Faker

Plod over in Norn Iron definitely had a specialist vehicle unit where special vehicle testing and trials were done. An Astra Sri turbo was sourced and sent to Courtney Sport for the full package. Upgraded suspension and brakes, turbo, intercooler, pipework and mapping. It was a one off order and was specifically for traffic branch. Once it was retired from service it was sold with the entire Courtney Sport documented folder detailing all the modifications. This is the actual car… It was unmarked and virtually nothing gave it away. It had blue strobe lights and sirens obviously!


Norn iron plod used to have this Focus RS too. I’m led to believe it was tweaked also.

now it’s a fleet of M135 beemers with over 300 bhp as standard!!! Focus RS.. Focus ST and a Golf R

I realised today that when I joined Autoshite, I never posted about my Peugeot 107 because it wasn't old enough for this section. It's now 13 years old in September, so quite overdue a thread. Especially given the shenanigans with the Land Cruiser and Rover. I'll also tell you now this is going to be a long old post.
So here it is, Rocky. My Peugeot 107. It's a 5 door "Millesim". A limited edition from 2010 when Peugeot were celebrating 200 years of being a thing.

I can't remember how much I paid for it, as I bought it brand new on the "Just Add Fuel" scheme. I paid £250 a month for 3 years, and then paid (I think) £4,000 balloon payment after 3 years. But I'm getting ahead of myself. You need a back story.
At the time I bought this, I had been driving for about a year. I had a Peugeot 306 XLdt which after 6 months my Dad told me I needed to get rid as the engine was shagged. I ended up getting a red Honda Civic 1.4 S which was an automatic. Up until the work I did on the Corolla, it was the best handling car I ever had. But after 6 months it needed a lot of work which I couldn't afford. I was working in Nuneaton in my first proper job, which was about 50 mile round trip a day. I needed something more economical that worked, and I thought the Peugeot 107 was the cheapest form of motoring I could afford. So I signed my life away, ended up with the car, and in the first week it took me and 3 friends camping for a weekend. None of us were lightweights, and we trundled over the mud paths of the peak district in it and I named him Rocky.
Part of the "Just Add Fuel" scheme meant it paid for the road tax, insurance, and servicing. Great! Servicing is for the life of the agreement - even better! Except me being a young idiot I didn't see that they put down my mileage for 3 years as 20,000. I had that done in the first year, so had the 3 services all done in that time. Again, couldn't afford the servicing, and again being stupid I decided to buy myself a toolkit, a jack and axle stands, and do the servicing myself. Never touched a car mechanically until this point, and the first two jobs I did on it were the oil change etc and the front brake pads and discs. All with the Halfrauds toolkit I paid £100 for and the jack set for £40. I've still got the toolkit!
The car has been ever present in my adult life really, through the highs and the lows. The then-girlfriend-now-wife and I went across europe in it in 2012. We drove all the way to Budapest from Stourbridge and back again, and it's been as far west as Oban in Scotland. It took my sorry arse back and forth to London on the weekends in a period of time that was really dark for me. I took a job in Covent Garden and had digs in High Barnet, and a fortnight in to it my girlfriend/wife was struggling with depression. So I would come back up on a weekend to see her. One weekend I'm alone with my dad and he breaks the news he had lung cancer. It got that bad during this time, personally, that it got towards my girlfriend's birthday and I had my last £50. The contract I took on wasn't great, it was expensive to live in London, pay monthly payments for this thing, and I didn't want to make my mom or dad worry about me being skint but the tyres on the Peugeot were bald. They weren't far off slicks. I bought a pair of Sailun tyres for the Peugeot, and with my last £10 I bought my girlfriend a bear from Build-A-Bear. She wasn't happy with that, with everything going on for her, but now she still has the bear and sees it for what it was. A cute present for when we were young. I don't think I've ever told her everything I had going on when I bought it. The older I get, the further I get away from the bad times, it's only now do I comprehend how difficult that time was. I didn't at the time, I was quite self destructive, I know all of this now. But the car was still there, reliable transport on a shoestring.
Things started to improve a bit, I got a really good paying job. I think with my first pay cheque I bought proper Toyo tyres for it as I'd nearly crashed too many times in the wet with the deathtrap Sailuns. We got a place together, I moved out, I was adulting. Then my Dad dies, the lung cancer was always terminal (cheers asbestos) but a stroke got him in the end. In the 6 days before he died I spent the day at his bedside, taking it in turns with my mom and sister. During these 6 days my sister's car broke down, so my Peugeot became the car that took us back and forth to the hospital. But didn't the clutch start slipping and it sounded awful, and I remember sitting in the car just saying to it that if it lasted for as long as I needed it while all this was going on, I'd never let it go. Dad died, my sister got her car fixed, and I continued to nurse the car until the clutch slip was too much. I parked it up and used my Dad's Honda CR-V instead. It stood on my mom's driveway for 2 years.
At this point my girlfriend wanted her own transport, and I said Rocky would be ideal for her. It'd be good for her to use, give her confidence, and the car gets used. She drove Rocky mostly to work, short journeys, took questionable care of it. I was still servicing it on the button, and I would occasionally use it when I needed to.
In the last few years Rocky has become a background car, but always serviced and always looked after. When the RAV4 needed welding it was Rocky that became my daily, picking up the welding gas and steel for the job. When my Land Cruiser spent most of it's time in my ownership off the road, it became my daily. Now the Rover isn't a go-er, it's still my daily. My boy loves it, even if he's just 15 months old. We walk out on the driveway going somewhere, he always toddles over to the Peugeot and never to any other car. It'll always be the second car, just there being brutally reliable. I took it to Dusseldorf last year, first time it had been in Europe for 10 years, and I'll be honest while I am not the 20-something I was when we went to Budapest, I'd do the trip again in the Peugeot.
I've done some videos on it, especially a buyers guide. Especially as I've 13 years of experience with it!
 
