It’s been a while since I have chatted about my cars on PistonHeads and, in a rare moment of sanity, I seem to have kept hold of a couple of cars for more than a week or so. There is one newish addition that you might not know about and some old favourites that continue to impress. So let’s start with the newest German to make its home within the fleet.
1994 Mercedes-Benz E220 Estate
Sadly, my beloved Range Rover started to play up and needed work doing to it that was beyond my capabilities
, yet were not economically viable to get done at a professional garage either. After a day or so on the PistonHeads classifieds I sold it to a chap from ‘up North’ who promised to look after it and planned to use it as daily transport around the family farm.
As a result, I needed a new car to use as a daily. I say this, but my ‘daily’ is never used more than a couple of times a week - the temptation to use the TVR is usually too strong - but my intentions are good and that’s all that counts.
Once again I was inexorably drawn to the PH classifieds, and found myself loitering in the Mercedes section as my addiction to anything built by Benz remains too strong to ignore. I considered S, SE, SEC, CE and SEL models with a variety of engines before a rare sensible moment hit me.
What I needed, I decided, was a smallish engine to cope with business miles and general pottering about. It also ought to be mid-sized, and it had to be as solid a Merc as was ever built. I needed a W124. A few weeks of looking and nothing caught my eye, until I spotted the car I eventually bought – a 1994 E220 estate in blue/black metallic, with grey cloth, walnut wood, seven seats and an automatic gearbox.
At the old house. TVR has a driveway now...
The car had covered 135,000 miles and had gone through four owners, with the last being the proprietor of a Mercedes specialist mechanic. As a result it was in rude health with almost every part replaced, refreshed or serviced - and I mean everything. Suspension, head, internals and even pipes and lines – they had all been sorted, and even a new tailgate close motor and electric aerial had been fitted.
After viewing the car I noticed a few minor bits that needed attention and mentioned them; nothing serious but worth using as a bargaining tool. Instead of instantly giving me a load of excuses, the owner whisked the car away to get everything sorted, on the understanding that I would buy the car if he did. A week later I collected the Merc, cleaned and ready to go.
The car does not creak, rattle or groan. It starts immediately to a steady idle, and the auto 'box changes gear as smoothly as you could wish for. The chrome is bright, and the panels are straight. On a run it will do around 30mpg in true Merc silence, and it feels like it will last forever.
Problems? It’s long, and that means I sometime find that it takes me a while to find a suitably sized parking space in London, it has no air-con, so it’s a touch warm on a sunny day and, err, that’s it. Bargain motoring with bags of class. I love it and, if kept in good condition I doubt it will lose me much money either. Finally I have a car that can take my bicycle, the weekly shop and a few passengers, too. It's nice to have a big, reliable car again, especially one with the three-pointed star on the bonnet.
1990 Porsche 944S2
The Porsche soldiers on untroubled. Recently it sailed through the MOT and needed absolutely nothing doing to pass; it has been treated to a new set of Dunlop SP Sport rear tyres which set me back £180 fitted, and has been taxed for another year. That’s it.
It’s a testament to just how well built older German cars were: the 944 is now 20 years old, has covered 155,000 miles and it drives like the day it was born. The engine feels so strong and offers bags of torque, it starts first time - even after a few weeks of inactivity - and it feels fast, even by today’s standards.
I guess that I should expect it to feel good mechanically after having the engine worked on extensively at an OPC, but the sheer reliability and effectiveness of the front-engined Pork continues to impress. I think the styling has stood the test of time, too, and it looks very modern finished in white. Speaking of the bodywork, it remains corrosion-free in all of the usual trouble areas - which is a huge relief - and, while a few superficial blemishes are visible here and there, it is remarkably solid after all these years. In fact, the only really apparent wear is on the driver’s seat bolster, which lets the car down, but is something I can live with.
Still going strong at 155,000 miles
If you haven’t driven an S2 you should do. It handles remarkably well, better than many contemporary sports cars in my opinion, and stays nice and flat through the twisty bits. The steering has power-assistance but still remains on the firm side. As such it offers remarkable feedback through the bends, while the readily available torque fires you out of turns without the need for a flurry of gearchanges and the brakes inspire you to push that bit harder.
The Porsche is an effective tool, and has far more dynamic ability than its current market value suggests. It does lack one thing, though, and that is character. It does everything you ask of it and it does it well. It copes with whatever you throw at it and will sit in the street waiting for the next time you need it. But that’s what lets it down; it can be too effective and too sensible for its own good. I still love it, but I need another car for proper excitement...good thing i've got a TVR as well...
Perfect. Sunny day with the TVR
Where do I start with the love of my life? This car is fantastic, amazing and gorgeous. It sounds great, it goes great and it drives great. I love it dearly. Okay, so now that has been said, allow me to elaborate.
I don’t care that my car has the baby 4.0 engine fitted; it’s more than fast enough for most conditions and I’m as happy burbling along on a summers day as I am looking to wring every last ounce of power from it as I abuse the redline. The sleeved exhaust continues to make me smile every time I hear it, and watching pedestrians jump as the lift off bangs hurt their ears is a childish pleasure.
About to go on the rollers. The car, not Garlick
Reliability has been impressive too, and (touch wood) it starts first time every time. It doesn’t use any oil, it has never let me down and everything works as it should do. In fact, it really does work as it should, a statement that was backed up when
I took it to Surrey Rolling Road
to see what power it was producing. Bearing in mind that my car has covered just under 50,000 miles in its 11-year life I didn’t know what to expect, but was ecstatic to record 240.0bhp on my second run – exactly the figure claimed in the original Chimaera brochure. It's nice to know that your engine is performing absolutely on the button - in fact I'm smiling now as I write about it!
A few items have been replaced under the excellent Fernhurst warranty that came with the car, but nothing too dramatic. I’ve had a new thermostat fitted to cure a slightly weak heater, a new clutch slave cylinder (replaced after the Fernhurst team spotted a leak), new exhaust manifolds and a new boot release - nowhere near the poor TVR reliability that is so often mentioned and no worse than any other older, hand-built specialist car in my opinion. If you were more knowledgeable than me, most of this work could be carried out easily enough in the garage at home too.
The TVR has given me a whole new outlook on driving. If I have a spare few minutes I’ll take it out for a drive. When I have finished with it, it is cleaned and tucked up under a full car cover. I enjoy the waves and nods you get from other owners, the positive comments from passers-by and the fact that you have to really drive the car to enjoy it. No ABS, traction control, on-board computers or straight-forward thinking here; every drive is an adventure, an experience, a pleasure that you just can’t find anywhere else.
It’s the car I should have bought a long time ago, and one that will make me shed a tear should I ever be in a position where I am forced to sell it. After working my way through many cars to find the perfect one, it seems that the car I was looking for was built in Blackpool around a Rover V8 by a bunch of enthusiasts. Thanks guys, you did a great job and have opened my eyes to what a real car is all about. I just don't want to drive anything else.