RE: ?100K Garage: Andrew Gordon

RE: ?100K Garage: Andrew Gordon

Wednesday 19th October 2016

£100K Garage: Andrew Gordon

From Honda Legend to bike-engined Mini via hot hatch and Italian V8, there's variety aplenty in Andrew's garage!



Name: Andrew Gordon
Previously owned: Too many to mention! Highlights include various classic Minis, Ford Fiesta Mk2 1.4 S, Ford Fiesta Mk3 1.6 S, Vauxhall Nova GSI, Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth, Mercedes C200, Audi A4 3.0 TDI Quattro, Honda Civic Type R FN2, Subaru Impreza (bug eye), Jeep Grand Cherokee, two Alfa 156s and a VW T5 Transporter. (I won't mention the 15 odd motorcycles that have came and went; hopefully my wife isn't reading this!)
Currently owned: BMW 530i (E39) LPG shed
On the shortlist: "As you can see I have had a wide and varied selection of cars, so it's impossible to find a do-it-all car, but my old 530i isn't far away. My £100K is going to be well spread out. I'm an aerospace design engineer and involved with motorcycle racing so I've always had a great love for the engineering aspect of my vehicles; my car needs to have a good engine to keep me interested!

"The build quality of cars since I started driving in the late 90s has improved so much that it's hard to find a bad car these days. I want a family wagon with balls, an ongoing project that I can work on with my lad, a wow car, a daily driver, possibly a Yank tank, something for my wife and anything else that is a bit leftfield. I do like a fast Ford too!"



BMW X5 4.4 
Cost: £4,295
Balance: £95,705
Why I chose it: "This is the family wagon. Just look at the amount of car you get for £4K: TVs in the headrests to keep the children up to date with Peppa Pig and BMW's growling V8 to drown it out! I'm sure this could pull the family caravan without holding up the traffic too much. My current E39 is touching 200K miles, a testament to the build quality of BMWs of this age; I reckon there is plenty of life in this old girl yet. This would be a perfect candidate for an LPG conversion - we will see what sort of cash is left at the end!"

Ford Focus RS Mk2
Cost:
£19,995
Balance: £75,710
Why I chose it: "Daily driver I reckon. I have always loved Fords, thanks largely to my Dad who had various nice ones from a Sweeney Granada to a bug eye Scorpio 2.3. My Mum bought a new Sierra Sapphire 1.8 LX way back when and it was the first car I ever drove. Fast Fords, especially RS versions, never seem to depreciate; just look at the price of anything Cosworth today! Sierra RS500s are pushing six figures. This Focus engine is making all the right noises, it has low mileage, the service history is full and it has the all important heated screen (this should be a legal requirement for all cars in this country!). I drove one of these when they came out and it felt as quick as my Sapphire Cossie did 15 years previously. The five-cylinder note and pops on the overrun would give me the "I can't wait to drive it home" feeling."


Honda Legend 3.5 
Cost:
£6,276
Balance: £69,434
Why I chose it: "This will do for my wife. Honda makes great cars; name me a bad one from recent times. The big H has massive technical engineering capability both on two wheels and four. Its engines are everywhere, from a generator to a lawnmower, and the Honda Cub bike is the world's most popular transport. This Legend represents Honda's very best personal transport solution; it's not likely to be a dog, is it?! I have no idea why these aren't more popular in the UK, though it's probably because of our love of diesel. Again, why are automatics not more popular in 'normal' cars? With the amount of traffic and distractions on our roads, autos are so much easier to drive. Lovely car this. Loads of kit too."

Classic Z Cars Mini 
Cost: £9,500
Balance: £59,934
Why I chose it: "Because you should do something every day that scares you! I love the fact that the pictures show two sets of ear defenders - I assume these are vital! I can't think of a more impractical, raw and downright scary car for this sort of money. This would tick my track day box as well as my need to work on a project, as it would surely break at some point. My lad is nearly four and is following in my footsteps as a petrolhead; he loves watching Richard and Aaron (with the funny beard) on TV. He also seems to like Minis. I've had a few and my Dad was known in the area during the 70s as a bit of a Mini tuning guru. Minis were such a groundbreaking design back in the day. I would love to make this one look bog standard and give Mr Audi A4 S Line a bit of a scare at the traffic lights.

Maserati GranTurismo
Cost:
£51,950
Balance: £7,984
Why I chose it: "My wow car. The Italians are all about form first and then function. Just look at it! It's beautiful, with more than enough power for our roads. I can just see me and my wife touring the beautiful roads around western Scotland in this. For me this has almost the same class as an Aston, the same DNA as a Ferrari and the cost of a new 5 Series!"

"My balance of £8,000 would be used for an LPG conversion on the X5, some Revo or Mountune mods for the RS and service bills for the Italian one."