I do have photos of it from the 13 years, I just need to dig them out.

Ere, you can't go scanning and posting them on here. Folk will be able to read them. Realise that they're perhaps not quite as good as the internet legend suggests and the value of my full set and swapsies might plummet. 

Vol 1 Nr 3 for your viewing pleasure:





















Part 2 to come...

renault 21 turbo 1990 phase 2 | eBay
'PASSENGER REAR DOOR WILL NOT OPEN. I HAVEN'T LOOKED INTO IT YET'
Do you promise to do so if it does, M8?

project kit car | eBay

'A horrific, badly made shit heap that will just keep costing you money and has less substance than those fucking wheelie bins. But enough about the Jaguar, here is my Avanti kit car'

I thought of you as soon as I saw the listing, could be a nice*day out, not far from the Birkenhead ferry. Put the red one on the trailer and chop the roofless one into small enough sections to throw on the back of the tow vehicle for spares? The ferry cost could make this idea uneconomical though.

You do know @Shite Ronthat if they were over here in Norn Iron they’d be rehoused to faker’s house! But shipping costs from the mainland make these  rather uneconomical for me…

1987 Bedford Cf Recovery Truck/spec lift | eBay
@eddyramrod

@Faker
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334754984104?hash=item4df0f3b0a8:g:NnIAAOSwuYxj8hGi&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoPms6aGus8duNq%2FaYlVG3geNA73RRL6%2FG88qqV7C2pXXJ7RIiJQWxad7QduutljJaw5FRstAn1jlP79SQY43%2BdMy2w51G9ujAstVNceYL9%2B6ia8ajsO%2BPIjoecLYwnsrnbyG7OFUeA7u0%2B8VAbeMEbnMyshyzcJi0c%2BB51vmzkQFtg0bovlITCoZwVRc5CjWKlPIVQTpkCLMbjCic7sZqmc%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR-ykmazNYQ

Just don’t get caught because enforcement will ring you a new bum hole. Lol 😂 

Unladen like that probably not that much of a problem. Being modern it's probably around a tonne.
The original KA weighs roughly the same as a MK2 cortina!
The light weight MX5 weighs the same as a sierra!

was it found near a tunnel in France ??

Plod over in Norn Iron definitely had a specialist vehicle unit where special vehicle testing and trials were done. An Astra Sri turbo was sourced and sent to Courtney Sport for the full package. Upgraded suspension and brakes, turbo, intercooler, pipework and mapping. It was a one off order and was specifically for traffic branch. Once it was retired from service it was sold with the entire Courtney Sport documented folder detailing all the modifications. This is the actual car… It was unmarked and virtually nothing gave it away. It had blue strobe lights and sirens obviously!


Norn iron plod used to have this Focus RS too. I’m led to believe it was tweaked also.

now it’s a fleet of M135 beemers with over 300 bhp as standard!!! Focus RS.. Focus ST and a Golf R

Handily, all the efforts in December paid aff....

