My Car History!

[C.A.R.]

Everyone seems to do one of these and since signing up in 2008 it doesn't look like I've done one...

First car - Inhereted my grans Vauxhall Nova 1.2i < (the 'i' is important don'tcha know!) this was the rarer saloon bodystyle in a fetching shade of red (or faded pink) with tasteful OEM white wheel trims. The car was crap, but it knew it was. It served me well and was 100% reliable, I never had to turn a nut on it in the year I ran it for. Gifted for £300!!



I can tell you are jealous.

I fitted a new steering wheel but then realised that modifying this car to any extent was not going to make it any better!



Then I got stupid, found a full-time job and got a loan out for £3,000 - I'll never get alone again unless it's a mortgage!

With the cash still crispy from the bank and rapidly burning through my trouser pocket I jumped on Autotrader and found something small, sporty, reasonable to insure and unfortunately very French.
Peugeot 306 XS 1.8, bought for £3,050


I even built a 1:10 mini-me replica -



That car was fine (the full-size one, that is) until I started buggering around with it.
-Lowering springs
-Numerous different air filter arrangements that no doubt ruined fuel consumption
-Leather seats from a GTi6
-OZ Superleggera alloy wheels which cost a painful £600+ with the tyres and adapters needed
-A swanky alarm
-Bigger brakes to harness the POWAAA
-Then the big stuff…
-Inlet manifold and throttle body from a GTi6
-Four-branch exhaust manifold from GTi6, de-cat pipe






Yea, soon came to realise that this still wasn’t a GTi6 and certainly didn’t go like one.

The answer?

Buy a GTi6 instead!! I paid £2,000 for it (as you can see, I provided the alloys…) and it was a CAT D write off…


I should have learned my lesson at this stage, as this particular car blew up on my way home from the dealer.
A few heated discussions later and the car was trailered off for repair and came back to me a couple of weeks later…



Loved that car, despite being unreliable it was a fantastic drive, really did make mincemeat of the local B-roads…
…it was A-roads which caused it a problem. More specifically, the A602, in the wet. “What’s lift off oversteer?!”




Woops.

Did I learn my lesson at that point? No, I didn’t, however I was car-less somewhat, and work was 15 miles away…
Cue the VW Polo. I think it was a 1.3 model? Either way it didn’t work at all. Bought for £250 and sold for the same to a 17-year old who did it up for his first car…



I then found some cash and splashed it on yet another 306, this time a Pinin Farina Cabriolet 1.8…£2,650



It was a bit ropey, with chav lights front and rear but some very nice Speedline alloys. I remedied it and preferred my previous alloys too…






Very plush car. But also very girly and very, very understeer-y! And it liked a drink too, getting around 28mpg! One of the thirstiest cars I’ve owned…

Still wanting something a bit girly but a lot less understeer-y, I saw the light, and purchased something well-known on the pages of PH…

Mazda Eunos Roadster S-Special Type II, bought for £2,900 in need of a bit of TLC…



Added a lot of my own personal touches, owned the car for quite some time (a whole year!)






Coolest car ever. Period!

I sold it on in September and have regretted it ever since. The replacement and current car?

Toyota Celica 190 (ZZT231) completely standard, bought for £3,300



Impressive turn of speed and quite practical, whilst returning around 33mpg on average. I’ve not done much to it, and don’t intend to. New stereo and just drive the wheels off it, with that MX5 in the back of my mind!

[ssmith61]

Well done, your MX-5 was stunning mate

Celica 190's are fantastic cars too, i drove one for about 10 miles once and loved it especially when reving the nuts of it