Author
Discussion

WCZ

Original Poster:

10,518 posts

194 months

Wednesday 19th October 2016
quotequote all
harsh on the wife!

si_xsi

1,193 posts

195 months

Wednesday 19th October 2016
quotequote all
Its a yes for me on most of those, i'd possibly change the Mini and Legend but otherwise a lovely selection. A friends father had a legend (earlier shape) around 1997, I remember sitting in the front as a passenger thinking how luxurious it was, similar to the lexus LS400 but without the V8, just a little bland in terms of styling IMO.

AyBee

10,533 posts

202 months

Wednesday 19th October 2016
quotequote all
Not sure why the X5 is needed as well as the Legend, surely you can combine those into something a bit nicer for family use? The RS also has 4 seats and so does the Maserati so you'll never be short of 2 cars with 4 seats if that's what you need. Think I'd either get a newer X5 or a full fat RR for the wife and scrap the 2 cars. Otherwise, love the Z-cars mini biggrin

QuattroDave

1,463 posts

128 months

Wednesday 19th October 2016
quotequote all
Honda Jazz = bad Honda

405dogvan

5,326 posts

265 months

Thursday 20th October 2016
quotequote all
The service stamps on the RS are odd - 5K and then 25K, 30k, 36k, 46K - recommendation is 12months/12.5k miles IIRC?

Having missed it's 2nd service wouldn't be great but even if it's just a missing stamp, the car does not have FSH as listed.

You need to tread carefully around those - they appeal to the sort of person who revs the engine in carparks/drives through town centres at max attack - not always mechanically sympathetic types ;0

jm28

48 posts

115 months

Thursday 20th October 2016
quotequote all
WCZ said:
harsh on the wife!
smile He could at least chuck her an Evoque! An 8 yo Honda Legend has its positives but I doubt it's at the top of many a woman's shopping list!

myhandle

1,187 posts

174 months

Thursday 20th October 2016
quotequote all
jm28 said:
smile He could at least chuck her an Evoque! An 8 yo Honda Legend has its positives but I doubt it's at the top of many a woman's shopping list!
The Legend is engineered by the same lot that produced the NSX, S2000, Integra Type R, Fireblade, winning F1 engines and the new Honda Jet which is set to revolutionise small private jets. The Evoque is built down to a price, 90% have a van engine and there is no petrol V6. Engineering quality vs. fashion is the difference here, though how the Evoque is still fashionable is beyond me, given that the concept car was first shown the best part of a decade ago. The Legend is enormously preferable if you have any interest in cars. The OP is an engineer so he clearly gets it.

Edited by myhandle on Thursday 20th October 08:48

myhandle

1,187 posts

174 months

Thursday 20th October 2016
quotequote all
jm28 said:
smile He could at least chuck her an Evoque! An 8 yo Honda Legend has its positives but I doubt it's at the top of many a woman's shopping list!
The Legend is engineered by the same lot that produced the NSX, S2000, Integra Type R, Fireblade, winning F1 engines and the new Honda Jet which is set to revolutionise small private jets. The Evoque is built down to a price, 90% have a van engine and there is no petrol V6. Engineering quality vs. fashion is the difference here, though how the Evoque is still fashionable is beyond me, given that the concept car was first shown the best part of a decade ago. The Legend is enormously preferable if you have any interest in cars. The OP is an engineer so he clearly gets it.

Edited by myhandle on Thursday 20th October 08:49

muppet42

330 posts

205 months

Thursday 20th October 2016
quotequote all
QuattroDave said:
Honda Jazz = bad Honda
Really?

A class winning, versatile, economical, well thought out small city car with snappy gearchange and fun handling is bad. Okay then confused

Decent garage choices though I'd maybe swap out the Legend for an LS430 to get another V8 biggrin Agreed with the RS as well, whenever I see them they do tend to be being blasted around as if the owner's pants are on fire. Brilliant sounding engine though smile

Ozzie Osmond

21,189 posts

246 months

Thursday 20th October 2016
quotequote all
said:
Honda makes great cars; name me a bad one from recent times.
Civic and Jazz. Two of the most hateful cars I've experienced in my life.

smilo996

2,783 posts

170 months

Thursday 20th October 2016
quotequote all
A very practical 100K with a splash of lunacy. Not bad at all.

sinbaddio

2,369 posts

176 months

Thursday 20th October 2016
quotequote all
Nice selection. I'll give a thumbs up to the Legend. I bought a 1997 one last year for £500 for a European road trip (max car spend £500), and it was great. Extremely comfortable (the back seat was nick named 'the hammock') reliable and quick enough.

Mattheww055

24 posts

119 months

Thursday 20th October 2016
quotequote all
Similar ethos to the kind of garage I'd go for, that was a much better read than all the 3-car garages!