Every Friday I look for the PH Shed of the Week and even when the other chaps choose it, I can't help but stick my nose in and add my two- penneth, whether they want it or not. In fact I blame PistonHeads completely for my love of older, cheaper cars as SOTW has been my favourite feature for years, and it's because of this I have decided to buy my own shed. However, as I bought it from a PHer I use the phrase ‘shed’ with the utmost affection.
Say hello to my new run around, a very brown, 1992, 3.9 V8 Range Rover Vogue. It's slightly unusual as it has a velour interior rather than leather and is fitted with a manual gearbox too. It’s an unusual spec and I can just imagine the chat in the dealership 17 years ago.
Dealer: 'Sir has great taste, the Range Rover Vogue is the model of choice for the discerning gentleman, now what about the specification?'
Punter: 'I'd like it in brown please, and hold the leather as I quite fancy some velour. Oh, and none of that auto box malarkey, I’ll take a manual please.'
Dealer: 'Err, right. That will be a 50% deposit before we order it please sir.'
Regardless of the unusual spec, I now have a 95,000 mile Rangie, with a decent history file, 4 previous owners and a full 12 months MOT. It also has a National Trust tax disc holder and a Yacht Club parking permit sticker in the windscreen. What it is with Old 'Rovers, they just reek of class in a way that no other version has ever bettered in my opinion. Rust appears to be staying away for now, the V8 is super smooth and I even quite like the manual box too.
So far I have resisted the urge to deck myself out in tweed, but I’m sure that day will come soon enough, and I am already planning on taking it to Goodwood for the FOS instead of the RS2.
So what did I pay for this lump of British class? £700. Mock it all you like, but I know you are a little bit jealous. This shed hasn't been bought to make a profit though, instead I will use it for commuting and tooling around London.
Well that was the plan anyway but now I am imagining trips to the beach, picnics on the tailgate and the odd jaunt up a bridleway. I am now so ‘old money’ that the next time you read about this car I’ll no doubt be off to a point-to-point, or perhaps the local shoot. In reality I’ll probably know the AA man/ fuel station attendant by name and will be using the PistonHeads classifieds to sell the thing. Until then, i'll enjoy the V8 'woofle' while wearing some Hunter wellies and a flat cap. Out of my way Prius driver, I'm coming through.
As one shed arrives, another departs. George managed to sell the PH MR2 and here is his story.
Safe in the knowledge that RacingPete and I had bought a gem of a car, I had no qualms about clocking up some serious miles in the MR2 in the hunt for bits to improve its rather dowdy appearance.
The hunt was on for a set of scrapheap seats, some partly worn tyres and an elusive gearnob gaitor. It sounds like a relatively simple list of bits, but with Shed’s limited budget finding them for a bargain price was going to be tricky. There was also the small matter of our MR2’s rather flat paintwork that needed to be addressed.
Thankfully Mr Will is a tireless worker with far too much energy and spare time, so after a weekend in his custody the MR2 returned a whole lot shinier. Several hours of mechanical buffing brought the paintwork back up to its former glory and after a quick valet inside and out the MR2 was now up to a decent standard and could be put back onto the classifieds.
It took a few days for the MR2 to get noticed, but eagle-eyed Sunday afternoon bargain hunters soon stumbled across our Shed, and by Monday morning I proudly walked into the office declaring the Shed was all but sold. Three prospective punters had arrange to view the car that week, and that was only the start of it.
Priced at one pound shy of our traditional £1k Shed budget, and a whopping £500 over what we paid for it the forthright and honest description of our slightly tatty MR2 seemed to be winning over the hearts and minds of the PH classifieds. A further three appointments were made before the end of the week, but in the end just two people managed to see our glorious Shed before it was snapped up.
Like the buying process, the negotiations were simple. It was £1k or no sale in my eyes, however, my opponent was after some kind of discount, and I offered up a fifty quid reduction to help seal the deal.
So, the MR2’s gone and Shed has made its third 100 per cent profit (well nearly). The lack of any decent seats at the breakers yard meant that just £80 was spent on restoring the MR2, leaving PH’s Shed Special budget in fine shape with £1290 in the kitty. All we want to know now is whether we can afford a decent Porsche 924?
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