I'm always banging on about the various cars I've had in the past, so I thought it might be an idea to collect them all together in one thread. So... all the cars I've owned, in chronological order from my first car (in 1999, aged seventeen) to the present day.
Apologies for the quality of some snaps - scans of old photos!
Vauxhall Nova 1.0
These will do 100mph with four people on board... but you'll need a long hill and a following wind, and you won't be able to drive it any more afterwards because it will have exploded. Ah, the folly of youth.
mkIII Ford Escort 1.3L
...featuring the obligatory XR3 spoilers and, er, Orion pepperpots. Sold it when I went to uni... for £150. Maybe should've hung on to it.
Peugeot 309 1.6GL
Borrowed this from my mum to take some stuff to uni. Forgot to give it back. When I returned home several months later, she spied the GTI bits, the big meshed hole in the bumper and enormously lowered suspension (sitting on the bump stops at the back) and immediately signed the V5 over to me. Bingo.
VW Scirocco Scala
A mate of mine had a mkII Golf GTI, and bought this for the wheels, but then his Golf exploded and he didn't need them any more. He gave it to me for my 21st birthday (it didn't work), so I made it work and sold it shortly afterwards.
Citroen ZX Volcane 2.0i
The first properly quick car I owned. A friend of mine sold it to me for £500. After a few months of ownership I managed to wang the passenger side of it into a bollard in a car park (in my defence, it was dark...) which was very low-speed, but knackered both doors and the sill. I sold it on for £500.
Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi
I bought this without an MOT, trailered it home, got it MOT'd, then realised the engine was basically knackered. Sold it on quite quickly. It pops up from time to time on 205 forums - think it's involved in road-rallying or something now.
Renault 19 16v Chamade (phase 1)
A minter for £500 - those were the days. I was always getting people coming up to me and asking where I got the clear indicators from.
Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi
Fancied another one - this one was mechanically brilliant but bodily shabby. Loads of fun. Sold it to a 17 year-old who turned up in a Skyline. (!)
Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi
This one was in amazing nick, having been owned by an owners club enthusiast. (16" wheels ruined the ride a bit though.) 1.6 gearbox + 405 SRi 1.9 engine = rapid.
DMS Bullitt (mkII Ford Capri 3.0 V6 Ghia)
Thread here.
mkII Vauxhall Astra 2.0 convertible
I bought this from some Eastern European fruit pickers. Every nook and cranny in the boot was stuffed with rotting berries.
mkV Ford Escort XR3i
These are rubbish. Avoid.
mkIII Ford Capri 2.8i
Built by SB Racing for a customer who couldn't pay the bills, they sold it to me for £1500. Full body resto, new respray, blueprinted stage 2 engine, huge custom exhausts, etc etc. Featured in Classic Ford. I really miss this car.
Citroen Saxo VTS
Overrated, I think. It was pretty good, but not incredible.
mkV Ford Escort RS2000
Good fun, this - surprisingly quick. Whole car felt really cheap and low-quality though.
mkIII Ford Fiesta XR2i
By far the worst car I've ever owned. Absolutely horrible in every way. And the boot once came off entirely in my hand one day, which was a surprise.
Renault 19 16v Chamade (phase 2)
Lovely little car - made me feel a lot more cheerful after the Fiesta. Properly quick, lovely engine note, exec interior for beer money.
mkIII Ford Escort XR3i
Satin black with RS1600i wheels and spoilers. Absolutely superb car, although the footwells did fill up with water when it rained. The police showed a lot of interest in the naughty number plates.
BMW 2002 Touring
I really miss this one. Stripped, caged, buckets, twin 40DCOEs, Alpina cam, Group N Impreza exhaust, slotmags... I loved this car so much. Featured in Performance BMW.
Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi
I bought this from a rally nutter in Wales. Piper cams and Peter Lloyd exhaust make a surprising difference to the already perky performance. Never seen those wheels on another 205 either.
mkIV Ford Escort XR3i cabriolet
Bought this with a knackered engine, replaced the engine, didn't really like it (epic scuttle shake), sold it.
Ford Sierra XR4i
Wasn't all I was hoping for. It was a lot of fun, I just didn't really enjoy it that much for some reason.
Fiat Coupe 16v Turbo
I loved this... for the first week. Then the clutch went and it cost me a fortune to fix. Randomly occurring hot-start/cold-start issues made it quite hard to sell too.
mkIII Ford Fiesta RS1800
Good fun, this. After the terrible XR2i I had, I was apprehensive, but I enjoyed the RS1800. Coilovers made for great handling too.
Honda Accord 2.3i SR
Not particularly exciting, but pretty fast, very well equipped and super-reliable.
mkIII Ford Escort XR3
Concours timewarp condition. Bought when I was living in Brixton - I didn't want to keep it on the street (it was way too nice), so I kept it on a friend's driveway in Redhill. It didn't make sense to have a car that I had to travel to visit, so I had to sell. Shame.
mkIII Ford Capri 2.0 Laser
Bought cheaply for a bit of fun. And it was fun!
Fiat Coupe 16v Turbo
Also bought cheaply for a bit of fun. Dump valve really irritated the neighbours.
mkII Ford Cortina 1600GT
Really loved this car (even though the engine lunched itself on the drive home when I bought it and had to be immediately replaced). Superlites, very low suspension, leopard-skin headlining, skull-print tints... legendary.
Volvo 850 T5
My god, these are quick. Sadly had to sell it as the missus refused to drive something that a) was an automatic and b) was bigger than our kitchen.
Mazda MX-5 1.6
The current bizzlemobile. Absolutely love it. Superb little car.
