RE: Ford Capri 3.0 S: £15K Competition Update
Tuesday 20th October 2015
It's been a long time since we've heard about competition winner Matt Purdon and his Capri but, as you will read below, it's been rather complicated! It hopefully won't be so long again as progress kicks on; he wants it ready for this year's MoT... So here's the story of the past year or so, with all the updates from beforehand listed at the end. We last heard from fellow winner John Crook and his Lancia Delta Integrale back in the summer and there's more from him coming very soon.
It lives! Sort of...Let's start at the beginning, or at least when I last checked in. If anyone's memory stretches back far enough, you might recall that my stock of broken engines doubled when an eBay special ex-Super Rod engine turned up. While it was a seriously cool proposition and included the ultimate in old Ford bragging rights - "Mine's a 3.1 don't you know" - it arrived at completely the wrong time.
Sadly looking a little worse for wear nowFrom college through to the first summer holiday of uni, I worked at the local Co-Op. Not much of a point of interest, but it's relevant. During my time there, I made the acquaintance of Keith Turner, Operations Manager of Burton Power. If my memory is correct, it wasn't long after I'd first acquired the Capri, but regardless of details the main point to take from a thoroughly boring anecdote is that Keith mentioned he lived locally and kindly offered to bring parts home with him, should I need them. If anyone reading this meets me in the future, think carefully before you say things like this. Be it two weeks or two years later, I will take you up on it.
Defending the faithSpeaking at length with Keith was testament to how much knowledge lies within the company. Amongst the many 'been there, done that, got the T-shirt and a funny story about it' tales was an encyclopedia of all things Ford. Everything that should or could be tweaked or worked over, the best places to make improvements, the unnecessary money pits best avoided, part numbers, things to look out for and history lessons from the production line. No matter how many times I called round, there was something new and an immediate answer to my barrage of questions. For a relative newbie to the world of 'proper' tuning, in the days when men were men and remapping was still in the realms of sci-fi, there was a serious amount to take in and consider. One thing's for sure though, I was grateful to have people like this on hand and so willing to help out.
Rapidly becoming Matt's second home!Fast becoming an ode to patience, as soon as I've had an offset woodruff key made to correct the cam timing by two degrees, it'll be time for final assembly before hitting the road just in time for a nice salty winter. The majority of the engine has come together, or at least is there in its component parts, but one question remains - fuelling. With some trick parts going into the build, I'd not be too surprised if this engine was approaching the standard Weber's circa 170hp ceiling, so I put that question to you in the Gassing Station; any recommendations for the next step? Holley 390? Edelbrock 500? Bored out 38dgas? Answers on a postcard please.
Ford Capri 3.0 S: £15K Competition Update
The rebuild progress has been a little slow...
It's been 15 months since the Capri came to a clattering halt in a bus stop, and we're not far off a year since the last published update. With that said, someone needs to hold the phone; there has been genuine progress.
It lives! Sort of...
Blinded by man maths, my plans were rapidly scuppered by the fact I was deep in the third and final year of my degree and suffering the financial strain that entailed; before long, the majority of the engine disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived. Despite losing just shy of 100cc of displacement, a touch of compression and some pride, I did manage to keep my room paid for and tuck a few choice parts away, namely a flowed inlet manifold matched to a pair of Stage 3 cylinder heads in addition to the V63 cam I already had.
Waving goodbye to what could've been my perfect powerplant was hard. No matter how many times I reminded myself it was for the best (price up yet another block, rebore, rings, bearings, reground crank, full balance as it had no flywheel and so on) I couldn't shake the thought of how pathetic my budget was for even the most minimalistic rebuild on the original engine. It turns out student living isn't too conducive to building a notoriously expensive to tune engine. Who knew? Needless to say, it was all automotive doom and gloom as any progress rapidly stopped.
Sadly looking a little worse for wear now
It was after 'that' burnout picture from the new tyres installment that I first gave him a call. Publicly I'd got a pretty cool shot for the story and hopefully provided a few smiles, but privately I ended up driving a car that wouldn't turn left because the diff had locked up. Still, with a quick strip down and rebuild I was (miraculously) back on the road, and had a new mate to boot. Naturally, we got chatting about the car's future but neither of us were aware of just how soon I'd be back round, sat on the living room floor playing with the dog and talking about what to do with my broken engine.
