From Talbot Samba to E60 M5 - my car history!
Discussion
Hello all
I have enjoyed reading everyone’s car histories and now, having turned 40 this week, I thought it was time I put mine together – hope you enjoy!
My car history was and remains a mix of everyday cars as well as affordable classics.
It all started in 1991 when my parents bought me my first car – a 1983 Talbot Samba 1.0 in yellow. My first taste of freedom! At the time I didn’t know that the Samba was a rally car!
Very slow but great fun and enjoyed taking my first girlfriends out in it!
My one and only mod was to buy some hard to find Cabriolet 5 spoke alloy wheels for it!
Would still love a cabriolet today with the 1400 engine in it – think it’s the same engine as the 205 GT!
The Samba kept me going through uni and I loved it.
In 1997 I started work after uni and very quickly started to earn some money. I had one car that I wanted – a Volvo 480 ES!!
Not my actual car but identical!
Pop-up headlights – what’s not too like! Mine was metallic grey and boy did it shift well. I upgraded to 15 inch OZ wheels and felt like a film star! Now becoming a bit of a classic…….I think!
At the same time, I decided I needed a classic car and bought this………a 1957 Austin A35.
I was living on the Isle of Wight at the time and there is quite a big classic car movement over there. It was great fun and got me into tinkering for the first time.
2 years on and in 1999 I got my first company car – a Black, petrol (1.8) Citroen Xantia.
Nothing to say about this other than it was free!
The 480 and the A35 went and I put the money in the bank, trying desperately to start saving some money. That didn’t last long and the need for a 2nd car (non company car) came along and it had to be a classic convertible – enter my 1972 RWA MG Midget.
Loved this car and kept it at my parents house for over 10 years from 2000 to 2011 – had the engine out in this to move it to Stage 1 and replace the gearbox. Quite a bit of tinkering and bodywork was done over the years. It was a brilliant handling car and my first real taste of rear wheel drive (A35 didn’t really count!). I kept it for years and only sold it 3 years ago when the bodywork started to become a bit of an issue and I didn’t really want to throw any more money at it.
In 2002 I was very lucky to be relocated to Italy with my work and enjoyed 2 Italian company cars – it had to be Alfa!
2002 I chose a 2.0 twin spark 147 – these were new at the time. I loved this and at only 26 years old I felt I was an Italian Stallion! All was fine until I feel asleep on the motorway one day in the fast lane and wrote the car off!
This was then replaced with a 2.4 JTD 156 in Alfa Red. This was a proper bit of kit – amazing engine at the time and I absolutely loved my company car!
Whilst in Italy I was earning a lot of money and fulfilled an ambition – a 911 at the tender age of 28!
I purchased this in 2004 – a 1989 964 Carrera 4. I paid 17000 Euros at the time. I had no idea what I was buying but I fell in love. Kept it in Italy for another year and loved it.
I eventually moved back to the UK in 2005 and got it checked out by a dealer – tuned out it needed brakes all round as well as front wishbones – ouch!
I then set about modifying it, first lowering it on H&R springs and then going through a few different sets of wheels. The very dodgy numberplate also came along – C4 (Carrera 4) HCT (HOT) – I know, I know….shameful! An amazing car for my age and I only sold it as it needed a new clutch and I couldn’t stomach the 2500£ they wanted to change it…..
Company car change again (2006) as I was back in the UK – this time in the form of an Audi A4 S Line 2.0 TDI.
I know these get slated but on A and B roads I think it was a weapon. I loved it for his refinement and torque – today I am sure it would feel old but at the time I loved it.
Between 2006 to 2009, I kept the 911 and the company car but then went through a few other toys (modern classics). First up was a last of line XJS 4.0.
Proper cruiser and I love the lines of the facelift with the big bumpers. Bought on Ebay for £2200 during a drunken bid – it was lovely except for some serious welding to the sills needed for the MOT. Sold it on after a year and got more than I paid for it.
Next up in 2008 was a classic Saab 900 convertible.
It unfortunately wasn’t a turbo but I soon sourced some nice 3 spokes for it and lowered it a little. People love these cars and it is now becoming quite a sort-after classic. Again, kept and enjoyed for a year and then sold on for same as I paid for it.
Back to the Porsche – it was an amazing car to own for my age and I only sold it as it needed a new clutch and I couldn’t stomach the 2500£ they wanted to change it…..So, I drove it carefully to a dealer and traded it for a 2000 TVR Cerbera Speed 6. Looking back, the Porsche would now be worth north of £20,000 so I should have kept it but hey, you live and learn.
