£100K Garage: Matt Gilby
An original (and affordable) way into a classic Porsche for Matt, plus more from across the globe!
Previously owned: Land Rover Discovery 2, Marshall 7HP traction engine (1/4 size)
Currently owned: Land Rover Series 3 88" County, L322 Range Rover V8, Rolls Royce Meteor V12 tank engine, Westland Sea King Mk6 cockpit section
On the shortlist: Lister-Jaguar "Knobbly" continuation, 1959 model Cadillac, Ferrari F40, Lotus Carlton, REO M35, Brough Superior SS100, ERA B-Type, Dodge Viper GTS... I could go on!
Cost: £33,902
Balance: £66,098
Why I chose it: "I've always loved pre-war sports cars in general, and world-beating Great British sports cars especially. This was the genesis of the WBGBSC - the one taken home in its thousands by American soldiers that kick-started the US export boom. It's also my favourite because it was THE car of choice for those dashing young Spitfire and Hurricane pilots - and who wouldn't want to emulate such fine chaps?"
"It's small, light, nimble and has a good power-to-weight ratio with the revvy little engine - ideal for a B-road blast on a sunny day. It's of a power and grip level where it can be exploited to its full potential without ever needing to worry about getting near licence-losing speeds!"
Rest of Europe: Maserati Quattroporte
Cost: £19,995
Balance: £46,103
Why I chose it: "Once my Series 3 Land Rover is restored and back on the road fulfilling 4x4 and towcar duties, I would probably look at trading in my Range Rover for a luxury saloon with some sporting pedigree to be my daily drive. You can keep your BMWs, Mercs and Audis - I want something with some flair, and what better than a Quattroporte? The previous-generation M139 chosen here also has the advantage of being one of the most genuinely pretty cars of the modern era (although that isn't hard given some of the chinzty and overly-styled mingers around these days). In post-2007 cars like this, the nightmare "DuoSelect" gearbox was binned, and that fabulous Ferrari V8 became paired to a ZF automatic that actually worked. The "Executive" trim modelled here gets more toys and some piano black interior trim rather than the oh-so-90s fake wood, and the all-black paint job says "out of my way, important Mafia figurehead coming through"!"
Cost: £16,985
Balance: £29,118
Why I chose it: "As hinted at above, normal German cars don't really float my boat - and as this is the £100K garage not the £100M garage, I couldn't start hunting for Porsche 917s or Group B Quattros. Sadly, the aviation section of the PH classifieds was bare, or a nice Schleicher or DG Fluzeugbau glider would have been in budget and good impetus for this lapsed pilot to get flying again...."
"So, left browsing the more unusual wheeled choices, I spotted this nice and rather rare tractor. Sadly it's a diesel not Petrol/TVO, but then nothing's perfect. As I already attend a lot of vintage shows, it would make a nice addition and would certainly stand out from the ranks of Fordsons and Fergies. I could even put it to year-round use at my workshop, driving a PTO sawbench or shunting rolling projects around."
USA: Buick Riviera
Cost: £14,765
Balance: £14,353
Why I chose it: "I'm a huge fan of classic American styling - be it cars or buildings - from the art-deco 20s to the jet-age 50s. My uncle, much to my jealousy, bought a be-finned '59 Cadillac a few years back and I absolutely love the amazed stares we get when wafting around an English town centre in it. A quick trawl through the PH classifieds for anything American and 50s threw up a few horrors, but also found this very fetching Buick. It's not as desirable as a Caddy or a Chevy Bel-Air, but then it's nowhere near as expensive either. It still has all the right ingredients too - lazy v8, even lazier gearbox, suspension made of treacle, wraparound windscreens and lashings of chrome trim and detailing."
Cost: £12,990
Balance: £1,363 - bonus fuel money!
Why I chose it: "I grew up in the early 90s, when the WRC was still covered in mainstream media and the cars still resembled showroom models. McRae and the blue Imprezas were my heroes as they blasted through Pundershaw and Grisedale (why is the WRC confined to Wales these days?) and that flat-four rumble always sounded so much better than all the inline-engined competitors. I still occasionally watch my 1995 RAC Rally Review VHS tape!"
"This Impreza is nicely understated in grey, and appears to have escaped being tuned to oblivion, adorned with a Max Power bodykit, or being wrapped around some street furniture. As these three factors further reduce the number of surviving cars - and as with age they begin to shift their unfortunate image as a chav chariot, (relatively) unmolested examples such as this will only go up in value. Collectors are already taking more of an interest as halo models like the 22B get priced out of reach..."
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Wouldn't even consider buying any of them but utterly respect the reasoning and imagination for what you've gone for!
I used to see one outside the nearby lock ups being worked on by an RAF lad , he soon cottoned on that I was a blossoming petrohead and so put me to work cleaning the chassis . I leaky tank had turned into a full resto.
The same year I went to my first race meeting at Nearby Croft which was still an airfield circuit .1967 so 50 yrs of grubby hands and petrol snffing!
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