No, but you should be able to claim a Government grant to help toward running costs 😉

MK1 Fiesta 1.1 petrol, 12 yrs old when we got it and shared with my sis. Stolen and rolled over a roundabout in Glasgow and couldn’t afford to replace it.

MK4 Escort 1.3 petrol, 1st own car, stupid foam spoiler that cost me £30 extra a year on insurance and rusted loads.

Mk3 Astra 1.6 petrol, 1st company car, was ok but swapped it when 1 of my colleagues left for

MK5 Escort 1.6 petrol, because it had a CD player! great car when bombing down country lanes on way to calls.

MK1 Primera 1.8 petrol, much more confortable and had air con, bit dull though.

MK2 Mondeo estate 2.0l diesel (no turbo!), new job, was ex farm vet car, had a dent in every panel, smelt of cowshit and I moaned about it daily for 4 mths till I got.

MK1 Focus estate 2.0 petrol, fantastic car, handled really well and very reliable till 120k of hard miles.

Vectra C estate 1.9 tdi, dull but reliable, huge boot best thing about it.

E61 BMW 520d Msport Touring, lovely car even though my wife descibes it as the old mans bus due to auto gearbox. Did consider an older 535d Touring but bottled the insurance bill.

Her/our cars,

Peugot 306Dturbo, great but she did drive it around for 6 months with the turbo disconnected and didn’t notice!

MK2 Mazda MX5 1.8, brilliant car, still miss it and wish we had kept it but baby arrival meant had to go.

E91 BMW 320i Msport Touring, v nice but the boot is tiny. Thus why I have an old mans bus.

Think may have to buy an MX5 this winter.

1974 VW Beetle 1300

‘B’ reg Vauxall Cavalier

1975 Mini 1100

Renault 11

1995 Vauxhall Cavalier

Mk3 VW Golf GTI

1999 VW Passat Turbo Sport

Old battle bus Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 TDI

My fave car was the GTI, I shed a tear when I had to sell that car.

Citroen 2CV (Maroon & Black)

Started there myself, as a student, 2CV Charleston to give it its title, NTB906W – must have rusted long ago. Only cheap small car into which I easily fitted. At 6’4″ a mini was completely out and so were a number of other starter cars

1986 Citroen Visa Finally earning, 2CV becoming unreliable
?1988 Citroen AX GT Go kart, born to answer the question as to just how big an engine you could get in the front of an AX
?1990 Nother Citroen AXGT Another go kart
M reg Citroen ZX petrol Bit more space, only 3 doors, not as fun
Saab 9000 Turbo New family needs second car, after 100k started getting expensive and then did the decent thing and died in floods in Cambridge
L reg Citroen ZX TD Replaced first ZX, now have small children and 5 doors better than 3
S reg Subaru Legacy Estate Replaced insurance write off Saab
Skoda Fabia VRS Yep, the ZX was now worth less than its tyres and starting to rust. Stonking end of sales period deal and was in such demand 2nd hand at the time that it gained in price as I drove it off the forecourt. Current
Skoda Octavia 4×4 Scrappage scheme, replaced a bunch of pieces of subaru shaped rust flying in loose formation – Current

If anything a list united by a desire not to pay for the badge – Saab the only possible exception – and not to go for the routine, so no Fords or Vauxhalls. Went Citroen and saved a bundle on the very fashionable Peugeot equivalent, Subaru was a cheap Volvo V70, Skodas save a bundle on VW or Audi. Even the Saab was not very fashionable and so was bought at about 2 years old for about 40% of its list price, although overall was still by some distance the least economical motoring.

Brand loyalty to some extent dictated by finding a garage I trusted who were prepared to do a sensible deal.

I’ve had lots of rubbish me

nova
astra
citroen bx – loved that…
couple of ZXs
fiesta (my god that was shiiiite)
2 Xantias
focus

Started there myself, as a student, 2CV Charleston to give it its title, NTB906W

That’s a thought, who can remember the reg. numbers of all the cars that they’ve owned… 😳

And, sadly/geekily I can remember the models & reg numbers of all bar one of my late fathers cars… 😳

Passed my test at 17 in 1989 and owned the following, served my time as a mechanic/grease monkey and had cheap access to cars, and more importantly……. a fully equipped garage to repair the buggers!.