Defending the faith
Without this outside encouragement, I'm not too sure what would have happened to the Capri or if it'd have ever seen the light of day again. With a renewed enthusiasm and a belief that there actually could be an end to the resurrection, many runs to and from the south coast via Ilford were made, as and when the pennies were spare, until eventually I had a big enough pile of parts and red bags to consider dusting off my old pal in the lean-to.
Rapidly becoming Matt's second home!
While timekeeping may not be my forte, I cannot wait to be back in this car - check in next time for all the oily bits, and hopefully a cruise out for an MoT... Huge thanks again to Burton Power for making the rebuild possible.
Previous updates:
Matt explains why it had to be a Capri and how he found his dream car
The Capri project starts in earnest
Matt reports in after a summer of fun in his Capri
Burning the midnight oil
Capri goes well; stopping it is more of an issue
MoT reveals some rust ... quite a lot of rust
And it was all going so nicely too...
Engine out, time to begin hunt for a new one
The rebuild begins!
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Discussion
If it makes you feel any better I remember as a student having to sell a really good standard 1275 and a played with 1380 (each at one point destined for my own Mini) simply because I couldn't afford the rest of the bits to bolt them in or the increase in insurance at the tender age of 19 
Keep us updated, I';ve enjoyed reading so far.
Keep us updated, I';ve enjoyed reading so far.
when you need some build inspiration watch this advert from way before your time, wrong car but right badge at least....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFq_pWJ0Y2g
'The Champ is Back!'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFq_pWJ0Y2g
'The Champ is Back!'
I've had to bite my tongue a few times when reading these articles. No offense to the winner, I know Capri's have their fans and student life isn't easy but perhaps trying to run a clapped out Capri on a shoestring budget wasn't the best idea and I can't help but think that £15k would have been better spent elsewhere, at least we might have got some more regular updates.
The other winners Integrale was a more interesting choice personally but we don't hear much about that either as it seems to spend a lot of it's life in hibernation. Just a bit disappointed as I was hoping that one of the stipulations for winning would be regular updates about what it's like to live with your dream car. Not sour grapes either as I didn't enter the competition, just feel it's a bit of an opportunity missed for some useful insight from "regular" readers.
Flame suit on.
The other winners Integrale was a more interesting choice personally but we don't hear much about that either as it seems to spend a lot of it's life in hibernation. Just a bit disappointed as I was hoping that one of the stipulations for winning would be regular updates about what it's like to live with your dream car. Not sour grapes either as I didn't enter the competition, just feel it's a bit of an opportunity missed for some useful insight from "regular" readers.
Flame suit on.
Guvernator said:
I've had to bite my tongue a few times when reading these articles. No offense to the winner, I know Capri's have their fans and student life isn't easy but perhaps trying to run a clapped out Capri on a shoestring budget wasn't the best idea and I can't help but think that £15k would have been better spent elsewhere, at least we might have got some more regular updates.
The other winners Integrale was a more interesting choice personally but we don't hear much about that either as it seems to spend a lot of it's life in hibernation. Just a bit disappointed as I was hoping that one of the stipulations for winning would be regular updates about what it's like to live with your dream car. Not sour grapes either as I didn't enter the competition, just feel it's a bit of an opportunity missed for some useful insight from "regular" readers.
Flame suit on.
Room in that flame suit for me as I think you're bang on. The other winners Integrale was a more interesting choice personally but we don't hear much about that either as it seems to spend a lot of it's life in hibernation. Just a bit disappointed as I was hoping that one of the stipulations for winning would be regular updates about what it's like to live with your dream car. Not sour grapes either as I didn't enter the competition, just feel it's a bit of an opportunity missed for some useful insight from "regular" readers.
Flame suit on.