The TVR was “fairly” easy to live with as a 2nd car. I kept it in the UK for a couple of years and was then relocated again back to Italy in 2009 – guess what? The TVR came with me. For a country with names like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Italy and the Italians were in awe of the Cerbera. Wherever I went, this thing turned heads like no other car! I guess the sound from the engine/exhaust helped!
Company car at the time was a bog standard Passat Estate – no pics I’m afraid!
I got married to my very understanding wife and then in 2011 we moved back to the UK, settling in Northampton. The car bug continued and joy of joys, my new job had a great salary and a very flexible contribution to company car. So, out I went shopping!
We were in 2011 and I really wanted an E39 M5. Went to see loads and couldn’t find one I liked. Instead I fell for this MINT MSport 530d.
I loved this car – it was I amazing condition with very low miles and the lovely Parallel 18s. I had the swirl flaps removed and then had it mapped from 180 to 220hp with a nice hike in torque.
Eventually (after only 9 months) I started looking at M5s again and traded my 530d for this LeMans Blue E39 M5.
What a car! Everything people say is true – a proper old school muscle car! I had the muffler delete done, wheels refurbed and bits of rust done – the usual areas: boot lid, sill ends, fuel cap area etc. I had this for a year but I was in danger of chasing rust. I like my cars to be mint and I couldn’t justify spending the money on the bodywork.
2013 was a big car year – lots of changes! My everyday M5 was replaced with this monster – a 2004 CL600 biturbo.
My god – what a car. 500 HP and over 500 lbs of torque. Weighted over 2 tonnes but went from 0 to 60 in under 4.5 seconds. Had the air suspension lowered slightly and put it on Merc 20 inch rims for a while. Bit to bling so quickly reverted to the standard AMG 19 wheels.
Had the exhaust done to release some of the V12 noise and had very little issue with it. The coil packs were done at £500 quid (from memory) and I had to have the dash display fixed at £100 instead of the £1000 that Merc wanted!. Other than that, what a weapon and I loved the styling.
2013 was the time when I sold the Cerbera – just wasn’t using it and had lost confidence in the engine’s ability not to blow up! So I pocketed some cash and instead got into another modern classic – a 500 SL
Beautiful, beautiful car – 326 HP of effortless V8 power. Amazing for the summer and build out of granite! Other than replacing the well-known dodgy distributor caps, it needed nothing! Purchased for £5000 in 2013 and sold for £6250 last year – lovely.
I then played around with buying and selling classics for a while.
First up was a 1966 Austin 1100 with only 40,000 miles on it.
Purchased from a farm for £900 – I kept it for 3 months, cleaned it up and sold it for £1700 – lovely
Next up was a 944 S2 – again, bargain on Ebay for £1800 – fixed it up and enjoyed it for 3 months and then sold on for £2900.
Loved the way it handled – I would really like a good Turbo one day or a 968. Perfect 50/50 weight distribution.
2014 – pretty much up to date – a couple more changes to the fleet!
The CL600 made way for my current E60 M5.
It was purchased as a 2006 68,000 mile M5 with no service history, I quickly found out however (during inspection) that at 66,000 miles it had had a BMW warranty paid for NEW ENGINE, FLYWHEEL AND CLUTCH! Warranty bill was over £18,000. I snapped the dealers arm off!
I know these have terrible reputations but believe me, this is a FANTASTIC car! I don’t understand why the SMG gearbox gets so much grief – put it in maximum attack and use the paddles and there is nothing to touch it. 500 HP and that sound……. (I had the muffler delete done – I have friendly neighbours!). Since having it, I have had some money spent on it – wheels refurbed, servicing, sticky injector and new battery cable. Yes, they are expensive to run but well worth it.
I genuinely don’t know what you could replace it with for the money – I looked at 4200s, XJRs, XKRs, RS4s etc – nothing touches this.
At the other end of the scale I decided I needed another fun project and purchased this 1986 replica Cooper.
I spent a lot to buy it - £4000 but I love the looks. This year I really got my hands dirty and took the engine out (1.0) and replaced it with a MG 1275 – bought myself an engine crane and a Haynes manual and cracked on!
That brings us up to date – next car will probably be a 911 turbo or maybe a new shape CL600….we’ll see!