...and there we go. It's put me in loads of debt, but I've had a good time. ;D
Apologies for the quality of some snaps - scans of old photos!
Vauxhall Nova 1.0
These will do 100mph with four people on board... but you'll need a long hill and a following wind, and you won't be able to drive it any more afterwards because it will have exploded. Ah, the folly of youth.
mkIII Ford Escort 1.3L
...featuring the obligatory XR3 spoilers and, er, Orion pepperpots. Sold it when I went to uni... for £150. Maybe should've hung on to it.
Peugeot 309 1.6GL
Borrowed this from my mum to take some stuff to uni. Forgot to give it back. When I returned home several months later, she spied the GTI bits, the big meshed hole in the bumper and enormously lowered suspension (sitting on the bump stops at the back) and immediately signed the V5 over to me. Bingo.
VW Scirocco Scala
A mate of mine had a mkII Golf GTI, and bought this for the wheels, but then his Golf exploded and he didn't need them any more. He gave it to me for my 21st birthday (it didn't work), so I made it work and sold it shortly afterwards.
Citroen ZX Volcane 2.0i
The first properly quick car I owned. A friend of mine sold it to me for £500. After a few months of ownership I managed to wang the passenger side of it into a bollard in a car park (in my defence, it was dark...) which was very low-speed, but knackered both doors and the sill. I sold it on for £500.
Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi
I bought this without an MOT, trailered it home, got it MOT'd, then realised the engine was basically knackered. Sold it on quite quickly. It pops up from time to time on 205 forums - think it's involved in road-rallying or something now.
Renault 19 16v Chamade (phase 1)
A minter for £500 - those were the days. I was always getting people coming up to me and asking where I got the clear indicators from.
Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi
Fancied another one - this one was mechanically brilliant but bodily shabby. Loads of fun. Sold it to a 17 year-old who turned up in a Skyline. (!)
Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi
This one was in amazing nick, having been owned by an owners club enthusiast. (16" wheels ruined the ride a bit though.) 1.6 gearbox + 405 SRi 1.9 engine = rapid.
DMS Bullitt (mkII Ford Capri 3.0 V6 Ghia)
Thread here.
mkII Vauxhall Astra 2.0 convertible
I bought this from some Eastern European fruit pickers. Every nook and cranny in the boot was stuffed with rotting berries.
mkV Ford Escort XR3i
These are rubbish. Avoid.
mkIII Ford Capri 2.8i
Built by SB Racing for a customer who couldn't pay the bills, they sold it to me for £1500. Full body resto, new respray, blueprinted stage 2 engine, huge custom exhausts, etc etc. Featured in Classic Ford. I really miss this car.
Citroen Saxo VTS
Overrated, I think. It was pretty good, but not incredible.
mkV Ford Escort RS2000
Good fun, this - surprisingly quick. Whole car felt really cheap and low-quality though.
mkIII Ford Fiesta XR2i
By far the worst car I've ever owned. Absolutely horrible in every way. And the boot once came off entirely in my hand one day, which was a surprise.
Renault 19 16v Chamade (phase 2)
Lovely little car - made me feel a lot more cheerful after the Fiesta. Properly quick, lovely engine note, exec interior for beer money.
mkIII Ford Escort XR3i
Satin black with RS1600i wheels and spoilers. Absolutely superb car, although the footwells did fill up with water when it rained. The police showed a lot of interest in the naughty number plates.
BMW 2002 Touring
I really miss this one. Stripped, caged, buckets, twin 40DCOEs, Alpina cam, Group N Impreza exhaust, slotmags... I loved this car so much. Featured in Performance BMW.
Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi
I bought this from a rally nutter in Wales. Piper cams and Peter Lloyd exhaust make a surprising difference to the already perky performance. Never seen those wheels on another 205 either.
mkIV Ford Escort XR3i cabriolet
Bought this with a knackered engine, replaced the engine, didn't really like it (epic scuttle shake), sold it.
Ford Sierra XR4i
Wasn't all I was hoping for. It was a lot of fun, I just didn't really enjoy it that much for some reason.
Fiat Coupe 16v Turbo
I loved this... for the first week. Then the clutch went and it cost me a fortune to fix. Randomly occurring hot-start/cold-start issues made it quite hard to sell too.
mkIII Ford Fiesta RS1800
Good fun, this. After the terrible XR2i I had, I was apprehensive, but I enjoyed the RS1800. Coilovers made for great handling too.
Honda Accord 2.3i SR
Not particularly exciting, but pretty fast, very well equipped and super-reliable.
mkIII Ford Escort XR3
Concours timewarp condition. Bought when I was living in Brixton - I didn't want to keep it on the street (it was way too nice), so I kept it on a friend's driveway in Redhill. It didn't make sense to have a car that I had to travel to visit, so I had to sell. Shame.
mkIII Ford Capri 2.0 Laser
Bought cheaply for a bit of fun. And it was fun!
Fiat Coupe 16v Turbo
Also bought cheaply for a bit of fun. Dump valve really irritated the neighbours.
mkII Ford Cortina 1600GT
Really loved this car (even though the engine lunched itself on the drive home when I bought it and had to be immediately replaced). Superlites, very low suspension, leopard-skin headlining, skull-print tints... legendary.
Volvo 850 T5
My god, these are quick. Sadly had to sell it as the missus refused to drive something that a) was an automatic and b) was bigger than our kitchen.
Mazda MX-5 1.6
The current bizzlemobile. Absolutely love it. Superb little car.
...and there we go. It's put me in loads of debt, but I've had a good time. ;D
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