First 100mph experience
Discussion
Inspired by various speed nostalgia threads and by Ziplobb in the Saab 99 thread, what car did you first travel at 100mph in?
Mine as a passenger was my Dad's friend Clive's red E12 525 (not i) BMW. On an M plate I think. It felt like a rocket ship to the probably 9 yr old me in the backseat in ca 1978, as I watched in delight as the needle hit about 105 on the road between Harewood and Collingham.
I don't recall my first 100 as a driver but it may have been in my first Mk2 Golf GTi as I didn't have a car that would do 100 before that;)
(Actually just remembered I had a summer job aged 19 delivering cars for Hertz, so it was probably one of their hard-pressed Sierras or Cavaliers which first took me to 3 figs)
NB not looking for an argument about speed limits, nor do I condone or encourage speeding. This is a place for some rose tinted tales from the motoring past.
Mine as a passenger was my Dad's friend Clive's red E12 525 (not i) BMW. On an M plate I think. It felt like a rocket ship to the probably 9 yr old me in the backseat in ca 1978, as I watched in delight as the needle hit about 105 on the road between Harewood and Collingham.
I don't recall my first 100 as a driver but it may have been in my first Mk2 Golf GTi as I didn't have a car that would do 100 before that;)
(Actually just remembered I had a summer job aged 19 delivering cars for Hertz, so it was probably one of their hard-pressed Sierras or Cavaliers which first took me to 3 figs)
NB not looking for an argument about speed limits, nor do I condone or encourage speeding. This is a place for some rose tinted tales from the motoring past.
As a 10 year old in my dad's Fiat Tipo (the Mk 1), on a motorway near Durham. I think the car's VMax was something like 105mph so it felt very exciting.
Then someone overtook him and I remember my dad muttering obscenities, which totally weren't due to annoyance that someone had a faster car.
Me? Well I've never driven at such ludicrous speed
Then someone overtook him and I remember my dad muttering obscenities, which totally weren't due to annoyance that someone had a faster car.
Me? Well I've never driven at such ludicrous speed
My first as a passenger will have been in a white MK3 Vauxhall Cavalier SRI (a long string of Cavalier SRIs in my dad’s company car history) around 1990, coming home from a lads n’ dads cub scout camp.
My first as a driver would have been my 2nd car, a brand new 2003 Citroen Saxo VTR in Icelandic Blue back when I was 19, when the M6 toll was new and relatively left alone by the police.
My first as a driver would have been my 2nd car, a brand new 2003 Citroen Saxo VTR in Icelandic Blue back when I was 19, when the M6 toll was new and relatively left alone by the police.
I think friends cars when we were in Sixth Form. A few of us passed early (not me) and I remember some daft antics (as you do at 18) which make me grimace a bit. Certainly our less sensible years.
As for myself? Probably when I tried to Vmax my 3.0 Z4 on a quiet M1 in the early hours of the morning after I first got it. I just couldn't resist. I know it's stupid, throw me to the Lions. I gave up at just short of 145, but it was still slowly going! Don't think I bothered again. Was more of a 'okay, that's possible' sort of curiosity.
As for myself? Probably when I tried to Vmax my 3.0 Z4 on a quiet M1 in the early hours of the morning after I first got it. I just couldn't resist. I know it's stupid, throw me to the Lions. I gave up at just short of 145, but it was still slowly going! Don't think I bothered again. Was more of a 'okay, that's possible' sort of curiosity.
First as a PAX, ironically also a friends' SAAB 99 - on a section of private test track (M1), when I was about 16. A lot of fond memories of that car.
Personally, it was in my Lancia Delta turbo, I decided to give it an Italian 'tune up' on a local stretch of D/C - it was still pulling hard past three figures, but backed off.
More recent shenanigans in my C63, probably best left to the imagination.
Personally, it was in my Lancia Delta turbo, I decided to give it an Italian 'tune up' on a local stretch of D/C - it was still pulling hard past three figures, but backed off.
More recent shenanigans in my C63, probably best left to the imagination.
A Rover 827SLi hire car my dad had for work. (Never sure what the L stood for in that name, don't think I've ever seen another one?!?)
I could tell you exactly where it was too, but I will refrain as a few years later a friend of mine was killed in an accident on the same spot (as a passenger).
I could tell you exactly where it was too, but I will refrain as a few years later a friend of mine was killed in an accident on the same spot (as a passenger).
I'm not exactly sure. It would have been relatively late in life (ie. the real tail end of my teens) because none of my family, or the older brothers of friends etc, were inclined to that sort of thing.
