£100K Garage: Christian Gibson
A poignant £100K selection as PHer tries assembling a fleet of all his late father's previously owned cars
Previously owned: -
Currently owned: VW UP!
On the shortlist: "Earlier this year my father passed away, he was massively into his cars and I felt that it would be interesting to see if I could make a £100K garage of all the models he owned. Not everything he owned is in the classifieds, most notably being his first car (a Morris Marina) although I'm sure he would be rather pleased that it hasn't made it into this garage!"
Renault 5
Cost: £14,995
Balance: £85,005
Why I chose it: "So his Renault 5 was a 1972 model year but unsurprisingly there seems to be a lack of those available (they've probably all rusted away) so this will have to do! This was his second car which he very kindly gave to my mum to learn to drive in."
Cost: £9,000
Balance: £76,005
Why I chose it: "For his third car he decided to go for a classic sports car. This model is rather expensive but as his was yellow with the same style wheels I had to choose this one. His mother in-law was highly jealous of this car at the time and he famously let her drive it once, something I image he was rather brave to do!"
Volkswagen Golf
Cost: £4,400
Balance: £71,605
Why I chose it: "Although technically he had three Polos during the 80s there are none available in the classifieds so we will have to go for this Golf GTI, which looks relatively similar and I'm sure he always aspired to one at the time. After an incredibly nasty crash in his C-reg Polo where he was pushed under a lorry he became huge fans of German build quality and safety. This set the scene for the rest of his cars and indeed led to him buying my sister and I Volkswagens for our first cars due to their safety."
Cost: £3,200
Balance: £68,405
Why I chose it: "This was the first of many BMWs of which he became incredibly fond of. I still think the E30 is one of the best looking cars that BMW ever built. The first one he had came with the classic bottle top alloys and looked incredibly smart."
BMW E30 Touring
Cost: £2,800
Balance: £65,605
Why I chose it: "With a young family he decided that he needed the estate version and as such bought a beautiful red Touring version. This came with the stunning looking 15-inch BBS alloys which set the car off perfectly. This car was driven all over Europe and we have a fabulous picture of the E30 between two Trabants in Eastern Germany. This was possibly my favourite car that he owned and one day I hope to buy a Touring shell and recreate what he had only with a E36 M3 engine conversion in!"
Cost: £2,450
Balance: £63,155
Why I chose it: "He then moved back to a saloon version of the 3 Series. However, there were none in the classifieds so I've replaced it with this rather nice coupe. The saloon however had to be replaced rather quickly..."
BMW E36 Touring
Cost: £1,995
Balance: £61,160
Why I chose it: "In 1996 I came along. However, after recently buying the saloon version they found out that my travel cot would not fit in the boot. So he had to quickly change it for a touring version. This was the car that clearly started my lifelong obsession with cars and there are many a pictures of me as a three-year-old sitting in the driver's seat of this car."
BMW E46 Touring
Cost: £2,495
Balance: £58,665
Why I chose it: "Another 3 series Touring... this would be his last 3 Series after around 15 years of having one he was soon to move onto bigger and better BMWs. I've always thought the 17-inch alloys looked fabulous on this model."
Cost: £7,000
Balance: £51,665
Why I chose it: "If the E36 Touring started my love of cars then it was this car which cemented it. A good six months was spent choosing between a 5 Series, X5 or Cayenne, something I can still vividly remember. This car was fabulous for the long summer drive to the Dordogne. Although he really wanted the Porsche after they invited him out to a off-road course and track to test it he decided that all the capability of it would be wasted on him. And so settled for the 5 Series instead."
Mini Cooper
Cost: £3,876
Balance: £47,789
Why I chose it: "Originally he bought this car for my mum but she took a dislike to the small boot and so decided to use it for himself. This model is identical to the one we owned. I think the white roof with the Chilli red paint looks great and the 16-inch alloys seemed to fit the car well. The seats in this generation of Mini were horribly uncomfortable though."
Cost: £5,995
Balance: £41,794
Why I chose it: "This was possibly one of the best cars that he ever owned. After a fall-out with BMW over the amount of faults with the 5 Series he switched ship to Audi after seeing this demonstrator on the forecourt, within two days it was traded in and then kept for six years - a huge achievement for him having changed his cars on average every 2.5 years! The mechanic at the Audi dealership regarded this engine as one of the best that Audi ever made, something we had to agree with. The build quality of this car was second to none, and the special edition model came with the nicer alloys and fantastic leather seats. The noise from the sports exhaust on it was also particularly good and was very easy to tell when it drove down the drive."
Mercedes SLK
Cost: £13,250
Balance: £28,544
Why I chose it: "After owning estates for many years he decided that a sports car was in order, and so in 2008 he decided that the SLK was the one for him. He found a beautiful 2005 SLK 200 with every option ticked with only 4000 miles on the clock. This was bought and loved for two years and a half until one day he watched the car being stolen from right outside his office window. He then bought a facelifted model identical to the one from the classifieds which although not as nicely optioned as the first it was a real jump up in build quality and features."
Cost: £18,450
Balance: £10,094
Why I chose it: "After changing jobs and now facing a long motorway commute on the M25 he felt he wanted a bigger car after seeing accidents almost daily. The SLK was traded in and a new C-Class was bought. Despite missing his convertible he felt the C-Class was nice to drive and he really enjoyed the torque of the diesel engine."
Porsche 996 Carrera
Cost: £9,000
Balance: £1,094
Why I chose it: "Dad never managed to make his dream of owning a 911 come true but with £9,000 left in the kitty I felt it was appropriate to add one to this list. Although I'm not a fan of the wheels on this model it was the only one which came in on budget! He was planning on getting one for his 60th birthday and hopefully one day I can realise his and my dream of owning a 911 as well!"
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Two stand out points. The steering wheel on that E30 touring is actually criminal... and I can't believe a 5GTT is worth £15k!
Well worth doing over a pint when you next have some time with your dad.
nice writeup OP.
Well worth doing over a pint when you next have some time with your dad.
nice writeup OP.
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