Mini Cooper (boss gave me this when i passed my test, absolutely riddled wi rust – had a plywood floor)
Talbot Avenger (rear wheel drive nonsense)
Mk2 Ford Capri 2.0s (freakin deathtrap in the wet but taught me a lot – like never to buy a capri ever again)
Mk1 VW Scirocco storm (stylish and a fanny magnet at the time)
Mk2 Ford Escort Mexico (old workshop car and surprisingly capable on the twistys)
Alfa Romeo Alfasud 1.5 (wish i still owned it)
Lancia Delta HF4 (far too expensive to run/insure at 23 and LHD – GF at time made me sell it as she refused to get in it but holy friggin christ!…… what a car!!)
Mk1 Golf GTI (big stupid grin and fun…fun…fun)
Alfa Romeo 75 2.0 TS (handled superbly and sounded fantastic but dodgy electrics let it down)
Mk2 VW Scirocco Scala (Decent bog standard runabout)
Alfa Romeo 75 3.0 SE (left hand drive import from italy, high state of tune but the V6 engine unfortunately induced a sex wee every time i floored it)
VW Corrado G60 (loopy sounding engine, fantastic to drive and handled so sweet!)
MK2 VW Scirocco GTII (Twin webbers/highly tuned 16v conversion and 15mpg on a good day but worth it for the induction roar and wheelspins at 70mph in 3rd)
Mk3 VW Polo GTI vvt (fun at legal speeds)
VW Corrado VR6 Storm (**** gorgeous car – nuff said)
Volvo S70 T5 (dunno why? – utter shite and Yawn……boring)

Current car
Mk2 1984 Golf GTI with 16v conversion and approx £7000 spent on it in the past few years, for a 28yr old car it’s rather quick. 177bhp at the front wheels, revs to 8000rpm and weighs next to nowt but i’m considering transplanting a tuned 2.0 VW GTI turbo engine into it, almost 300bhp in a car that weighs 980kg?……could be a fun track day car.

Yeah…Yeah….I admit i’m a self confessed car geek/bore, but i’ve not had one accident or insurance claim in 22yrs of driving. I’ve crashed plenty on the track though…………..

Too many to put all down but those worth a mention
Red Mazda rust bucket – my first car – travelled around in plumes of smoke – had spiders inside and everything.
BMW 5 series – cream leather – gold seatbelts – got bollocked many a time for the mud from biking 😀
Audi A8 – mmmmmm
Subaru Impreza WRX – Woohoo
Honda S2000 – crap in snow
Honda CRV – great for biking

Cortina 1600e
Morris Marina
Austin allegro
1.6 Capri white
2.0 litre Capri black
2.0 litre Capri silver
2.8 Capri grey( favourite car)
Red xr3i ( nicked 5 times)
Renault scenic
Renault megane sport( best handling car I’ve ever driven)
Audi a4 avant
Volvo v50
Focus St(current car)

ooh trip down memory lane:
1990 VW polo 1.0l ( ace first car )
1999 Fiat Bravo 1.6 3d (rubbish 2nd car after %1 was written off)
2001 Mazda MX5 (fun fun fun )
2005 Audi A2 ( odd choice i must admit)
2002 Audi A4 Avant TDI ( current mile muncher )
1993 Land Rover Defender 90 (current weekend fun / workhorse)

fancying a new BMW520 next tho

As a change, how about slowest to fastest in least number of steps?

Eg,
Citroen Visa Cub (with the 2 cylinder engine)
Astra 1.3
Golf GTI
Lancia Delta Integrale

I’m sure someone can beat that.