I had quite forgotten about the competition such is the lack of updates from both winners which is a shame as I would have thought part of the reason for offering the competition was to increase readership/web hits for the PH website by providing regular updates for us all to follow.
Perhaps if PH were to run the competition again with another third party that the terms and conditions include a minimum quarterly update for the first two/three years of ownership?
Now jumping to the other side of the fence I can see why in this case the winner hasn't updated often if it's sat around gathering an impressive amount of dust waiting for pennies to drop into his account! Maybe the next competition should insist that part of the prize be kept aside for running/repair costs for the first year or so?
QuattroDave said:
Room in that flame suit for me as I think you're bang on.
I had quite forgotten about the competition such is the lack of updates from both winners which is a shame as I would have thought part of the reason for offering the competition was to increase readership/web hits for the PH website by providing regular updates for us all to follow.
Perhaps if PH were to run the competition again with another third party that the terms and conditions include a minimum quarterly update for the first two/three years of ownership?
Now jumping to the other side of the fence I can see why in this case the winner hasn't updated often if it's sat around gathering an impressive amount of dust waiting for pennies to drop into his account! Maybe the next competition should insist that part of the prize be kept aside for running/repair costs for the first year or so?
Dream car is an E34 M5.I had quite forgotten about the competition such is the lack of updates from both winners which is a shame as I would have thought part of the reason for offering the competition was to increase readership/web hits for the PH website by providing regular updates for us all to follow.
Perhaps if PH were to run the competition again with another third party that the terms and conditions include a minimum quarterly update for the first two/three years of ownership?
Now jumping to the other side of the fence I can see why in this case the winner hasn't updated often if it's sat around gathering an impressive amount of dust waiting for pennies to drop into his account! Maybe the next competition should insist that part of the prize be kept aside for running/repair costs for the first year or so?
I've owned an E34 540i for 2 months now at the tender age of 21. I'd same I'm 3/4 of the way there!
I can email you and Guvernator weekly updates if you'd like? Spoiler: it spends most of its time on a Shell forecourt!
chungasarnies said:
Or what? We crush their car?
Sure why not.Oooooooor there's a clawback clause in the terms and conditions that says for every missed update every X months they have the right to clawback £Y from the prize fund.
Not difficult to think of really!
To think, it's only Tuesday there's a whole lotta week left for you to make it through yet!
Loplop said:
Dream car is an E34 M5.
I've owned an E34 540i for 2 months now at the tender age of 21. I'd same I'm 3/4 of the way there!
I can email you and Guvernator weekly updates if you'd like? Spoiler: it spends most of its time on a Shell forecourt!
Deal, our collective email address is 'twasonlyasuggestion@lightenup.com'I've owned an E34 540i for 2 months now at the tender age of 21. I'd same I'm 3/4 of the way there!
I can email you and Guvernator weekly updates if you'd like? Spoiler: it spends most of its time on a Shell forecourt!
I remember my brother coming home one day with an E28 M535i in silver which when written off one icy winters day (shock horror!) was replaced by an e34 M5. Didn't seem as cool as the m535 for me for some reason, maybe I was just more impressionable when he got that one.
Good choice of motor for a 21 year old. I remember guys at uni being shocked when I turned up in a 2.2 5cylinder audi coupe quattro (where it all began!) then rightly pi$$ed off at me when they found out my insurance was cheaper than many of their 1.2-1.6 sh*&boxes!
Edited by QuattroDave on Tuesday 20th October 19:57
I bought a T reg 3 litre Capri new and ran it for many years as it was the perfect car for me. Then it got old and I tried to sell it, the offers were so farcical the I decided on a major revamp. I traded the engine in for a group 1 1/2 and a five speed Sierra gearbox. I fitted new dampers all round and uprated springs shortened one inch which made it sit perfectly. I bought an X pack back axle and springs with LSD a new set of alloys and had the whole thing sprayed gunmetal grey. It looked the b
ks and went like stuff off a shovel. 6000 in third was 100 MPH with two gears to go. I was tootling down the motorway one day when the girl friend asked why I was going so fast, I looked at the speedo which indicated 135!
