What 20 year old car would you choose as your daily drive?

[white_goodman]

I watched the first ever episode of Midsomer Murders with my wife on Netflix the other night and couldn't believe it was 20 years ago and that the show was still going! Questionable plot line aside, one of the things I enjoy most about watching old shows is seeing what cars the characters were driving back then. Barnaby and Troy were tooling around from murder scene to murder scene in a mk1 Mondeo, a once hugely popular car, although one that I haven't seen on the road for ages. This got me thinking. 1997 was a fairly interesting time on the roads with half of the newer designs being recognisably modern i.e. airbags, ABS, thicker doors due to crash protection structures etc and half older cars without any of these features, carburettors and cardboard-thin doors etc and yet not that many cars of this vintage survive. Are there any cars on sale new in 1997 that you would happily use as your daily driver today?

There are the obvious modern classics: Ferrari F355/550 Maranello, Porsche 993 Carrera, R129 Mercedes SL etc but these are all appreciating classics, so I'm not sure whether you would want to be piling commuter miles on them.

Peugeot had some pretty decent hot hatches around at the time: 106 GTi/Rallye/306 GTi-6 but having run a 205 GTi as my daily at 12 years old, I'm not sure whether a 20 year old Peugeot is the best choice. Quite a few 4-seat coupes and 2-seat roadsters available at the time but nothing really jumps out at me.

Which brings me on to luxury cars. I can kind of see people's obsession today with German cars if I look back 20 years, as there are some fairly modern, comfortable and handsome options and the perceived difference in build quality between a mass-market Ford/Vauxhall/Rover/Peugeot/Citroen/Peugeot really did exist back then. I'm thinking the then all-new C5 Audi A6 quattro, D2 Audi A8, E38 7-Series etc. The Jaguar XJ6/XJ8 X300/X308 and Lexus LS400 probably deserve a special mention too.

On balance though, I think that I would choose a BMW 528i SE in dark metallic blue/green, no real preference on transmission, a slightly predictable but good choice I think. Other than the original, I think it's the best looking 5, modern power, better fuel economy than the E34 and still with most of the comfort and convenience features and space of a modern car. It may even ride better too!



So, if you had to run a 20 year old car as a daily (so we're talking P/R-registration cars here), what would you pick?

[white_goodman]

s m said:

Although even by 1997 the Mk1 Mondeo was an old model, the Mk2 was in full run by then

To be fair if it was first aired in 1997, so it was probably filmed in 1996. I think it was an N or a P reg (definitely a mk1 anyway). Mk2 not that much different? i.e. the mk1 Mondeo still feels fairly modern, the car has just got bigger, whereas the Sierra does feel like an old car now.

Some great choices on this thread. I love that turquoise XJR. I liked these even when I was 15, probably even more so than the newer V8. 7k seems like quite a lot of money for a 20+ year old car but it's probably worth it. Not such a great era for Mercedes if I recall correctly (I've had a 1999 C-Class and liked it but rust was a big problem) but I love the W124 Coupe (1997 too late to pick up a new one of these though?) and that C36 is really nice too.

Also some nice E36 Coupes that some of you are still running and big respect to the guy who runs a 20 year old Cerbera as his all-year round daily!

[white_goodman]

Agent XXX said:

Oh god. YET another thread that decends into "I've got a BMW"

Not sure specifically who that was aimed at but actually I don't own a BMW. I just think for what I need from my daily drive and relatively affordable running costs, an E39 would be a great choice. What alternatives would you suggest? I think also that there are more Audis/BMWs/Mercedes around from this era than say Ford/Vauxhall/Rover because they were more expensive cars new, so worth repairing. Most 1997 Fords/Vauxhalls/Rovers would have been virtually worthless at say 10 years old, so any major repair would have meant that they got scrapped. Those that still survive and have been kept in good condition have likely appreciated, as you can see from the silly prices that some people are asking for any old Ford in particular.

Just to redress the balance, I am surprised that no-one has mentioned one of these. Not quite as refined or comfortable as an E39 but I could put up with one of these as my daily I think. Good luck finding a decent one at this age though!