Polo Coupe S
Mk2 Golf GTi
Corrado VR6 Storm

[preceded by a lot of very fast motorbikes]

That’s a thought, who can remember the reg. numbers of all the cars that they’ve owned…

SNO 557K (the first car, the Mini 1000). I don’t recall any other registration number since and that includes my current car.

fruitbat – Member
Me:

Morris Minor (much modified)
Jaguar Mk.2 3.8 litre
Vauxhall Viva (with Alfa 1750 GTV engine and gearbox)
Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 (Bertone)
Mini Van (bought while repairing the GTV after wrecking the rear end)
Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 (rebuilt from fire damaged right off)
Alfa 75 2.5 Cloverleaf (I did 120000 miles in that one)
Alfa 155 2.0 Sport (company car)
Alfa 156 2.0 Veloce (company car)
Alfa 156 2.0 (company car)
Alfa 166 2.5
Fiat Bravo 1.4 T-Jet Sport (current daily car, Motability lease)
Alfa 159 3.2 Q4 Lusso (current car, since February, for occasional use)

Mrs. Fruitbat:

Morris Marina 1.8 TC
Talbot Sunbeam 1.6
Alfasud 1.5 Ti Veloce (she caught the Alfa disease before we got married)
Lancia Beta 2.0 Saloon
Lancia Beta HPE 2.0
Alfa 33 1.5
Alfa 33 1.7
Alfa 146 TI 2.0
Alfa 147 2.0 Lusso (current car for 7 years)

Son of Fruitbat:

Fiat Punto 60S
Alfa 147 0. Lusso (current car)

Do we get a prize for Alfa silliness?

I salute your alfa silliness as i have had too many too, and getting a GT soon XD

MGB roadster
Austin Healey Sprite MKIV
Then company cars:
Morris Marina 1.3
Cortina 1.6l
Cortina 1.6l estate
Austin Ambassador 1.7
XR3
Golf GTi MKII
BMW 320i
Golf GTi 16v MKII
Discovery
Back to owned cars
Range Rover 4.8
Merc E320 coupe
TVR Chimera 4.5
Audi S3
911 (993 coupe)
Golf GTi MKIV Anniversary
BMW X5
Golf R32 MKV

Austin Ambassador 1.7

Snigger 😉

My dad nearly bought one of those once but opted for a Ford Cortina 2.0 Ghia. That was amazing – the second car I ever drove alone (after my Mini). It would wheel spin in 2nd at 45mph. 8)

Does any body own up to owning an Alfa Arna?
(My dad).

A work colleague had one of those – weren’t they designed by Nissan (Datsun) and also badged as a Nissan?

It had inboard drum brakes which meant taking half of the engine out to replace and I recall once changing his spark plugs for him – a task more complex than a Rubik’s Cube.

The Arna – Japanese styling, Italian Engineering….

Err, you didn’t do this right did you?

Nissan Micra 1l
Saab 9000 2l non turbo
Ford Scopio 2l
Peugeot 306 1.6l
Ford Focus 1.6l TI-VCT
MK6 Golf GTI (this is 8 days old).

Can’t remember the years but:
Blue Mini 1000 (fun)
Red Nova 1.3SR (Pretty good)
205 GTI (written off)
Golf mk1 GTI (Fun)
Audi 80 Estate (Grown up and boring)
Volvo 70 T5 (Brand new when they first came out, v fast)
Volvo XC90 (Bought when we had twins and needed even more room… still got it after 9 years)

In there somewhere is a very old TVR that I had for about 6 months, was falling apart. Thought I could do it up but I had no hope, was happy when I sold it.

Only car that I could get excited about now is probably something electric for the continual short runs we do and an Aston Martin 🙂

Up until now I’ve been a diesel boy due to work mileage.
Laguna (company car)
Octavia
Mondeo
Civic (new shape)
Elise (not doing as many work miles now)

Oh how old am I!?!!