Clean pass and another year on the road for the Clio..
10.6k miles is not a bad stint considering I don't have a commute!

Enjoy the wee Clio RS 320touting. What a machine. Clio Sports are simply one of the greatest cars ever put in to production. Yes they can be a little delicate… but dear god they’re magnificent to drive. Sold my old one 7 years ago… to my nephew.. who tortured me to sell it. He wanted to try track days and needed a suitable machine (victim) to fulfil his desire and needs… with 112k on the clock and in fantastic (unbiased) condition I let it go for £900 (Jezuz wept!)… regret it every day since… especially with the track day usage outcome.. On a lighter note I bought a wee Yaris 1.8 SR a while back and I have to say…. It’s been utterly faultless. Unlike the Clio it’s not as delicate and being of Japanese origin it simply doesn’t go wrong. Wet weather handling capabilities aren’t remotely in the same league either I might add… but in the real world in dry weather it’s just as much fun, with somewhat less power.  Doubt I’ll have another Clio as the price of them now is insane! 

Plod over in Norn Iron definitely had a specialist vehicle unit where special vehicle testing and trials were done. An Astra Sri turbo was sourced and sent to Courtney Sport for the full package. Upgraded suspension and brakes, turbo, intercooler, pipework and mapping. It was a one off order and was specifically for traffic branch. Once it was retired from service it was sold with the entire Courtney Sport documented folder detailing all the modifications. This is the actual car… It was unmarked and virtually nothing gave it away. It had blue strobe lights and sirens obviously!


Norn iron plod used to have this Focus RS too. I’m led to believe it was tweaked also.

now it’s a fleet of M135 beemers with over 300 bhp as standard!!! Focus RS.. Focus ST and a Golf R

Enjoy the wee Clio RS 320touting. What a machine. Clio Sports are simply one of the greatest cars ever put in to production. Yes they can be a little delicate… but dear god they’re magnificent to drive. Sold my old one 7 years ago… to my nephew.. who tortured me to sell it. He wanted to try track days and needed a suitable machine (victim) to fulfil his desire and needs… with 112k on the clock and in fantastic (unbiased) condition I let it go for £900 (Jezuz wept!)… regret it every day since… especially with the track day usage outcome.. On a lighter note I bought a wee Yaris 1.8 SR a while back and I have to say…. It’s been utterly faultless. Unlike the Clio it’s not as delicate and being of Japanese origin it simply doesn’t go wrong. Wet weather handling capabilities aren’t remotely in the same league either I might add… but in the real world in dry weather it’s just as much fun, with somewhat less power.  Doubt I’ll have another Clio as the price of them now is insane! 

Plod over in Norn Iron definitely had a specialist vehicle unit where special vehicle testing and trials were done. An Astra Sri turbo was sourced and sent to Courtney Sport for the full package. Upgraded suspension and brakes, turbo, intercooler, pipework and mapping. It was a one off order and was specifically for traffic branch. Once it was retired from service it was sold with the entire Courtney Sport documented folder detailing all the modifications. This is the actual car… It was unmarked and virtually nothing gave it away. It had blue strobe lights and sirens obviously!


Norn iron plod used to have this Focus RS too. I’m led to believe it was tweaked also.

now it’s a fleet of M135 beemers with over 300 bhp as standard!!! Focus RS.. Focus ST and a Golf R

Plod over in Norn Iron definitely had a specialist vehicle unit where special vehicle testing and trials were done. An Astra Sri turbo was sourced and sent to Courtney Sport for the full package. Upgraded suspension and brakes, turbo, intercooler, pipework and mapping. It was a one off order and was specifically for traffic branch. Once it was retired from service it was sold with the entire Courtney Sport documented folder detailing all the modifications. This is the actual car… It was unmarked and virtually nothing gave it away. It had blue strobe lights and sirens obviously!


Norn iron plod used to have this Focus RS too. I’m led to believe it was tweaked also.

now it’s a fleet of M135 beemers with over 300 bhp as standard!!! Focus RS.. Focus ST and a Golf R

Surprised these haven't had a mention yet, amidst shite peelermobiles...



I understand that a few UK forces trialled the new 'Big Talbot' after its launch, at PSA's insistence, but none reckoned they were worth taking onto their fleet long-term.
 
I also found this intriguingly blurry image amidst the search results...

Another big furreign car that didn't get much of a look-in against the Grannies and Rovers.