Thanks for reading!
Simon
I have enjoyed reading everyone’s car histories and now, having turned 40 this week, I thought it was time I put mine together – hope you enjoy!
My car history was and remains a mix of everyday cars as well as affordable classics.
It all started in 1991 when my parents bought me my first car – a 1983 Talbot Samba 1.0 in yellow. My first taste of freedom! At the time I didn’t know that the Samba was a rally car!
Very slow but great fun and enjoyed taking my first girlfriends out in it!
My one and only mod was to buy some hard to find Cabriolet 5 spoke alloy wheels for it!
Would still love a cabriolet today with the 1400 engine in it – think it’s the same engine as the 205 GT!
The Samba kept me going through uni and I loved it.
In 1997 I started work after uni and very quickly started to earn some money. I had one car that I wanted – a Volvo 480 ES!!
Not my actual car but identical!
Pop-up headlights – what’s not too like! Mine was metallic grey and boy did it shift well. I upgraded to 15 inch OZ wheels and felt like a film star! Now becoming a bit of a classic…….I think!
At the same time, I decided I needed a classic car and bought this………a 1957 Austin A35.
I was living on the Isle of Wight at the time and there is quite a big classic car movement over there. It was great fun and got me into tinkering for the first time.
2 years on and in 1999 I got my first company car – a Black, petrol (1.8) Citroen Xantia.
Nothing to say about this other than it was free!
The 480 and the A35 went and I put the money in the bank, trying desperately to start saving some money. That didn’t last long and the need for a 2nd car (non company car) came along and it had to be a classic convertible – enter my 1972 RWA MG Midget.
Loved this car and kept it at my parents house for over 10 years from 2000 to 2011 – had the engine out in this to move it to Stage 1 and replace the gearbox. Quite a bit of tinkering and bodywork was done over the years. It was a brilliant handling car and my first real taste of rear wheel drive (A35 didn’t really count!). I kept it for years and only sold it 3 years ago when the bodywork started to become a bit of an issue and I didn’t really want to throw any more money at it.
In 2002 I was very lucky to be relocated to Italy with my work and enjoyed 2 Italian company cars – it had to be Alfa!
2002 I chose a 2.0 twin spark 147 – these were new at the time. I loved this and at only 26 years old I felt I was an Italian Stallion! All was fine until I feel asleep on the motorway one day in the fast lane and wrote the car off!
This was then replaced with a 2.4 JTD 156 in Alfa Red. This was a proper bit of kit – amazing engine at the time and I absolutely loved my company car!
Whilst in Italy I was earning a lot of money and fulfilled an ambition – a 911 at the tender age of 28!
I purchased this in 2004 – a 1989 964 Carrera 4. I paid 17000 Euros at the time. I had no idea what I was buying but I fell in love. Kept it in Italy for another year and loved it.
I eventually moved back to the UK in 2005 and got it checked out by a dealer – tuned out it needed brakes all round as well as front wishbones – ouch!
I then set about modifying it, first lowering it on H&R springs and then going through a few different sets of wheels. The very dodgy numberplate also came along – C4 (Carrera 4) HCT (HOT) – I know, I know….shameful! An amazing car for my age and I only sold it as it needed a new clutch and I couldn’t stomach the 2500£ they wanted to change it…..
Company car change again (2006) as I was back in the UK – this time in the form of an Audi A4 S Line 2.0 TDI.
I know these get slated but on A and B roads I think it was a weapon. I loved it for his refinement and torque – today I am sure it would feel old but at the time I loved it.
Between 2006 to 2009, I kept the 911 and the company car but then went through a few other toys (modern classics). First up was a last of line XJS 4.0.
Proper cruiser and I love the lines of the facelift with the big bumpers. Bought on Ebay for £2200 during a drunken bid – it was lovely except for some serious welding to the sills needed for the MOT. Sold it on after a year and got more than I paid for it.
Next up in 2008 was a classic Saab 900 convertible.
It unfortunately wasn’t a turbo but I soon sourced some nice 3 spokes for it and lowered it a little. People love these cars and it is now becoming quite a sort-after classic. Again, kept and enjoyed for a year and then sold on for same as I paid for it.
Back to the Porsche – it was an amazing car to own for my age and I only sold it as it needed a new clutch and I couldn’t stomach the 2500£ they wanted to change it…..So, I drove it carefully to a dealer and traded it for a 2000 TVR Cerbera Speed 6. Looking back, the Porsche would now be worth north of £20,000 so I should have kept it but hey, you live and learn.
