Sunday 14th June 2020

£100k Garage | Simon Jones

A Giulia made sense for a former Alfa owner, with budget left for a Renaultsport legend and a V12 Jag

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Name: Simon Jones
Previously owned: in chronological order: Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.6 and 2.0 (tipo 116) crashed x2 & ran out of money; Austin Princess (no pas pump after an incident in a field), Austin Mini (rear-ended, bodged into a hatchback), VW Passat GL5 (sold through a paper ad in Autotrader), Audi 200 quattro Avant (rear-ended, again); Alfa Romeo Giulia 1600 Spyder (tipo 101) sold, shame; Audi 100 S4 Estate (p/x for) Lancia Thema 8.32 (damaged, sold for tuppence); BMW Alpina B10 3.3 Estate (sold); Mitsubishi Shogun 2.6 BBR Turbo (ebay sale); ran out of money again, Saab 9-5 Aero Estate, (px for) Saab 9-3 Viggen Convertible (sold at auction)

Currently owned: 1981 Renault 5 Turbo, 2006 Mitsubishi Shogun 3.2 SWB, 2019 Alpine A110 Pure

On the shortlist: "Shedding is for garden/dog duties and a unclassified road commute. Brave pill number one would have to have many more cylinders than necessary and pill number two would have to be suitable for track days. Current car would be trying to be sensible and slightly left-field probably. I'd prefer petrol, may dabble with diesel; electro-trickery leaves me cold. I'm trying to avoid picking anything I currently own. As an aside I've found far too much interesting stuff."

Shed - Vauxhall Vectra LS
Cost: £799
Balance: £99,801
Why I chose it: "Friend of mine had one of these on his company scheme, he used to hoon up and down the M5 and can still smile about the speeds; however, it was I believe one of the most unreliable car he ever owned. I think a few of his colleagues had them and there was always stories of broken gearboxes and drivesahfts plus numerous electrical gremlins. Anyway, I think it looks perfect as a winter hack - big boot, pre-dented and even a warranty as well, apparently. For less than a grand what more do you want?"

Brave Pill - Jaguar XJR-S 6.0
Cost: £19,990
Balance: £79,811
Why I chose it: "My Dad's motoring highpoint was his early, red, pre-HE Jaguar XJ-S that he ran for a few years. Still have vivid memories of the first time I saw it from my bedroom window looking unaccountably long, low and sleek; I remember it being improbably fast with a turbine like turn of speed. This is the TWR 6.0-litre car with the 3-speed GM automatic which may make no sense to anyone under fifty but I also remember a group test against the modern German rivals which the Jaguar won where the engine's sheer thrust allowed the transmission to be locked in 2nd and the Exmoor roads to be devoured. Twenty thousand pounds for this sounds like a bargain to me."

Renault Megane R.S R26.R - £19,995
Cost: £19,995
Balance: £59,816
Why I chose it: "I can still remember getting quite excited about these when they were announced but I wasn't able to do anything about it at the time. I've driven a couple of Renaultsport Clios and Meganes on track and I love the balance and the feedback. This one is in a great colour combination and has all the right equipment."

The one still on sale - Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio -
Cost: £39,950
Balance: £19,866
Why I chose it: "I have a deep weakness for Alfas, though there isn't one at the end of the road yet in spite of not owning one for a while. This would seem like the perfect usable but special vehicle to me; moreover, it rather reminds of a love child of my old Alfetta-based RWD Alfas from the 70s and the Ferrari-engined Lancia Thema from the 80s wrapped up in a breath-taking modern guise. I think it looks great in blue as well."

Mercedes Benz 300 SL 24V
Cost: £16,950
Balance: £2,916
Why I chose it: "So, this would be perfect for my wife; she loves the sun but worries about the security of a soft top. Has always liked Mercedes; she bought a 190E 2.6 in Almandine red with cream leather and a later C240 Elegance (which wasn't a patch on the 190E, with the exception of the gearbox). This one looks absolutely mint although I might have to find a Becker radio for it."

[Turbobanana]

Am I reading that right - the OP has bent 6 cars in his ownership history? Must be some kind of record...

[martin12345]

Liking this list with the (minor) exception of the Vectra
There's a world of better cars out there surely for £1k that are better and/or reliable than a Vectra

Made me smile as it's basically a garage full of Brave Pills" except for the Merc which fits Brave Pill terriitory in many ways but might turn out to be the most reliable of the lot if it's been well maintained

[anonymous-user]

Yes.

Apart from the vectra. Rather have the spare cash.

[TurboBlue]

Turbobanana said:

Am I reading that right - the OP has bent 6 cars in his ownership history? Must be some kind of record...

Seven, if you include works (no fault) van related incident.

martin12345 said:

Made me smile as it's basically a garage full of Brave Pills" except for the Merc which fits Brave Pill terriitory in many ways but might turn out to be the most reliable of the lot if it's been well maintained

Have you looked at my 'real' garage

Argleton said:

Apart from the vectra. Rather have the spare cash.

The Vectra was a editorial replacement for the original shed which was a late-90's Vauxhall Vectra V6 Estate that was briefly for sale when this list was put together in late March; this should make more sense of the description and was one of the least reliable cars a mate of mine ran although it was pretty quick for the time & available for him on the company car scheme so not expensive to run, just time consuming. The Vauxhall and the SL are the only two of the my original 5 choices that sold since March though.

If I was replacing the shed for this list; I'd choose this early Saab 9-5 Aero for £1,100 - https://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/... - I've owned the same version which was bought for the same kind of shed money; it took the family on holiday from Wiltshire to Campbeltown in Scotland in about eleven hours twice and is everything great about shed transport. PS. This wasn't in the PH classifieds in March.

Edited by TurboBlue on Sunday 14th June 12:19

[JackReacher]

I'm a sucker for dark blue and silver wheels, and that Alfa looks fantastic in that combo

[NGK210]

martin12345 said:

...
Made me smile as it's basically a garage full of Brave Pills" except for the Merc which fits Brave Pill terriitory in many ways but might turn out to be the most reliable of the lot if it's been well maintained

Why is the Alfa Giulia a ‘brave pill’? I thought they were gaining a good reputation for reliability – a sort of ‘much better than Audi, Merc and BMW, not quite as good as Lexus’ reputation?

[chelme]

Good choices! Alfa would not be a brave pill though. They have proven themselves to be quite reliable. :-)

[Bencolem]

Turbobanana said:

Am I reading that right - the OP has bent 6 cars in his ownership history? Must be some kind of record...

Pah, I managed that in the first 2 years of driving.

That Alfa looks lovely, that Megane makes all the sense as a cut price GT3 and I love the R129 (although I'd have a late '90's earl 00's personally). Do like an XJS but can't get on with the TWR factory body kit of that one and think the lack of reliability of a pre-HE (which I'd go for) would drive me mad. Interesting choices all-in, thank you.

[dimots]

That Jag is glorious. Is that the going price for one of those? I have a spare £20k...just need garage space...

[Earl of Petrol]

Good selection, especially the Alfa. Would dump the Vectra though.....

[kett]

Bravo! Great selection and enjoyable read.

[1Rb]

One of the best selections - nothing remotely super car, and all the better for it.