The whole operation cost about six grand and took three months. Eventually it was stolen and burnt so stayed a one owner car. Cheap supercar, oversteer on tap, what a motor, looked very much like the one the article. Get it finished, you will love it.
ks and went like stuff off a shovel. 6000 in third was 100 MPH with two gears to go. I was tootling down the motorway one day when the girl friend asked why I was going so fast, I looked at the speedo which indicated 135!The whole operation cost about six grand and took three months. Eventually it was stolen and burnt so stayed a one owner car. Cheap supercar, oversteer on tap, what a motor, looked very much like the one the article. Get it finished, you will love it.
Guvernator said:
I've had to bite my tongue a few times when reading these articles. No offense to the winner, I know Capri's have their fans and student life isn't easy but perhaps trying to run a clapped out Capri on a shoestring budget wasn't the best idea and I can't help but think that £15k would have been better spent elsewhere, at least we might have got some more regular updates.
The other winners Integrale was a more interesting choice personally but we don't hear much about that either as it seems to spend a lot of it's life in hibernation. Just a bit disappointed as I was hoping that one of the stipulations for winning would be regular updates about what it's like to live with your dream car. Not sour grapes either as I didn't enter the competition, just feel it's a bit of an opportunity missed for some useful insight from "regular" readers.
Flame suit on.
Alright, I'll bite... First things first, I'm sorry the car isn't quite up to your standards to deserve dream car status. Should probably point out it was 'only' 5k (and the only 3.0S for sale in the country at the time, which I travelled to Liverpool for unseen) and when it comes to a slow rebuild, perhaps if the competition is run again there should be a section of the application form for your salary to weed out the peasants. The other winners Integrale was a more interesting choice personally but we don't hear much about that either as it seems to spend a lot of it's life in hibernation. Just a bit disappointed as I was hoping that one of the stipulations for winning would be regular updates about what it's like to live with your dream car. Not sour grapes either as I didn't enter the competition, just feel it's a bit of an opportunity missed for some useful insight from "regular" readers.
Flame suit on.
The car's far from 'clapped out' - the only reason it's in bits is due to a design flaw from the factory - and shoestring? In addition to this pricey rebuild using decent parts throughout, there's £1000 worth of suspension and brakes under it in an attempt to get it to corner, although I completely understand if you missed that amongst the dozen updates I've apparently not written since the car arrived.
The engine's a project chasing 200bhp, built by me in a shed as and when I've got time and money for the best parts I can fit, I'm not sure how much more of a 'regular' PHer you want but that sounds fairly close to it in my books.
You want to know what it's like to live with your dream car; this is it. Things go wrong, your heroes aren't always implacable. I can't speak for the other winner, but I'd hazard a guess it spends most of its time in hibernation because it's a bit too special to use every day, and when it goes wrong the repair bills are huge.
Mr QuattroDave - thanks for the more understanding view! Good point re; splitting the prize fund, but just for clarity the t's and c's here were that there was no change given. If I had my way, I'd have bought a shed for a grand and put 4 into building something a bit lairy. It's been a huge amount of fun though and the plans have shifted as I've grown up with it.
I'm with the car this week honing the bores, fitting new rings and shells and that elusive woodruff key is in the post from John Wade; normal service will be resumed soon. Cannot wait to hit the road and give it hell.
Where do I sign up for one of those lighten up accounts...?
QuattroDave said:
Guvernator said:
I've had to bite my tongue a few times when reading these articles. No offense to the winner, I know Capri's have their fans and student life isn't easy but perhaps trying to run a clapped out Capri on a shoestring budget wasn't the best idea and I can't help but think that £15k would have been better spent elsewhere, at least we might have got some more regular updates.
The other winners Integrale was a more interesting choice personally but we don't hear much about that either as it seems to spend a lot of it's life in hibernation. Just a bit disappointed as I was hoping that one of the stipulations for winning would be regular updates about what it's like to live with your dream car. Not sour grapes either as I didn't enter the competition, just feel it's a bit of an opportunity missed for some useful insight from "regular" readers.
Flame suit on.