The TVR was “fairly” easy to live with as a 2nd car. I kept it in the UK for a couple of years and was then relocated again back to Italy in 2009 – guess what? The TVR came with me. For a country with names like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Italy and the Italians were in awe of the Cerbera. Wherever I went, this thing turned heads like no other car! I guess the sound from the engine/exhaust helped!
Company car at the time was a bog standard Passat Estate – no pics I’m afraid!
I got married to my very understanding wife and then in 2011 we moved back to the UK, settling in Northampton. The car bug continued and joy of joys, my new job had a great salary and a very flexible contribution to company car. So, out I went shopping!
We were in 2011 and I really wanted an E39 M5. Went to see loads and couldn’t find one I liked. Instead I fell for this MINT MSport 530d.
I loved this car – it was I amazing condition with very low miles and the lovely Parallel 18s. I had the swirl flaps removed and then had it mapped from 180 to 220hp with a nice hike in torque.
Eventually (after only 9 months) I started looking at M5s again and traded my 530d for this LeMans Blue E39 M5.
What a car! Everything people say is true – a proper old school muscle car! I had the muffler delete done, wheels refurbed and bits of rust done – the usual areas: boot lid, sill ends, fuel cap area etc. I had this for a year but I was in danger of chasing rust. I like my cars to be mint and I couldn’t justify spending the money on the bodywork.
2013 was a big car year – lots of changes! My everyday M5 was replaced with this monster – a 2004 CL600 biturbo.
My god – what a car. 500 HP and over 500 lbs of torque. Weighted over 2 tonnes but went from 0 to 60 in under 4.5 seconds. Had the air suspension lowered slightly and put it on Merc 20 inch rims for a while. Bit to bling so quickly reverted to the standard AMG 19 wheels.
Had the exhaust done to release some of the V12 noise and had very little issue with it. The coil packs were done at £500 quid (from memory) and I had to have the dash display fixed at £100 instead of the £1000 that Merc wanted!. Other than that, what a weapon and I loved the styling.
2013 was the time when I sold the Cerbera – just wasn’t using it and had lost confidence in the engine’s ability not to blow up! So I pocketed some cash and instead got into another modern classic – a 500 SL
Beautiful, beautiful car – 326 HP of effortless V8 power. Amazing for the summer and build out of granite! Other than replacing the well-known dodgy distributor caps, it needed nothing! Purchased for £5000 in 2013 and sold for £6250 last year – lovely.
I then played around with buying and selling classics for a while.
First up was a 1966 Austin 1100 with only 40,000 miles on it.
Purchased from a farm for £900 – I kept it for 3 months, cleaned it up and sold it for £1700 – lovely
Next up was a 944 S2 – again, bargain on Ebay for £1800 – fixed it up and enjoyed it for 3 months and then sold on for £2900.
Loved the way it handled – I would really like a good Turbo one day or a 968. Perfect 50/50 weight distribution.
2014 – pretty much up to date – a couple more changes to the fleet!
The CL600 made way for my current E60 M5.
It was purchased as a 2006 68,000 mile M5 with no service history, I quickly found out however (during inspection) that at 66,000 miles it had had a BMW warranty paid for NEW ENGINE, FLYWHEEL AND CLUTCH! Warranty bill was over £18,000. I snapped the dealers arm off!
I know these have terrible reputations but believe me, this is a FANTASTIC car! I don’t understand why the SMG gearbox gets so much grief – put it in maximum attack and use the paddles and there is nothing to touch it. 500 HP and that sound……. (I had the muffler delete done – I have friendly neighbours!). Since having it, I have had some money spent on it – wheels refurbed, servicing, sticky injector and new battery cable. Yes, they are expensive to run but well worth it.
I genuinely don’t know what you could replace it with for the money – I looked at 4200s, XJRs, XKRs, RS4s etc – nothing touches this.
At the other end of the scale I decided I needed another fun project and purchased this 1986 replica Cooper.
I spent a lot to buy it - £4000 but I love the looks. This year I really got my hands dirty and took the engine out (1.0) and replaced it with a MG 1275 – bought myself an engine crane and a Haynes manual and cracked on!
That brings us up to date – next car will probably be a 911 turbo or maybe a new shape CL600….we’ll see!
Thanks for reading!
Simon
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff