Discussion
I've been reading this forum without participating for far too long, so thought I'd share my car history with you. I really enjoy seeing what other PHers drive and why, from the mundane to the spectacular. My own history is modest in comparison with some here but I've enjoyed all my cars (bar one) and think they've ticked the right boxes at that time - affordable, practical and fun. Anyway, here goes.
I started at 17 with a Citroen AX 1.1 TZX. Sadly no pics of this one to hand but it was in pensioner blue, had electric windows (!) and served me brilliantly well for a good 3 or 4 years. Frequent cross country runs across the Cotswolds between my then homeand girlfriend saw the addition of some preposterous Cibie spotlights. Am sure these shaved a good 20 mins off my route PB though did leave me subject to a lot of ridicule from my mates.
This was eventually replaced by a silver Peugeot 106 GTI. God I loved this car. My first experience of 'performance' and handling, plus it had leather and alcantara seats so I thought I was the DBs. The only pic I have to hand of this one is from the scrap yard.. yep, I wrote it off after catastrophically running out of talent on a wet roundabout. Thankfully only the car was damaged. A lesson learnt.
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This was replaced by a Fiat Punto Sporting, the 1.6 model. While it looked OK, it was a hateful thing and I later discovered it had been in an accident when the paint started peeling off the drivers door and wing.
The Fiat was traded in for another 106 GTI, this time a dark blue one. I looked at various other options to not repeat, but couldn't find anything I liked as much for the money. This one had some 15" Speedline alloys and some sticky Toyos added which made it even more of a hoot to drive. I loved this one more than the first and we had a lot of fun together.
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A need for a larger car led to Focus ST170. While no where near as much fun as the 106, nor as competent as some of its contemporaries, this suited us very well dealing with the fun stuff when the opportunity arose and the commute and practical stuff the rest of the time. A trip to Le Mans chasing two mates, each in a 996 Turbo and an Elise, was a highlight and it didn't shame itself despite being laden with beer and camping stuff.
The Focus was joined in 2007 by a mark 3 MX-5, bought new. It was the 2.0 model but an opportune cock up by the dealer allowed me to add the sport wheels, Eibach suspension and various bits of trim, massively improving everything about it.
Before
After
The MX-5 took us round Europe, a trip to Le Mans, numerous excursions to North Wales and everything else in between. I know some people are allergic to '5s but I really rated it and was very sad to see it go.
The arrival of a baby forced a change and some cost saving, so the '5 went and the Focus was replaced by a mark 1 Skoda Ocatvia VRS Estate, a veritable bargain when compared with Audis and BMWs of a similar standard, and with a cavernous boot.
We ran this one for two years before replacing it with, erm, a mark two VRS estate, this time the 170bhp diesel. No one would claim this to be a performance car, but it is a superb affordable all rounder. Mine was a ltd edition with all the extras, making it a really nice place to be. That, and the fact it has been utterly reliable, has meant we've hung on to it far longer than anticipated.
The Octavia was joined for a while by a Ford Ka (great fun, but not worthy of any space here), but that was booted out as swiftly as funds allowed and replaced with a Fiat Panda 100HP.
I love this thing, possibly more than any of my other cars bar the 106. It's very daft, not really that fast, but just great fun and far more practical that its size would suggest. This one will be with us for a while yet.
The Octavia and Panda were joined for seven glorious months by an '07 Porsche Cayman S. An opportunity to buy for a sensible price saw the kids bank accounts emptied and me disappearing off to Snowdonia at every given opportunity. Much is written about the Cayman and in a far more eloquent way than I can manage, but needless to say this thing was simply awesome and opened my eyes to what a 'proper' sports car can do. I will own another one soon.
At that brings me up to date. The Octavia is going next weekend to be replaced by a 63-plate S-Max Titanium X, which I'm actually quite looking forward to getting (which has surprised me). I am still hankering to replace the Panda with a Clio 200 Cup but that's a while off for now.