It's a toss up between a 3.0 Terrano II, because the owner wanted to demonstrate that unlike his previous 2.7 the 3.0 was 100mph-capable, and a Talbot 110 on a bit of a 'development testing' run. There's a possibility it could have been a 416GSI, a friend's father had one and ragged it senseless (but not often on 100mph roads.)
It's a toss up between a 3.0 Terrano II, because the owner wanted to demonstrate that unlike his previous 2.7 the 3.0 was 100mph-capable, and a Talbot 110 on a bit of a 'development testing' run. There's a possibility it could have been a 416GSI, a friend's father had one and ragged it senseless (but not often on 100mph roads.)
I think mine was when I would have been around 8 or 10, we holidayed in Devon back then and my grandfather used to come with us in his own car, a Datsun of some description. I would always go with him because he didn't hand around, whereas my dad would take his time.
He used to smoke heavily, window down slightly, no seat belts back then and he had a heavy right foot, there was no fear or nervousness from him, so I was just settled as we hurtled down the M5, he casually turned to me and said we're doing 100mph, checking the speedo indeed we were, something I'll always remember.
He used to smoke heavily, window down slightly, no seat belts back then and he had a heavy right foot, there was no fear or nervousness from him, so I was just settled as we hurtled down the M5, he casually turned to me and said we're doing 100mph, checking the speedo indeed we were, something I'll always remember.
@17 in my first car, a Vauxhall Cavalier SRi 1.8, not long after passing my driving test. Somewhere on the A3 southbound of Roehampton early one morning. The dog came along for the ride too.
Dad was with me - he was insistent i knew what it felt like to drive at high speed.
I was more worried about torque steer (a mighty 115bhp engine but rubbish suspension) than how the car felt nudging over 3 figures.
We turned around after the 'event' and went back into Richmond Park to walk the dog. I remember feeling quite excited after that drive.
Dad was with me - he was insistent i knew what it felt like to drive at high speed.
I was more worried about torque steer (a mighty 115bhp engine but rubbish suspension) than how the car felt nudging over 3 figures.
We turned around after the 'event' and went back into Richmond Park to walk the dog. I remember feeling quite excited after that drive.
Not 100mph, but felt like a million mph. I was 17 at the time, 3 of us had decided to travel from Mansfield Newquay for the weekend, in a mk1 Fiesta 1.1. We had a roof rack on, with loads of stuff tied to as we couldn't fit everything in the car. Some 4 hours into the journey, down a steep dual carriageway at 2am we decided to try and max out the Fiesta. It got to 85mph, the whole car shaking, the engine screaming when there was a massive bang, then loud knocking. I turned round and looked back expecting to see engine parts, but a body board had come loose, the rope still tied to the roof rack, leaving the board flying behind us banging into the rear window. 85mph whilst this was going on seemed terrifying!
My first 100mph experience was much later, in a mk1 Clio 1.4RT, which I managed to knock just over 100mph in, on a very very very long, empty runway, downhill, with a tail wind. Felt like a real achievement, when today, 100mph in my Golf GTi feels like nothing.
My first 100mph experience was much later, in a mk1 Clio 1.4RT, which I managed to knock just over 100mph in, on a very very very long, empty runway, downhill, with a tail wind. Felt like a real achievement, when today, 100mph in my Golf GTi feels like nothing.
I think it was in my Uncles Sierra 1.8GLS on the A19. Frankly, felt a bit scary as a 11 year old or so 
Fastest I have ever been was c160mph in my old E55 AMG just outside Stuttgart - bloke in an Audi RS6 (must've been derestricted) came up behind me, flashed his lights, and surged past tapping his mirror.
What a t
t
Fastest I have ever been was c160mph in my old E55 AMG just outside Stuttgart - bloke in an Audi RS6 (must've been derestricted) came up behind me, flashed his lights, and surged past tapping his mirror.
What a t
tMy first 100mph was the day after passing my driving test, when my instructor took me out.
It was back in 1991, so the risk of getting caught was minimal and the M20 Wrotham Hill wasn't busy
My last 100 mph was on Sunday, on the autobahn near Aachen, when I realised it was probably the first time in a decade where the speedo had gone that high. The flip side was my distance to empty reading dropped like a stone
It was back in 1991, so the risk of getting caught was minimal and the M20 Wrotham Hill wasn't busy
My last 100 mph was on Sunday, on the autobahn near Aachen, when I realised it was probably the first time in a decade where the speedo had gone that high. The flip side was my distance to empty reading dropped like a stone
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