RE: £100K Garage: Michael Suter

RE: £100K Garage: Michael Suter

Thursday 5th March 2015

£100K Garage: Michael Suter

A 911 Turbo, a TVR Griffith and one of the maddest Defenders you've ever seen for Michael's fantasy garage



Name: Michael Suter
Previously owned: Daewoo Lanos 1.4 SE (never buy a car with your parents; awful, just awful!), Fiat Punto Sporting Mk2, Peugeot 206 1.4 Verve (went car shopping with the parents again, apocalyptically dull car!), Peugeot 206 GTI 180, SEAT Ibiza Cupra GTI 2.0 8v, Ford Fiesta ST, Ford Focus RS Mk1, Mazda MX-5 1.8is Mk1, Porsche 944 S2, Toyota MR2 Mk3
Currently owned: Mitsubishi GTO Twin Turbo, Fiat Cinquecento Sporting
On the shortlist: "I had nothing particular in mind, but I've got a theory that the perfect garage should have four cars that fill four specific roles (I know I've picked five but all will make sense, sort of!). They are: a stonkingly fast GT-type car for high speed medium/long journeys, a focused sports car for weekend fun, a cheap, cheerful, back to basics hatchback that's easy to whip round town and can be thrashed everywhere! Finally a practical(ish) car that can carry four or more people and fulfil any task I threw at it!"



Porsche 911 Turbo (997)
Cost:
£47,999
Balance: £52,001
Why I chose it: "This should fill the very fast GTish role nicely! A Turbo also work nicely as my daily driver as it's comfortable, easy to drive, has all-weather traction and it should get me where I want to go fairly sharpish! I can't comprehend how fast this car would feel as I find my current twin turbocharged car with half this power treats the national speed limit with absolute disdain! I just love the wide hip look of this car, to me it is everything a 911 should be and I feel the 997 will go down as one of the greats in 911 history. I also think the black on black looks positively evil, like it should be at some kind of midnight club type illegal street race!"

TVR Griffith 500
Cost:
£24,990
Balance: £27,011
Why I chose it: "I think every true petrol head should have a TVR at some point. Any TVR would have done as they are all just awesome; the noise, drama, looks, rawness and general don't-give-a-f*** un-PC attitude! It makes me so sad we'll never see their like again in this increasingly sanitised world. This particular one just looks stunning, I think I'd be tempted to just drive it everywhere just for the noise. But hopefully it would be used on odd weekend here and there to savour every moment of glorious Blackpool insanity! And maybe just occasionally for the odd road trip to places like Wales, Scotland, Route Napoleon, the Alps..."


Tiger Cat E1
Cost:
£6,995
Balance: £20,016
Why I chose it: "This will be my second weekend sports car, as the TVR is just too special to use all the time. Obviously being much more of a compromised car this would just be for days out up to the coast when just fancy a quick thrash and at a push possibly the the odd overnighter here and there, as it does come with a bag! I can just imagine winding my way across the countryside, car and driver as one, driving fast but travelling slow. Then there's the thrill of that perfectly time downshift, blipping the throttle and hearing the revs flare with that exhaust being so close to my ear hole! When the sun is blazing there would be some priceless moments with a car like this and I'm grinning like a Cheshire cat at the very thought of it!"

Ford Sportka SE
Cost:
£2,350
Balance: £17,666
Why I chose it: "I think the description sold me on this one! Seriously though, this would be ideal for making trips into town. Small, simple, wheel-at-each-corner fun, perfect for cutting through heavy traffic and whipping round tight car parks. Its small size means it can be parked almost anywhere and modest power means you can drive with the throttle nailed almost permanently and not have to worry too much about getting into trouble! One of the other reasons I chose this particular small car is that it reminds me of the Mk1 Focus RS I had. I know it's worlds away, but I think it looks almost like a mini-me version with its (relatively) aggressive bodykit, Imperial Blue paint and gaudy blue interior. I only hope some of its big brothers fast ford DNA has trickled down."


Land Rover Defender 90
Cost:
£16,949
Balance: £717
Why I chose it: "Just look a it! I don't think it could be possible for a Defender to look any more aggressive short of having a machine gun and armour plates fitted! For some reason I've always loved the idea of having a Defender, though I doubt I'd ever do any serious off-roading it's nice to know if the situation arose, I could! However it does have plenty of space for moving people/things around, so in my eyes that makes it practical! Though I'd have to wrestle the key off my girlfriend anytime I wanted to use it, as she also loves Defenders. Her criteria for one being it has to be short wheelbase, with a snorkel and it has to have the ability to "run over stuff". This should fit the bill nicely!

"The remainder would go on petrol/diesel and PistonHeads smileys for all my new metal."



   


Author
Discussion

Jwhite84

Original Poster:

14 posts

118 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
quotequote all
Well at least these choices are a bit more original than the "James Cook" £100k raid of the PH Heroes list last week.

Bacchus

601 posts

283 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
quotequote all
nothing wrong with last weeks choice! It's a fantasy garage!

Ryvita

712 posts

209 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
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That Defender... *bites lip*

Surprisingly cheap given the looks? Is it a bit, 'all mouth no trousers' or is it as capable as it looks? hard to tell without more detail on the mods I guess.

soad

32,825 posts

175 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
quotequote all
Sport Ka = low gearing, uncomfortable seats, wheezy engine...girly image too. hehe

smilo996

2,754 posts

169 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
quotequote all
Never a truer word, very funny....Daewoo Lanos 1.4 SE (never buy a car with your parents; awful, just awful!), Fiat Punto Sporting Mk2, Peugeot 206 1.4 Verve (went car shopping with the parents again, apocalyptically dull car!)

Great garage, well argued and just a bit different, well except fot the Porsche of course.

Glad to see some quality garages turning up still.

andrewcliffe

936 posts

223 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
quotequote all
Sport Ka's are good fun - they suffer from rust and go through wishbone bushes regularly, but my wife had one for a couple of years and loved it, and I enjoyed bombing round the city in it collecting a take-away. She did all her own maintenance on it (incl. wishbone bushes and springs) and it never broke down.

ellisd82

685 posts

207 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
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What a top garage! I would ditch the Tiger for a Motorbike, but decent spending!

soad

32,825 posts

175 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
quotequote all
ellisd82 said:
What a top garage! I would ditch the Tiger for a Motorbike, but decent spending!
Most would need an additional licence for that.

lasvegas1966

55 posts

117 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
quotequote all
lured in by the sight of the landy, suckered again. after reading the prev owned, the rest was already written in stone. yup, just had a look, same ol same ol. shame, the landy looked ok, nice from afar, far from nice

billywhizzzzzz

1,989 posts

142 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
quotequote all
Oh dear. Not sure I've seen a more horrible Defender. Except for those Kahn horrors. And, oh dear again, a nasty, ugly fake Caterham. With £100k for christ sakes, surely you could have a proper one. And a 'fantasy' garage that includes a Ford bloody Ka?