My daily drive. 6 years older than me.

My daily drive. 6 years older than me.

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Benbay001

Original Poster:

5,794 posts

156 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
Ill start with some background.
I cannot remember when i first became a petrol head, ive always loved tractors, my dad was a mechanic and is currently an aircraft engineer. But he isnt particularly fond of cars, mainly 4x4s.
I first learn to drive sat on my dads knee in a Rover 200 around 2003 aged 11, and then with my dad sat next to me in an 80 series landcruiser

and then a 100 series landcruiser.
When i was 14 my dad got me into quad biking. I started with a 150cc Apache and then progressed to a 250cc Yamaha and then to a 450cc Suzuki. At this point aged 17, my dad decided that he was spending far to much money on this hobby for the both of us (he rode too) and we sold the bikes, trailer and he sold his 280000 mile LandCruiser to a bloke in Mongolia.


But all wasnt lost, a year earlier id bought a moped not any old moped, a geared, super quick, throughbred racer! (i was nieve and young)


I was free at last and I was hooked.

What did i want for my 17th birthday? My full bike licence of course.
A month after turning 17 i could finally take off my L plates

Excuse the poor pic, it was the best i could find. And yes, thats my nan of the back! Haha

I bought a fantastic GSX650F complete with panniers and topbox and heated grips.

Then came driving, learning in my mums Rav4. It was nice to be warm, but it was horribly being enclosed.
But having a car is fairly crutial when you live fairly rurally like we did.
So next up was a 1.8 petrol Ford Focus . Which did everything you need a car to do and nothing more.(did look at some Daihatsu Copens, but the 3000 mile service intervals were a no go)

I was in a very fortuneate position for someone my age and i was fully aware of it.
At this point there was a minor glitch.
(I was) Aged 19, my mum set up a business and was short of money. I sold the bike she had treated me to two years before and was left with the Focus. As i said, a good car, but not particularly good fun.

A year later aged 20, having done some saving it was time to find something else that would keep me entertained.
The car hunt was on
I wanted and could just about afford a ratty VX200. But at this point i was working for my mum and would need to occasionally use the car for business use carrying around large canvases.
As much as i pushed, she wouldnt accept the VX220 as a sensible choice.

Hell bent on finding the least sensible car that i could pass off as sensible i set about looking at Jaguars.
Being young, insurance is a large factor for any car purchase and after getting some bargain insurance quotes i set about finding an S Type R (v8 supercharged 400hp for those who are missing out)


But, being my first real car, woo'ed by massive speed - I bought a bit of a lemon, for good money.
It had an airbag fault and a catalytic converter fault along with other minor niggles.
These were to be faults which would stay with the car until sold.
And a year later exactly that happened, it was sold. (to a PHer i may add)

Rather skint (having lost a fair bit due to the faults i couldnt afford to rectify) and feeling like i needed a years cheap motoring, i bought an MR2.
This is the only photo i can find of it at the moment.

(3rd in from left)
And here it is going around Llandow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKOpPq4E7Bw not me driving at this point, PHer Syncromesh is driving.

Anyway nothing is more dull than saving money.. (which the MR2 didnt really do anyway, it needed alot doing to it)

So naturally, i started car hunting again.
The criteria were Reliable, economical, spacious, safe and practical great sound, cheap tyres, simple mechanics and unlikely to see another on the road. At this point, id spent the last 5 months lusting after a TVR wedge. So i went to view one. A 400SE in fact, i viewed it twice, but ultimately it needed an aweful lot of work, as, realistically a 400SE was out of my £6000 budget.
So back to the drawing board.

There were other cars that took my fancy. an S2 or S3 TVR, another MR2, a turbo (the sensible choice) or, finally a Lotus Excel.

I thought id try an Excel, what did i have to lose?

I set of down to Devon and fell in love and bought it.

Its now been about 2 months since i first viewed the car and it seems i have a great example.
A few cheap fixes.
The power steering packed up (the tensioner simply needed re tensioning)
The oil pressure gauge got stuck on max last weekend (lead fell off)
Was losing coolant quite quickly (was overfilling it and had the caps on the wrong way)

I also got some nice new free bees under warrenty 2 weeks ago. (which whilst i am on the topic, i cannot recommend South West Lotus Center highly enough)
New brake servo
New drivers door beam
New passenger side door latch

Anyway, what a well kept secret. Comfortable, fastish, sounds great and so far reliable, what more can one want from a car? Maybe to not get outside in the morning and find the inside door trims covered in rain. But im just being fussy. biggrin

And some photos







(Please excuse the muddyness in the last photo, i took it 2 minutes ago)

So there we go, i was born in '92, my daily drive was born in '86

Feel free to ask any questions.

Thanks for looking biggrin
Ben

-crookedtail-

1,558 posts

189 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
Bloody brilliant, fair play to you!