Room in that flame suit for me as I think you're bang on. The other winners Integrale was a more interesting choice personally but we don't hear much about that either as it seems to spend a lot of it's life in hibernation. Just a bit disappointed as I was hoping that one of the stipulations for winning would be regular updates about what it's like to live with your dream car. Not sour grapes either as I didn't enter the competition, just feel it's a bit of an opportunity missed for some useful insight from "regular" readers.
Flame suit on.
I had quite forgotten about the competition such is the lack of updates from both winners which is a shame as I would have thought part of the reason for offering the competition was to increase readership/web hits for the PH website by providing regular updates for us all to follow.
Perhaps if PH were to run the competition again with another third party that the terms and conditions include a minimum quarterly update for the first two/three years of ownership?
Now jumping to the other side of the fence I can see why in this case the winner hasn't updated often if it's sat around gathering an impressive amount of dust waiting for pennies to drop into his account! Maybe the next competition should insist that part of the prize be kept aside for running/repair costs for the first year or so?
Matt please ignore these grumpy and soleless individuals. The vast majority of PH is behind you and interested to hear updates as and when they are pertinent! Your persistence is proof of being the correct choice for this competition.
The best stories about cars often come from when they go horribly wrong. No one learned anything or had an interesting story to tell from running a brand new Japanese impeccably boring 4 wheeled white good!
My only piece of advice, as a dedicated runner of sheds, is never spend more on a car than you can get out of it. Until that point crack on and enjoy your £5k head start!
The best stories about cars often come from when they go horribly wrong. No one learned anything or had an interesting story to tell from running a brand new Japanese impeccably boring 4 wheeled white good!
My only piece of advice, as a dedicated runner of sheds, is never spend more on a car than you can get out of it. Until that point crack on and enjoy your £5k head start!
Yeah agreed, good luck with the build Matt, let us know how you get on.
Not sure what a more suitable car would have been to placate the PH massiv? Perhaps something really boring like a VW or Audi?
The Mk3 Capri was always one of my boyhood dream cars, so I definitely get why you'd want one of these. Keep on living the dream!
Not sure what a more suitable car would have been to placate the PH massiv? Perhaps something really boring like a VW or Audi?
The Mk3 Capri was always one of my boyhood dream cars, so I definitely get why you'd want one of these. Keep on living the dream!
QuattroDave said:
Guvernator said:
I've had to bite my tongue a few times when reading these articles. No offense to the winner, I know Capri's have their fans and student life isn't easy but perhaps trying to run a clapped out Capri on a shoestring budget wasn't the best idea and I can't help but think that £15k would have been better spent elsewhere, at least we might have got some more regular updates.
The other winners Integrale was a more interesting choice personally but we don't hear much about that either as it seems to spend a lot of it's life in hibernation. Just a bit disappointed as I was hoping that one of the stipulations for winning would be regular updates about what it's like to live with your dream car. Not sour grapes either as I didn't enter the competition, just feel it's a bit of an opportunity missed for some useful insight from "regular" readers.
Flame suit on.
Room in that flame suit for me as I think you're bang on. The other winners Integrale was a more interesting choice personally but we don't hear much about that either as it seems to spend a lot of it's life in hibernation. Just a bit disappointed as I was hoping that one of the stipulations for winning would be regular updates about what it's like to live with your dream car. Not sour grapes either as I didn't enter the competition, just feel it's a bit of an opportunity missed for some useful insight from "regular" readers.
Flame suit on.
I had quite forgotten about the competition such is the lack of updates from both winners which is a shame as I would have thought part of the reason for offering the competition was to increase readership/web hits for the PH website by providing regular updates for us all to follow.
Perhaps if PH were to run the competition again with another third party that the terms and conditions include a minimum quarterly update for the first two/three years of ownership?
Now jumping to the other side of the fence I can see why in this case the winner hasn't updated often if it's sat around gathering an impressive amount of dust waiting for pennies to drop into his account! Maybe the next competition should insist that part of the prize be kept aside for running/repair costs for the first year or so?
