A Small Car History
Discussion
Seeing as I've never done one...
I've not really had enough cars when I look at it!
When I was 17 I couldn't afford my own car, so like many people I stole my mum's! I was fortunate in that both my parents had cars, but my dad commuted on a moped and my mum worked from home, which meant I was free to charge around in this little beast:
A VW Polo 1.0 E. Called Melvin (named by my sister who had learned to drive in it 2 years previously). I drove that around for a couple of years, putting a few dents and scrapes in it along the way, and using all 50 bhp to drive as many 17 year olds do (i.e. badly).
After a couple of years I bought my first car that was actually mine:
A Phase 1 Pug 306 XSi. Called Joseph. It was a big step up power wise from the Polo, and was a great (if sometimes a little snappy) handler. I only owned it for a few months, and then sold it due to not really needing a car at the time, going back to using the Polo when required.
My next purchase was:
A Toyota Corolla T Sport. I was initially going to get a 2.0 Focus (not ST170) but found the Corolla was actually going to be a lot cheaper to insure! It had a great engine, revving to about 8,200 rpm and is definitely the best sounding car I've owned. Apart from on the motorway, where the short gearing meant it buzzed away at nearly 4,000 rpm, making it incredibly noisy! They're often criticised for their handling, which is a bit wallowey (although it does ride well in compensation). I improved this a little bit by fitting slightly shorter springs from the facelifted model.
After the Corolla came:
A mkII Octavia vRS (petrol model). Despite only being a bit more powerful than the Corolla, it was a lot quicker, and much better for motorway cruising. I added a few nice options (OEM cruise, Bluetooth and some iPod connectivity).
During this time, I was house sharing with some mates and we had quite a nice fleet going:
The BMW 1502 made me get a classic car itch, which I scratched by going on eBay and finding the closest classic, under £2k, with a long MOT. I ended up with this:
A 1961 Ford Popular 100E. She was a tricky girl to drive, with a dogleg gearbox and not much in the way of synchromeshes, but it was great fun and always turned heads!
A couple of house moves (and lots of car changes with my housemates) later and we collectively bought a limo to use on a charity banger rally:
The limo has its own thread for anyone who is interested!
Having had the Skoda for a couple of years, I realised that it was stupid of me to have a family car, and to get something a bit impractical while I still could:
An Audi TTS Roadster (S Tronic). It's a different beast to any of my previous cars and grips like not much I've ever driven. Apart from being a pain to see out of / park, it's great!
The Pop and the limo were sold shortly after buying the TT. I'm on the lookout for a Volvo Amazon to replace the Pop.
So there we have it. Not a huge amount of cars for 10 years of driving but reasonably varied!
I've not really had enough cars when I look at it!
When I was 17 I couldn't afford my own car, so like many people I stole my mum's! I was fortunate in that both my parents had cars, but my dad commuted on a moped and my mum worked from home, which meant I was free to charge around in this little beast:
A VW Polo 1.0 E. Called Melvin (named by my sister who had learned to drive in it 2 years previously). I drove that around for a couple of years, putting a few dents and scrapes in it along the way, and using all 50 bhp to drive as many 17 year olds do (i.e. badly).
After a couple of years I bought my first car that was actually mine:
A Phase 1 Pug 306 XSi. Called Joseph. It was a big step up power wise from the Polo, and was a great (if sometimes a little snappy) handler. I only owned it for a few months, and then sold it due to not really needing a car at the time, going back to using the Polo when required.
My next purchase was:
A Toyota Corolla T Sport. I was initially going to get a 2.0 Focus (not ST170) but found the Corolla was actually going to be a lot cheaper to insure! It had a great engine, revving to about 8,200 rpm and is definitely the best sounding car I've owned. Apart from on the motorway, where the short gearing meant it buzzed away at nearly 4,000 rpm, making it incredibly noisy! They're often criticised for their handling, which is a bit wallowey (although it does ride well in compensation). I improved this a little bit by fitting slightly shorter springs from the facelifted model.
After the Corolla came:
A mkII Octavia vRS (petrol model). Despite only being a bit more powerful than the Corolla, it was a lot quicker, and much better for motorway cruising. I added a few nice options (OEM cruise, Bluetooth and some iPod connectivity).
During this time, I was house sharing with some mates and we had quite a nice fleet going:
The BMW 1502 made me get a classic car itch, which I scratched by going on eBay and finding the closest classic, under £2k, with a long MOT. I ended up with this:
A 1961 Ford Popular 100E. She was a tricky girl to drive, with a dogleg gearbox and not much in the way of synchromeshes, but it was great fun and always turned heads!
A couple of house moves (and lots of car changes with my housemates) later and we collectively bought a limo to use on a charity banger rally:
The limo has its own thread for anyone who is interested!
Having had the Skoda for a couple of years, I realised that it was stupid of me to have a family car, and to get something a bit impractical while I still could:
An Audi TTS Roadster (S Tronic). It's a different beast to any of my previous cars and grips like not much I've ever driven. Apart from being a pain to see out of / park, it's great!
The Pop and the limo were sold shortly after buying the TT. I'm on the lookout for a Volvo Amazon to replace the Pop.
So there we have it. Not a huge amount of cars for 10 years of driving but reasonably varied!
.Flying Toilet said:
Ah ok, very similar house and crop of cars lived few doors down from my mates. Just a wild guess I suppose!
Ah definitely not me, although I think we do get that sort of reputation in our current place in MK.Since moving in in March we've had between 4 people:
Peugeot 206 (don't get me started, this replaced an Impreza STI)
Mondeo (a disease that won't go away, like an STI in fact)
MX5
Porsche 944
Boxster
BMW 1502
Ford Pop
Octavia
TT
Limo
I don't think there was a point when we had them all at once though!
Don't think the neighbours really like us...
blank said:
Ah definitely not me, although I think we do get that sort of reputation in our current place in MK.
Since moving in in March we've had between 4 people:
Peugeot 206 (don't get me started, this replaced an Impreza STI)
Mondeo (a disease that won't go away, like an STI in fact)
MX5
Porsche 944
Boxster
BMW 1502
Ford Pop
Octavia
TT
Limo
I don't think there was a point when we had them all at once though!
Don't think the neighbours really like us...
My mate lives round the corner from you know I am always staring at your collection as I drive past. The MX5 looks low and the 944 is really nice. Jealous of your driveway Since moving in in March we've had between 4 people:
Peugeot 206 (don't get me started, this replaced an Impreza STI)
Mondeo (a disease that won't go away, like an STI in fact)
MX5
Porsche 944
Boxster
BMW 1502
Ford Pop
Octavia
TT
Limo
I don't think there was a point when we had them all at once though!
Don't think the neighbours really like us...
firman said:
My mate lives round the corner from you know I am always staring at your collection as I drive past. The MX5 looks low and the 944 is really nice. Jealous of your driveway
Haha yeah the MX5 is a bit too low really.The 944 has gone now as well, it was a bit rough mechanically!
brockovrs said:
Yeah! shame we didn't really go anywhere but france (and we got stupidly lost on the last night) but it was amazing 
you doing it again next year?
Cracking cars too by the way, the Audi looks great!
Yeah it would have been nice to get further in to Spain or even Portugal. We tried to make the most of it by going along the coast in France and stopping along the way. Some pics from our trip here:you doing it again next year?
Cracking cars too by the way, the Audi looks great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IftuCLKGPA8&fea...
Not sure on next year yet, it will probably be in a group of smaller cars if so!
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