Monday 30th November 2015

£100K Garage: Alex Bamber

A pair of gorgeous classics, two legendary hot hatches and plenty more for Alex's dream garage!

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Name: Alex Bamber
Previously owned: 2002 Mini Cooper
Currently owned: 2012 BMW 116i with the full M Performance kit (a sheep in wolf's clothing). I'm only 19 so can't get insured on anything greater than that!
On the shortlist: "I'm very much a fan of pure driving fun without many electronic driver aids due to the fact I used to race karts and I love classics. I'm a keen cyclist so I'd need at least one practical car. I would have loved to have had a 911 964 Turbo with its stupidly wide arches and big wing, but that would blow most of the £100k budget straight away. Also maybe an R32 Skyline GT-R, but for a 4WD monster I'd much rather have the Lancia."

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BMW E21 323i
Cost: £9,999
Balance: £90,001
Why I chose it: "I've always had a thing for the E21 with it being the first 3 Series. I think it's so well proportioned and I love the slanted grille with the big bumper giving it a shark nose look. In manual guise, it would be one of the purest driving experiences you could get and would be great fun down a British B-road. The 323i engine with 143hp on tap would be plenty enough for a RWD car with no electronic driver aids. With it sitting on a set of period BBS wheels it would look gorgeous." [Sadly Alex's choice of E21 has sold but there are more available here - MB]

Alfa Romeo GT Junior
Cost: £15,000-£20,000 at auction (call it £15K for the sake of the budget...)
Balance: £75,001
Why I chose it: "I first saw one of these driving past my home and wondering what the hell it was ever since. It looks gorgeous from every angle and sounds amazing. The 1,600cc engine may only produce 109hp but that doesn't matter to me as it doesn't need much power. This particular one has been fitted with the Alfa Romeo Nord twin-cam which is a gem of an engine (a friend had one in a Spider). The leather interior and big wooden steering wheel make the inside almost as beautiful as the outside." [Interestingly the Alfa was unsold at the auction - MB]

Audi RS6 Plus (C5)
Cost: £19,995
Balance: £55,006
Why I chose it: "I suppose a super barge is needed as I doubt the 1970s cars would be reliable enough for everyday use. The C5 RS6 was the original RS6 and the Plus model had a ridiculous 480hp with the twin-turbo V8 being able to produce much more with a simple map. It's one of the ultimate sleepers and sounds incredible. Although the fuel economy will be terrible I wouldn't mind for having that much power in an estate car!"

Westfield Megablade
Cost: £7,450
Balance: £47,556
Why I chose it: "For an absolute riot of a car it would have to be a Westfield. My uncle used to hillclimb his Rover K Series engined Westfield and I'd occasionally call shotgun on his sprints. Having a bike engine inside one of those things would make it unreal. The sheer noise of the engine revving up to 11,000 rpm would be insane. Plus having 147hp in a car that weighs less than 500kg means 0-60mph in around 4 seconds. For that price I don't know what would be more fun and would accelerate quite like that. Ideally though I'd like a windscreen!"

Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evo II
Cost: £37,495
Balance: £10,061
Why I chose it: "In my opinion the Delta Integrale HF is the king of the hot hatches. It's one of the closest things to a rally car for the road. The fact that in 1993 when the Evo II came around a hatchback had AWD and could do 0-60mph in 5.5 seconds is mind blowing. It's still quick even by today's standards and would easily hold its own I think. It also has a brilliant squatted stance and I'm a big fan of its chunky look."

Mini Cooper JCW GP
Cost: £9,999
Balance: £62 (This would probably be spent on tins of Waxoyl for the Lancia and Alfa)
Why I chose it: "I've loved the new Minis ever since owning mine. I think they're great fun and that the original GP is one of the best. Having a supercharger in a car like this in my mind is brilliant. Listening to the whine it makes when you give it the beans and having instant boost sounds great! It looks fantastic as well with a ridiculous spoiler on the back and a great big bar replacing the back seats. This car on a country road would be tremendous fun!" [Another sold car frustratingly! See the rest of the Mini GPs on PH here - MB]

[crostonian]

Decent selection there, particularly the Alfa and the Lancia. E21 323i's are great looking cars but probably one of the worst handling BMWs, certainly one of the scariest. Don't quite get the Audi either, granted it's a great car and rare but £20k would get you a much newer, less borkworthy fast estate from Audi, BMW or Mercedes albeit maybe not the rarity value. Anyway good to see a 19 year old with some proper car knowledge.