Perfect two car fleets...
Discussion
OK – so i'm not talking 'money no object' – i'm talking about actual real life choices based on a realistic budget...
...And you ought to factor in running costs too!!!
In the past i've been guilty of chopping and changing my cars on a (sometimes very) regular basis in search of the perfect vehicle that will cater for all of my motoring needs. Myself and the Mrs both need our vehicles for work and get through our fair share of miles – so frugality has always been something that has relevance to us. For years and years I restricted my choice of vehicle to something that would return 'acceptable' MPGs – but recently I had something of an epiphany...
I decided to try running two cars (well three in total as the Mrs has her XC60 too). I'd buy a cheap snotter for daily duties and then have a 'nice' car for when the fancy takes me. I've had several different combinations of 'nice' car & 'snotter' car (or 'turd' as they have affectionately come to be referred to in our household) – but i've settled on a current combo that just seems to be absolutely perfect for my needs. The combo is as follows:
Porsche 911 (996) Carrera 2 Convertible (manual) & Land Rover Freelander Td4 (auto)
I do love a bargain fixer-upper and both were acquired as such. The 911 was snapped up over the winter for a mere £8k. It had a non functioning roof and just required some general sprucing up. I absolutely love this car. I used to be really pretentious and derogatory about anything with a soft top – but as i've become older (and stopped going to the 'ring chasing lower lap times) i've come to realise that the wonderful sense of occasion that can be felt by having fresh air envelop you as you drive around the countryside of East Sussex outweighs the penalty of additional weight and reduced rigidity by a factor of around a million percent. I would never have been able to justify running one of these back in the days of having just the one car. Simply awesome. I'm now a fully signed up Porsche saddo nerd.
The Freelander was also a total bargain. Sub £400 due to a knackered waterpump – but once fixed it has proven to be an incredibly reliable, comfortable and versatile hack. We have two very big Labradors and I occassionally go into some woodland that a friend owns – so this is just perfect. It has heated leather and the all important BMW Td4 engine. I'm a total convert to auto gearboxes for the daily commute too. Allows significantly easier coffee / snack consumption and makes stop-start jams a doddle. Following some wiley e-Bay 2nd hand purchases and some DIYing i've also now installed an Alpine Bluetooth audio system with i-phone charging dock that caters for all my telephony / DAB / streaming needs along with some upgraded speakers (including a Bose sub). The desire to keep spending to a minimum given the vehicles value meant that this was all done for under £100 and just makes it a pleasure to spend my commuting time in.
So that's it – this is my optimum 2 car fleet for my motoring needs. A cheap, comfortable 40MPG dog-&woodland-friendly daily commuter with 21st century media capabilities (and that actually looks good to my eye once it's caked in mud) paired with one of Stuttgart's finest rag-tops...
I don't think I can come up with a better pairing for me at this price point... Suggestions welcome though of course!!!
Has anyone else out there found their ideal 2 car fleet for their motoring needs???![](http://thumbsnap.com/sc/iWjPhiUa.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/NNNxR65j" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/NNNxR65j.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/uzTIdxIw" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/uzTIdxIw.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/qvRBkQO3" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/qvRBkQO3.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="http://thumbsnap.com/NNNxR65j" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]http://thumbsnap.com/sc/NNNxR65j.jpg)
...And you ought to factor in running costs too!!!
In the past i've been guilty of chopping and changing my cars on a (sometimes very) regular basis in search of the perfect vehicle that will cater for all of my motoring needs. Myself and the Mrs both need our vehicles for work and get through our fair share of miles – so frugality has always been something that has relevance to us. For years and years I restricted my choice of vehicle to something that would return 'acceptable' MPGs – but recently I had something of an epiphany...
I decided to try running two cars (well three in total as the Mrs has her XC60 too). I'd buy a cheap snotter for daily duties and then have a 'nice' car for when the fancy takes me. I've had several different combinations of 'nice' car & 'snotter' car (or 'turd' as they have affectionately come to be referred to in our household) – but i've settled on a current combo that just seems to be absolutely perfect for my needs. The combo is as follows:
Porsche 911 (996) Carrera 2 Convertible (manual) & Land Rover Freelander Td4 (auto)
I do love a bargain fixer-upper and both were acquired as such. The 911 was snapped up over the winter for a mere £8k. It had a non functioning roof and just required some general sprucing up. I absolutely love this car. I used to be really pretentious and derogatory about anything with a soft top – but as i've become older (and stopped going to the 'ring chasing lower lap times) i've come to realise that the wonderful sense of occasion that can be felt by having fresh air envelop you as you drive around the countryside of East Sussex outweighs the penalty of additional weight and reduced rigidity by a factor of around a million percent. I would never have been able to justify running one of these back in the days of having just the one car. Simply awesome. I'm now a fully signed up Porsche saddo nerd.
The Freelander was also a total bargain. Sub £400 due to a knackered waterpump – but once fixed it has proven to be an incredibly reliable, comfortable and versatile hack. We have two very big Labradors and I occassionally go into some woodland that a friend owns – so this is just perfect. It has heated leather and the all important BMW Td4 engine. I'm a total convert to auto gearboxes for the daily commute too. Allows significantly easier coffee / snack consumption and makes stop-start jams a doddle. Following some wiley e-Bay 2nd hand purchases and some DIYing i've also now installed an Alpine Bluetooth audio system with i-phone charging dock that caters for all my telephony / DAB / streaming needs along with some upgraded speakers (including a Bose sub). The desire to keep spending to a minimum given the vehicles value meant that this was all done for under £100 and just makes it a pleasure to spend my commuting time in.
So that's it – this is my optimum 2 car fleet for my motoring needs. A cheap, comfortable 40MPG dog-&woodland-friendly daily commuter with 21st century media capabilities (and that actually looks good to my eye once it's caked in mud) paired with one of Stuttgart's finest rag-tops...
I don't think I can come up with a better pairing for me at this price point... Suggestions welcome though of course!!!
Has anyone else out there found their ideal 2 car fleet for their motoring needs???
Some excellent suggestions there - in particular I do have a soft spot for Easy_Targa's M roadster... Awesome car, awesome engine and probably within the capabilities of even a ham fisted oaf like me to do skids in.
turboteeth also makes a good point about the Cayman - it's important that the 'fun' car is presentable enough to be proud of as you walk away from it in a pub car park on Sunday afternoon - but at the same time sufficiently imperfect such that you don't experience the slightest bit of guilt / trepidation when wringing it's neck down your favourite section of local country road (in my case the Beachy Head loop)
turboteeth also makes a good point about the Cayman - it's important that the 'fun' car is presentable enough to be proud of as you walk away from it in a pub car park on Sunday afternoon - but at the same time sufficiently imperfect such that you don't experience the slightest bit of guilt / trepidation when wringing it's neck down your favourite section of local country road (in my case the Beachy Head loop)
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