Mini van – blue inside and out! Want another!
Beetle – bought of a college mate who was leaving for canada the following day. £25
Humber Snipe – Sheer gangster luxury. Leather bench seat and overdrive. Shame I blew it up pretending I was in the Sweeney
Beetle 1302s – Orange icon
Beetle – another £20 bargin. Drove for 6 months and turned into the tip for its last parking destination
Citreon GS – Bought it at a party for £125 in the dark. Got 18k miles before somebody drove into it. Got £650 back from the insurance write off. Nice sopisticated (engineering wise) car
Citreon CX – £200 for a 5 year old car. Fast and smooth. Threw away after a year. Starter motor went and cost more to repair than I paid originally.
Citreon 2CV – Stop gap fun. Masking tape over the holes in the wings.
Citreon CX – Some working on our site was selling it £80 bargin. Did about 10k in it
Peugoet 305 Estate – Sensible boring
Mini – Did a 100 mile round trip every day for 3 years. My body has never recovered. Cheap fun though
Nissan Micra – Inherited. Would never buy one but it never put a foot wrong. Understand why so many retired people have them. The boredom hastens the end!! Only died when someone drove into it.
Metro 1200 5dr – Stop gap after above. Late taking the kids to school one morning my daughter leapt into it shouting “thank god we’ve got the racing Metro”. It went faster due to the way it reduced weight every time you slammed the door. Rust piles on the ground whenever you parked.
Audi 80 Sport – Excellent and v quick. White and coooooooool
Audi Coupe 2.3E – Best car I ever had. Bought it 10 years old, one retired doctor owner with 50k on the clock. 5 cylinder engine which groweled and just lifted of at 100 plus. Did 100k in it and sold it for £2k less than I paid for it. Could put bikes in back as well.
Citreon AX – plastic fantastic – gear lever came away in my hand! repaired with abit of copper pipe.
Merc 230 – big and boring
Mazda Xedos – Mazda’s go at the Lexus. Lovely with powerful charm. Bought cheap cause the seller who was getting 8 mpg (omitted to tell me that) said he just couldn’t get on with the auto. I replaced the HT leads and did another 100k trouble free miles till box went. Sold for repair to some brothers who collected it for cash at midnight!

Currently –

Skoda Octavia estate – sensible and done 130k trouble free. I’m aiming to get it to 200k at least.
Cateram Seven – on the drive waiting for final SVA work. Never been round the local estate road(so quickly) officer!

Since 1988:

MkI Polo of some kind
MkI Fiesta
MkII Fiesta
MkI Astra
MkII XR2
Citroen AX GT
Fiat Cinquecento Sporting
Citroen Saxo VTR
Fiat Seicento Sporting
VW Scirocco GTX
Renault Megane II
Nissan Qashqai
MK6 Golf Estate

Can you tell when I got to my mid 30’s? 🙂

Used to own 3 cars at a time always swapping and fixing up old ones..

Citroen:
2cv – fun
Dyane – clever fun
Visa – fun dash -dull car
GS X3 – Amazing
BX TD – nice –
CX – – Amazing
Xantia – great sold it 8 years ago – its still going

Renault:
4 -fun better than 2cv/Dyane
4 Van – x2 fun
5 – great on fuel
6 – not really different from 4 – unlike 2cv/Dyane
9 – brilliantly dull
12 – solid workhorse
14 – fantastic package
16TX – x2 – great cars
Fuego GTX – very nice and practical

VW:
Sirocco II – great
Golf GTI MKII – OK
Passat – dull

Austin 1800 -Land Crab – like a monster Mini
Austin Mini Traveller -good wood!

Vauxhall viva SL90 – 1.6ohc screamer

Triumph Vitesse 2.5PI – lethal

Triumph Spitfire MkII – pretty

Ford Escort MKIII – utter shite

Fiat:
124 SpecialT – 1.6dohc 5 speed – looked like a Lada went like a mexico
Uno 55 – great

Volvo – 240DL saloon – Orange one with be safe be seen sticker in back window
great car

Current:
Saab 9-5 Estate – great
Skoda Fabia – great

in rough order:

morris marina 1.7
metro mg
renault 5 turbo
series 2a landy
citroen ax (cheap to run whwn living in the south east)
vectra sri estate
range rover 3.9 efi classic
discovery 300tdi
rang rover p38
discovery td5
subara imprezza estate
bmw 740i

currently

bmw 530d
new shape transit
fiat panda

Fiesta 1.1 stolen and written off.
Peugeot 306 LX, 1.4L and felt v fast after the fiesta (clearly it wasn’t that fast…). Sold on.
Citroen Picasso 2.0L diesel for moving camping and biking gear around. Terminal mechanical failure.
Honda S2000, span and crashed on a wet M27.
Toyota Celica 1.8L, quite fun but got bored and not always the easiest thing to reverse.
Ford c-max 2.0L petrol automatic to fill gap left by demise of the Picasso
Westfield kitcar, 1.8L race tuned Crossflow engine from a Mk2 escort. It’s awesome.

