Wednesday 10th December 2014

£100K Garage: Damien Cross

Another £100K Garage, another Integrale! Lancia joins Lotus in Damien's choices

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Name: Damien Cross
Previously owned: '94 Fiat Uno, '90 Peugeot 205, '97 Mitsubishi Colt, '98 Mazda MX-5, '00 BMW 330ci, '00 Lotus Elise 111S, '06 Jeep Cherokee, '05 Saab 9-3 Sportwagon
Currently owned: '04 Smart Roadster
On the shortlist: "Another Lotus or 12, a sporty Audi estate, a Zenos, a Noble, a 60s Merc SL, Porsche 356 and a McLaren F1. Hm. I seem to have gone a bit too far there..."

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Lotus Elan Sprint
Cost: £29,995
Balance: £70,005
Why I chose it: "Well if it was good enough for Jim Clark... I was hoping to find a good example of this Norfolk hero for under £25K but despite a couple of examples being available I had to push higher for this one. If you're going to get a Chapman-era Lotus then do it properly! With this spec and colour scheme it'll not only be huge fun but also a better investment than money sat in the bank. Plus, being LHD, continental Europe beckons... See y'all at Le Mans."

Lotus Exige S
Cost: £23,990
Balance: £46,155
Why I chose it: "Because of my Norfolk roots there'd be no better car to scare supercars on track days, especially with the extra grunt of the 'S' over and above a standard Exige. And in this colour scheme people would notice!. Or maybe I'd remove the stripes for a stealthier look, although the interior would then be hard to explain... Anyway I don't need a soft top when I have the other cars on this list, and so I'd prefer to spend the extra for the rigidity and extra aero performance (and the extra hp) of the Exige S over an Elise 111R. Now, let's watch tall friends try and get in and out of the passenger door..."

Lancia Delta Integrale Evo
Cost: £17,995
Balance: £28,160
Why I chose it: "Always loved it, harking back to the days of rallying on TV - and on computer games. Also inspired by the PistonHeads/Flux competition last year and seeing a guy's Lancia Delta dream come true, this has to be on the list. Again, LHD so plenty of excuses to go abroad, and a great car that would be ignored by 90 per cent of people (AKA people that do not matter) and adored by 10 per cent of people (AKA petrolheads, and they do matter). Cheaper examples may well be available but really this is one car that you don't want to cut corners with. Well financially, anyway.

Cobra Replica (BRA)
Cost: £19,950
Balance: £8,210
Why I chose it: It was a Cobra replica or a 356 replica - replicas let you have the shape you want even if you can't afford it - but without any 356/Speedster reps available right now I'll happily accept the Cobra option. When it comes to a replica it seems wrong to have fake badges misleading people - I don't want others to think I have an AC only to then humbly explain I'm too poor. So I'm glad this has BRA written across the steering wheel and is on a Q-plate. In this company it's all about the bass so a deep burbly V8 is a must, and with a huge US lump available under £20K I can't wait to roar between petrol stations."

Mazda CX-7
Cost: £6,940
Balance: a few quid to spend on the missus!
Why I chose it: "Stretching the search function a bit here with £8,000 to go and needing a sensible car to lug around toys and food - so popped in a search for £8K, made 2008 or after, all-wheel drive, 0-60 in under 8 seconds, up to 50,000 miles and manual gears (I'm not an auto fan, maybe years driving a Smart Roadster is to blame) and chose this from very few results! Bargain workhorse that just scrapes into the 8-second club, but should make sure I can always get from A to B."

[Remy89]

Nice choices and that's a lovely looking Lancia (unintentional alliteration)

Dubious choice with the Mazda but I understand the logic.

[British Beef]

Apart from the Mazda, which I would replace with a nice 110 defender, that is an excellent choice of vehicles!!!

[X5TUU]

im a bit agnostic on this one ... but I honestly don't know if its just that the 100k garage thing has had its day and run its course ... there is nothing wrong with the car selection at all and they look like decent examples of a well spent chunk

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Why a replica Cobra when you could have a good 5L V8 TVR for less? More practical, good residuals, quicker in many cases, some much cheaper

[smilo996]

Pretty good and loyal choice of vehicles for the turnip farmer. Classic and contemporary Lotus, who would argue with that. Likley someone will.

Most people go for the EVO II but this EVO I seems like a good choice for the money, though the KM's do not appear to be mentioned.

Mazda makes sense but I would buy a JLR, like the sub 100k Disco 2 for 6K....

Never driven an Exige, stealthy from the side and certainly not from the front. 1.8L with a supercharger, mmm.

Well argued garage.

[IMI A]

Very nice garage. May be the best I have seen in 2014 bar the Mazda but even that for the money is a lot of car for the money albeit devoid of any personality.

Ignoring the fact that they're as reliable as a chocolate fire guard and rust like a shanty town what are they like to drive compared to a modern super hatch? I've been in one in 1989 and yes there was thrust but around corners it felt like a boat. Saw the same car a few years later and it honestly looked like scrap. I've never driven one and its a hero in my dream garage. You know what they say about never driving your heros!

[chelme]

Good Choices!

As with all old cars, if you take care of them, they will take care of you ;-) so you'd need a garage for the classics, not to mention using them regularly in fine weather, and commit to regular servicing intervals.

[AbarthChris]

This feature really has been done to death now. We get it, a decent daily, a track car, a classic, a supercar, then something else. Repeat ad infinitum...

There has been 40 '100k garages' now. How many more have we got to go?

[Malachimon]

Made the right choice with the Mazda, it's an excellent crossover for the money.

And I owned a Smart Roadster for two years, the auto gearbox isn't that bad when you get used to it.