it that counts
|
|
|
|
Apr 14, 2009 11:55:29 GMT
|
Brother, I feel your pain... The Anglia hasn't been on the road scince September '07, that's when the alternator packed up and I had to have the AA out. It needs some other jobs as well, all mechanical stuff really, but I just CBA. I've got plenty to do around the house at the mo' (been doing the bathroom scince christmas...) and being unemployed again doesn't help. I keep threatening to sell it, but given the current situation and the work it needs I feel I would end up more or less giving it away, which would be like throwing away the money I paid for it. I was toying with getting something 'different' to replace my daily Megane to keep my enthuisiasm up, but I can't even seem to be bothered with that. I wouldn't beat yourself up over it, TBH... sometimes taking a break from something means your interest comes back stronger in the end... that's what I tell myself, anyway. ;D
|
|
... the only injury I sustained was a bumped head when I let the seatbelt of without realizing the car was upside down and that's not really the car's fault.
|
|
|
|
Apr 14, 2009 12:40:25 GMT
|
I got the same as you a couple of years ago.
At the time I had a black '91 Honda CRX SiR that I'd spunked a fair old amount of money and a lot of time at and it still wasn't how I wanted it. The ARB bushes were starting to get noisy (after I'd replaced everything else with polyeurethene) and in my mind it needed a full respray to get it perfect, and I just couldn't be bothered so I sold it.
I then preceded to smoke about in a £220 Volvo 850 until I could decide what I was going to do. I did the sensible thing of road testing all the modern, sensible stuff I fancied (Civic Type-R, Bini Cooper S, Octavia VRS, Clio 182, etc, etc) and was all ready to find myself a nice Octavia, when I tripped over a '91 BMW 325i Cabriolet with a FSH and all the options. What I decided to do was buy it and get the servicing done by a specialist which ment that I could have something a bit special and not have to work on it out on the drive, in the rain when it went wrong.
That worked, and slowly it returned, and now I'm back to working on my E28 which is a joy to work on (sooooo simple and everything pulls apart and goes back together as it should) and I've got the £999 challenge Porsche which has really got me fired up. It's so great to be constantly working out ways to make it go fasted for zero cash and not to have that worry that I've got to make it pristine or spend loads of money on it. I also feel that I don't have to impress anyone with it and can basically build it, uncomprimised, for me!
Of course it helps that there are others around me that share the passion. I often have friends come around to have a mess about with the Porsche and my 11 year old step brother is over every weekend to help with it. I think that makes quite a difference to having to work on your own.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, have a break from the cars, but when you do go back to it, try a different approach. It worked for me.
|
|
'03 Porsche 996 C2 3.6 - Sort of Retro '84 Porsche 924 - Definitely Retro!
|
|
|
|
Apr 14, 2009 14:57:28 GMT
|
I lost my enthusiasm earlier this year and sold my GTI. Bought a mk3 golf TDI. Drove it around for months standard...which i loved (no crashy suspension....more money in my pocket etc). However, i started looking at cars again and getting enthusiastic about older motors. SO...i compromised with myself! I've started modding the mk3 golf! Its on its on coilovers so feels like an old car....but still has no reliability issues and drives mint! So i'm a happy chappy...and i have a car that reflects my personality once more. Joe
|
|
|
|