Forgotten these competitions even happened, shame
only1ian said:
Matt please ignore these grumpy and soleless individuals. The vast majority of PH is behind you and interested to hear updates as and when they are pertinent! Your persistence is proof of being the correct choice for this competition.
The best stories about cars often come from when they go horribly wrong. No one learned anything or had an interesting story to tell from running a brand new Japanese impeccably boring 4 wheeled white good!
My only piece of advice, as a dedicated runner of sheds, is never spend more on a car than you can get out of it. Until that point crack on and enjoy your £5k head start!
My thoughts exactly! "Good things take time... project cars take longer"The best stories about cars often come from when they go horribly wrong. No one learned anything or had an interesting story to tell from running a brand new Japanese impeccably boring 4 wheeled white good!
My only piece of advice, as a dedicated runner of sheds, is never spend more on a car than you can get out of it. Until that point crack on and enjoy your £5k head start!
The stories begins the build of a car like this make the end result far more fascinating. It's not a chequebook racer either, a man in a shed with a shoe string budget is something I can understand.
I too took on the folly of an engine rebuild whilst a student. It didn't end well but it was fun!
mattpurdon said:
Alright, I'll bite... First things first, I'm sorry the car isn't quite up to your standards to deserve dream car status. Should probably point out it was 'only' 5k (and the only 3.0S for sale in the country at the time, which I travelled to Liverpool for unseen) and when it comes to a slow rebuild, perhaps if the competition is run again there should be a section of the application form for your salary to weed out the peasants.
The car's far from 'clapped out' - the only reason it's in bits is due to a design flaw from the factory - and shoestring? In addition to this pricey rebuild using decent parts throughout, there's £1000 worth of suspension and brakes under it in an attempt to get it to corner, although I completely understand if you missed that amongst the dozen updates I've apparently not written since the car arrived.
The engine's a project chasing 200bhp, built by me in a shed as and when I've got time and money for the best parts I can fit, I'm not sure how much more of a 'regular' PHer you want but that sounds fairly close to it in my books.
You want to know what it's like to live with your dream car; this is it. Things go wrong, your heroes aren't always implacable. I can't speak for the other winner, but I'd hazard a guess it spends most of its time in hibernation because it's a bit too special to use every day, and when it goes wrong the repair bills are huge.
Mr QuattroDave - thanks for the more understanding view! Good point re; splitting the prize fund, but just for clarity the t's and c's here were that there was no change given. If I had my way, I'd have bought a shed for a grand and put 4 into building something a bit lairy. It's been a huge amount of fun though and the plans have shifted as I've grown up with it.
I'm with the car this week honing the bores, fitting new rings and shells and that elusive woodruff key is in the post from John Wade; normal service will be resumed soon. Cannot wait to hit the road and give it hell.
Where do I sign up for one of those lighten up accounts...?
Really didn't mean to rile anyone up but thought it had to be said. Yes life gets in the way far too often for us PH'ers and trust me I know first hand about things going wrong on cars but I think you'd have to agree that 15 months is quite a long time between updates and I think some others agree. Just thought that for such a visible and very PH worthy competition, there would be some sort of stipulation about more frequent updates. The car's far from 'clapped out' - the only reason it's in bits is due to a design flaw from the factory - and shoestring? In addition to this pricey rebuild using decent parts throughout, there's £1000 worth of suspension and brakes under it in an attempt to get it to corner, although I completely understand if you missed that amongst the dozen updates I've apparently not written since the car arrived.
The engine's a project chasing 200bhp, built by me in a shed as and when I've got time and money for the best parts I can fit, I'm not sure how much more of a 'regular' PHer you want but that sounds fairly close to it in my books.
You want to know what it's like to live with your dream car; this is it. Things go wrong, your heroes aren't always implacable. I can't speak for the other winner, but I'd hazard a guess it spends most of its time in hibernation because it's a bit too special to use every day, and when it goes wrong the repair bills are huge.
Mr QuattroDave - thanks for the more understanding view! Good point re; splitting the prize fund, but just for clarity the t's and c's here were that there was no change given. If I had my way, I'd have bought a shed for a grand and put 4 into building something a bit lairy. It's been a huge amount of fun though and the plans have shifted as I've grown up with it.