Cheers
Jez
I started at 17 with a Citroen AX 1.1 TZX. Sadly no pics of this one to hand but it was in pensioner blue, had electric windows (!) and served me brilliantly well for a good 3 or 4 years. Frequent cross country runs across the Cotswolds between my then homeand girlfriend saw the addition of some preposterous Cibie spotlights. Am sure these shaved a good 20 mins off my route PB though did leave me subject to a lot of ridicule from my mates.
This was eventually replaced by a silver Peugeot 106 GTI. God I loved this car. My first experience of 'performance' and handling, plus it had leather and alcantara seats so I thought I was the DBs. The only pic I have to hand of this one is from the scrap yard.. yep, I wrote it off after catastrophically running out of talent on a wet roundabout. Thankfully only the car was damaged. A lesson learnt.
[url]
This was replaced by a Fiat Punto Sporting, the 1.6 model. While it looked OK, it was a hateful thing and I later discovered it had been in an accident when the paint started peeling off the drivers door and wing.
The Fiat was traded in for another 106 GTI, this time a dark blue one. I looked at various other options to not repeat, but couldn't find anything I liked as much for the money. This one had some 15" Speedline alloys and some sticky Toyos added which made it even more of a hoot to drive. I loved this one more than the first and we had a lot of fun together.
[url]
A need for a larger car led to Focus ST170. While no where near as much fun as the 106, nor as competent as some of its contemporaries, this suited us very well dealing with the fun stuff when the opportunity arose and the commute and practical stuff the rest of the time. A trip to Le Mans chasing two mates, each in a 996 Turbo and an Elise, was a highlight and it didn't shame itself despite being laden with beer and camping stuff.
The Focus was joined in 2007 by a mark 3 MX-5, bought new. It was the 2.0 model but an opportune cock up by the dealer allowed me to add the sport wheels, Eibach suspension and various bits of trim, massively improving everything about it.
Before
After
The MX-5 took us round Europe, a trip to Le Mans, numerous excursions to North Wales and everything else in between. I know some people are allergic to '5s but I really rated it and was very sad to see it go.
The arrival of a baby forced a change and some cost saving, so the '5 went and the Focus was replaced by a mark 1 Skoda Ocatvia VRS Estate, a veritable bargain when compared with Audis and BMWs of a similar standard, and with a cavernous boot.
We ran this one for two years before replacing it with, erm, a mark two VRS estate, this time the 170bhp diesel. No one would claim this to be a performance car, but it is a superb affordable all rounder. Mine was a ltd edition with all the extras, making it a really nice place to be. That, and the fact it has been utterly reliable, has meant we've hung on to it far longer than anticipated.
The Octavia was joined for a while by a Ford Ka (great fun, but not worthy of any space here), but that was booted out as swiftly as funds allowed and replaced with a Fiat Panda 100HP.
I love this thing, possibly more than any of my other cars bar the 106. It's very daft, not really that fast, but just great fun and far more practical that its size would suggest. This one will be with us for a while yet.
The Octavia and Panda were joined for seven glorious months by an '07 Porsche Cayman S. An opportunity to buy for a sensible price saw the kids bank accounts emptied and me disappearing off to Snowdonia at every given opportunity. Much is written about the Cayman and in a far more eloquent way than I can manage, but needless to say this thing was simply awesome and opened my eyes to what a 'proper' sports car can do. I will own another one soon.
At that brings me up to date. The Octavia is going next weekend to be replaced by a 63-plate S-Max Titanium X, which I'm actually quite looking forward to getting (which has surprised me). I am still hankering to replace the Panda with a Clio 200 Cup but that's a while off for now.
Cheers
Jez
Thanks for the history, was a good read, you've had some decent cars 
I'm very much a Skoda fan, so approve of the Octavias (I currently have a mk1 Octavia tdi, great car), though should point out that both of those Octys are Mk2s, but one is pre-facelift and the other is post-facelift.
Quite fancy an Octavia VRS estate myself.
I'm very much a Skoda fan, so approve of the Octavias (I currently have a mk1 Octavia tdi, great car), though should point out that both of those Octys are Mk2s, but one is pre-facelift and the other is post-facelift.Quite fancy an Octavia VRS estate myself.
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