Talbot Samba Rallye
Peugeot 405 1.9
Renault Clio 1.4
Peugeot 306 xsi
MGF
Lotus Elise
TVR Cerbera 4.2
Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo
Honda s2000
Caterham 7 (still got it)
Audi S3 (still got it)
Honda Civic Type R (still got it)

Vauxhall Viva HB 1156cc
Vauxhall Firenza 2300 Sport SL – Road rallied
Vauxhall Chevette HS 2300 – Road and Stage rallied for a few years ..
MK1 Fiesta 950L
Rover 213L
Volkswagen Jetta 1.8 GTI
Rover 216 SLi
Renault Laguna 2.0
Ford Mondeo 1.8
Renault Scenic 2.0
Nissan X-Trail 2.2dci Sport
Honda CRV 2.2dci
Nissan Qashqui 1.5d

Chevette was always the favorite …… 🙂

Hijack – Robin, if you & Jason fancy a ride tomorrow I’m setting off from Sainsbury’s at 10am with geordiemick from this here parish. 🙂

No-one else had one of these?

Loved that blimmin car, I did (’til the sunroof started leaking at 120K miles)

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnOvCnpfvw4[/video]

A slow morning, so quite good fun thinking back.

Cars, most mine, some ours, no particular order, and keep remembering more:(….
Mini Copper S MkII fantastic, loved it sold to CEO of big org
Alfa Romeo Spider Kamm tail, loved this, not quick but great experience
Lancia Beta Coupe, cheap quick, throw away
Lancia Beta HPE, cheap quick, slightly practical and throw away
Lancia Fulvia, bit of a wreck but cool
Lancia Fulvia HF, stunning, too nice, wish I had one now
Fiat Spider, good fun rusty
Fiat 124 Coupe, neat package, fun and very rusty
Wolsey 15 50, very cheap holdover whilst rebuilding something else, kept for years
Mini Copper S MkIII, also fantastic, sold to same CEO of big org!
Nova kit car, good fun hard work, interesting
Westfield Seven, great
Caterham Seven, even better a fav car
Lotus Europa, mine was bent, went quick – both ways
Spridgets x5, love these, always with one,
Mini Clubman Estate, another cheap holdover
Morris Traveller, bought for wife, made quite quick in the end
XR2, cheap, robust, fun,
Citroen ZX, cheap, capable
Peugeot 1.9 gti a hoot, and fragile
Vauxhall Senator, one of the best big cars
Land Rover Mk I swb, loved this, older than me!
Land Rover Mk IIa lwb, great bit of kit
Renault 5 Turbo, great fun, too quick for chassis, pretty fragile
Renault Clio Cup, really good fun, pretty fragile
Renault Clio 1.5dci, good fun, super cheap upto 80+mpg
VW Golf Rallye, wife’s really, not as quick as ought to be
Subaru Impreza, wife’s, very very quick road car, good on the track
VW Passatt estate x2, capable. reliable, dull, still have one
Vito Van, our AV – Activity Vehicle, very useful and OK

Bikes, all years ago.
CB200
CB250
X7
RD400
RD350LC
R100RS
Duke Pantah
Duke 900SS
Moto G Le Mans
Plus a few trials bikes

Lionheart wins 🙂

Lion heart wins what!?!! Was thinking about how cheap my driving has been. Cost of buying has worked out at about £650 per year! Enjoy it all the more for that! My kids just don’t know the excitement of push starting a citreon in winter/slight shower!

My post, my rules 😉

He wins for best selection of silly fast cars – Mini Coopers, Sevens, Clios, 5 Turbos etc etc. Love it.