I'm 30 and haven't had as illustrious car history as you, I've failed at life hehe

Benbay001

Original Poster:

5,794 posts

156 months

Monday 24th November 2014
quotequote all
Cheers thumbup
At least one person appreciated the effort i went to writing that out.
Not bitter or nothing.
laugh

Robert Elise

956 posts

144 months

Monday 24th November 2014
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Excellent journey and a fabulous ending.
Great PH story.

Stuart70

3,910 posts

182 months

Monday 24th November 2014
quotequote all
Does the Lotus still feel quick, how is the handling?

Some brave moves in that lot; hope the Lotus gives you loads of fun and few hassles.

ianwayne

6,243 posts

267 months

Monday 24th November 2014
quotequote all
I've had 3 Excels in the past, 2 of them SE models, between 1993 and 2000. Very under-rated. Not exceptionally quick by modern standards (160 - 180 bhp) but a galvanised chassis and plastic body helps a lot with an old car. Toyota gearbox and brakes.

I think I missed the boat on getting another cheap one, tidy ones are now going up in value having bottomed out at £2k - £3k a couple of years ago, there only being about 400 of them left (150 odd taxed according to howmanyleft).


Benbay001

Original Poster:

5,794 posts

156 months

Monday 24th November 2014
quotequote all
Stuart70 said:
Does the Lotus still feel quick, how is the handling?

Some brave moves in that lot; hope the Lotus gives you loads of fun and few hassles.
Peak HP doesnt feel massive, but for an engine with high specific power output the engine is very torquey at 3k.
Much much better than the MR2 for relaxing over taking (MR2 really needed to be above 4k for a comfortably fast overtake.
As for the handling, the steering feels amazing compared to anything ive had before. The car has a newly refurbished rack because the old one had corroded and leaking hoses.

ianwayne said:
I think I missed the boat on getting another cheap one, tidy ones are now going up in value having bottomed out at £2k - £3k a couple of years ago, there only being about 400 of them left (150 odd taxed according to howmanyleft).
Mine was £5k, and it seems to be a good one, no serious issues looking likely on the horizon, id have likely found them by now, after a month and a half.
I guess a car is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it, and i think £5000 for an almost rust free car with a good reputation for reliability (all things considered) is fair value. These cars should really be worth alot more. How much would a fast Ford of the same era set you back now?

yellowstreak

613 posts

151 months

Tuesday 25th November 2014
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I salute you! Its a very cool car. I think that red Elan behind it may have been a less expensive every day though! Good luck!

dibblecorse

6,872 posts

191 months

Tuesday 25th November 2014
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Ha ha ha, brilliant, what a great write up, love the Lotus, the Jag was a brave move and having a bike licence makes you alright in my book ..... thanks for sharing ......

Benbay001

Original Poster:

5,794 posts

156 months

Tuesday 25th November 2014
quotequote all
It certainly makes the financial pain more manageable when others appreciate it! biggrin
Thanks.
Ill try to keep this thread updated.
I have intentions to pick up one of these in the near future


33hp - 70mpg man maths justification.

Usget

5,426 posts

210 months

Tuesday 25th November 2014
quotequote all
Benbay001 said:
and he sold his 280000 mile LandCruiser to a bloke in Mongolia.
Ha - I know a bloke who bought a LandCruiser in Mongolia. I say bought, I think he paid about a fiver. Was this your dad's?


Benbay001

Original Poster:

5,794 posts

156 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
quotequote all
Usget said:
Ha - I know a bloke who bought a LandCruiser in Mongolia. I say bought, I think he paid about a fiver. Was this your dad's?

My dads sold for £7000 despite the mileage. I havnt got a photo of it but it was the generation after the one i posted above. The 100 series.

aponting389

741 posts

177 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
quotequote all
Usget said:
Ha - I know a bloke who bought a LandCruiser in Mongolia. I say bought, I think he paid about a fiver. Was this your dad's?

I find that hard to believe! Land cruisers are not cheap in mongolia, and mongolians are usually pretty savvy!

Benbay001 said:
My dads sold for £7000 despite the mileage. I havnt got a photo of it but it was the generation after the one i posted above. The 100 series.
Sounds about right, A Hyundai accent that i bought in the UK for £800 was sold for around £3000 after i drove it to mongolia, they pay good money for reliable cars

Andy665

3,598 posts

227 months

Wednesday 26th November 2014
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Love the Excel, I distinctly remember several magazines hailing it as the best handling front engined rear wheel drive car of all time

Benbay001

Original Poster:

5,794 posts

156 months

Saturday 6th December 2014
quotequote all
So, the scooter idea went out the window.
I went to view a Honda Deauville 650.
And bought it.
Its cat C crash repaired but in immmaculate condition.





Think ive got a fairly PH worthy garage coming on.
Only trouble is, i now wont be able to do any more vehicle shopping for a long while frown