I'm with the car this week honing the bores, fitting new rings and shells and that elusive woodruff key is in the post from John Wade; normal service will be resumed soon. Cannot wait to hit the road and give it hell.
Where do I sign up for one of those lighten up accounts...?
PS still don't see the appeal of Capri's and if anything the articles have scared me off even more but good luck getting it back on the road.
Here's the other winner (Integrale owner) taking the bite...
I enjoyed reading my fellow winner's update and seeing that the Capri project is still progressing.
I was surprised by same of the comments in the thread. The comment by Quattro Dave of 'I wish there had to be quarterly updates' particularly surprised me as it has been every quarter since purchasing the car that I have written a update on the Integrale! Perhaps he's missed a couple of them.
Ironically I sent my next update a few days ago which PH will be publishing very shortly, presumably spacing mine and Matt's updates apart.
My other surprise was that people seem puzzled as to why the car isn't used much. I thought it would be a given that an Integrale wouldn't be used as a daily driver. It was never my intention. To me a true dream car is one that goes hand in hand with being used on nice weathered weekend days and taking out for special occasions/events (e.g. Sunday services). I fully believe that I enjoy the car more by only using the car once every few weeks. It means I've had the excitement building up to seeing and driving the old girl again. I've often found that cars used daily can become boring the quicker you get used to them and subsequently overlook their brilliance. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.
It's true I don't use the car over winter, but I use her whenever I can during the rest of the year. This competition was about getting the car of your dreams. The Integrale was exactly that, I don't think mileage should dictate whether we're worthy winners?! In terms of Integrales, mine is probably still one of the most used out there. As a specialist once told me, more and more are simply now being locked up in collections.
The other factor with not being able to use the car all the time is life. I've had to move to London for work and I don't want the car in central London (for obvious reasons) and secondly my insurance company won't let me! Unfortunately this means the car lives with my Dad 60 miles away so realistically I can only get back to it once every few weeks.
I really enjoy writing my updates, but want to make sure I have something to write about, hence doing them every quarter.
I've had a great response from the PH community and really enjoy reading the comments and sharing my experience with us other 'regular' readers and hope they carry on for as long as possible.
I enjoyed reading my fellow winner's update and seeing that the Capri project is still progressing.
I was surprised by same of the comments in the thread. The comment by Quattro Dave of 'I wish there had to be quarterly updates' particularly surprised me as it has been every quarter since purchasing the car that I have written a update on the Integrale! Perhaps he's missed a couple of them.
Ironically I sent my next update a few days ago which PH will be publishing very shortly, presumably spacing mine and Matt's updates apart.
My other surprise was that people seem puzzled as to why the car isn't used much. I thought it would be a given that an Integrale wouldn't be used as a daily driver. It was never my intention. To me a true dream car is one that goes hand in hand with being used on nice weathered weekend days and taking out for special occasions/events (e.g. Sunday services). I fully believe that I enjoy the car more by only using the car once every few weeks. It means I've had the excitement building up to seeing and driving the old girl again. I've often found that cars used daily can become boring the quicker you get used to them and subsequently overlook their brilliance. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.
It's true I don't use the car over winter, but I use her whenever I can during the rest of the year. This competition was about getting the car of your dreams. The Integrale was exactly that, I don't think mileage should dictate whether we're worthy winners?! In terms of Integrales, mine is probably still one of the most used out there. As a specialist once told me, more and more are simply now being locked up in collections.
The other factor with not being able to use the car all the time is life. I've had to move to London for work and I don't want the car in central London (for obvious reasons) and secondly my insurance company won't let me! Unfortunately this means the car lives with my Dad 60 miles away so realistically I can only get back to it once every few weeks.
I really enjoy writing my updates, but want to make sure I have something to write about, hence doing them every quarter.
I've had a great response from the PH community and really enjoy reading the comments and sharing my experience with us other 'regular' readers and hope they carry on for as long as possible.
Edited by crookie on Wednesday 21st October 14:41
Edited by crookie on Wednesday 21st October 14:50
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