Metro 🙁
Capri 1.6 🙂
Capri 2.8i 😆
Escort 1.1 😕
Audi coupe 2.2 5pot 8)
Sierra 2.3 diesel DONKEY 😳
Audi 100 2.2 5pot 😛
Nissan bluebird 1.8 turbo 😐
Cavalier 1.7 td 😀
BONGO

10 years driving

Cars owned

1.0 polo (bread van shape)
1800 Sierra GLX
1800 Sierra Sapphire GLX
Rover 220 Coupe
Honda Prelude 2.2 (Jap import)
Mk3 Astra van – those that knew me from Chocolatefoot will remember this
Mk3 Golf GTI Colour Concept
Audi A4 1.8t
Volve s40
Mazda 3 (the worst car I’ve ever owned – from new as well)
Accord Type R
Hilux Surf
Another Astra Van (Mk4)
320d Estate
Audi A3 Quattro
Nissan 350z
Another astra van
Audi RS4

I think the 350z was my bestest, the Rs4 is a bit of a let down in all honesty

Bikes
Hornet 600
Fireblade RRW
Bandit 1200
Aprilia Falco
Super Blackbird
CBR600
New fireblade

Aprilia was the most fun, least reliable. New blade is terrifying

in the last 9 yrs i have owned;
Rover 214
Ford escort
Ford focus estate
Fiat stilo estate
Chevrolet tacuma
Kia sedona

nothing special, just cheap and cheerful 😀

It went anywhere just never over 50, inter galatic mileage Bedford Pick-up 😀
It swallowed all the stuff I needed, inter continental mileage Escort Van 🙂
It was posh fun, trans dimensional mileage Audi A4 😀
It just anoys me at some point everyday, over the boarder mileage Ford Focus 😐

Mini 1000 – bit of a wreck, had to replace engine almost straight away
Skoda Super Estelle 120L – £120 at auction for a 1 owner car with a full years MOT!
Maestro 1.3HLE – Terrible build but still better than the Mk2 Escorts my mates had
Citroen BX 1900 Estate – my Dad’s old company car, bought cheap from his employer
Fiat Panda 1000 – not very reliable
Fiat Uno 1000 – first new car
Peugot 205 Gti 1.6 – hit the rev limited in top gear the first day I drove it!
Honda Civic VTi 1.6 – fast!
Vauxhall Carlton 2.0CDX – comfy
Vauxhall Cavalier 1.8L – cheap hack
Honda Accord Aerodeck – kept for nearly 10 years. Great car
Ford Mondeo 2.5 V6 – fast and nice to drive but terrible build quality
Audi A4 1.6 – slooooow
Fiat Ulysses – Surprisingly decent, kept for 8 or 9 years
Honda Jazz 1.4SE (still have) – great little car
Honda Jazz 1.2 (still have) – bought for my daughter to learn in and her car now
Honda Accord 2.0 Exec – nice car, comfy
Mercedes C230 Coupe (still have) – lovely car, but thirsty!

’86 Nova 1.0L Saloon

(once describe by Clarkson as an Elephant on a unicycle) rubbish in the wet. Written off – hit by drunk driver.

’89 Nova 1.2L Saloon – Better had OHC engine, that worked in the rain!

’94 Corsa 1.2 – Nice drive, horrible colour Purple..like the anodised MTB parts and pertex tops of this era!

’99 Laguna 1.6 Sport – Comfy but expensive to maintain, and depreciated £3k in one year of ownership!

01′ Focus 1.8 Zetec – Nice and pretty fast for a Diesel.

02′ Focus 1.8 Non Zetec – smoke billowing slow pile of c@*p!

03′ Mazda6 2.0TD – Fun to drive, poor MPG – Ford TD engine.

52′ Astravan x 3 – Fastest small vans on the road, fun blasts back up North on the M1 at 3am, ask anyone who works on the railways. So much fun I bought one for myself 1.7TD Isuzu engine, 650miles on 50L diesel. Good for the bikes as well.

55′ VW T5 2.5 Campervan – Great, comfy get away from it all van, expensive to run and not the most reliable – New Oil Cooler / Water Pump. But being to a lot of places in mine for MTB fun Iceland, Faroe Islands, Slovenia, Spain, France, Switzerland & Italy, also good for bike events, 2008 Polaris in the Lakes 3″ Rain – Night Heater on Dry kit for the Sunday 🙂