a load of mazdas and hondas, a pair of porsches, a peugeot, a nissan and a couple of audis aka my car history in pictures :)

19,786 · November 23, 2014

As I'm new here, I thought I'd share some pics of the cars I've owned over the years. I passed my test back in '89 but didn't buy my first car until 2002, living and working in the city centre I simply didn't have the need for one. Things have gone the other direction now and I obviously need way more than that there's generally been a sensible limit of not more than two at a time but there have been occasions when I may have had to park something in the next street for a few weeks.

So, kicking off back in 2002ish, I paid way too much to Arnold Clark for this 1997 Honda civic 1.4

A couple of years later, I got itchy feet and traded it in for this lovely 1997 mazda mx5 1.8

Which I was happy with for a good few years until one night I had too many beers and accidentally agreed to buy this off a friend : 1989 porsche 944 lux 2.7

But I couldn't leave that parked outside work all day, it would get ruined so along came this 1996 Nissan primera 1.6

Sadly, the 944 was written off by a space bus trying to park in the boot. On the bright side, the insurance allowed me to buy this 1990 Porsche 944S2 3.0

The primera was becoming too tedious so it had to go and was replaced with a 1994 eunos roadster v spec 1.6

But the mot was short and the sills were crispy so it went back on gumtree and was replaced with this 1995 eunos roadster g limited 1.8

it lasted six months until more crispy sills (you'd think I would learn) consigned it to the classifieds again. It's replacement was to be another 1989 eunos roadster 1.6

that had sills you could eat your dinner off, shame I blew the engine

By this time, the Porsche was threatening to bankrupt me and winter was fast approaching, so a sensible choice was made for once - 2000 Honda CR-V 2.0

but there was a mazda shaped gap in my life (and on the drive too) so I couldn't resist this 1990 eunos roadster 1.6

which I still own and love. The crv lasted three years but a new job with a jumbo commute meant it had to go and was replaced with a very dull but economical 2004 Honda Civic 1.7 diesel

So that's approximately twelve years worth of my motoring history - some conspicuous gaps I'm sure you will agree - nothing French or Italian, and living up here in edinburgh, it must surely be a matter of time until there's a boxy swede or two on that list ?

How many of these would suit an Autoshite dealer sticker ? the red mazda may be getting one soon but I'm not sure the black civic really deserves one yet

12,052 · November 23, 2014

I like the early shape mx5/eunos, don't know whether it's just me but front number plates seem to spoil them.

4,993 · November 23, 2014

The early shape MX5 are the ones to have. A proper wee roadster.

19,786 · November 23, 2014

I couldn't agree more. So much fun for so little horsepower, there's nothing quite like a quick blast round the back roads to put a grin on your face

129,816 · November 23, 2014

Fab, but does anyone on here not live on a council estate* and/or have a pebble dashed house?

*I do.

23,375 · November 23, 2014

pebble dashed house?

All houses in Scotchland are pebbledashed.

Chap who ran a bar I used to frequent had an MX5 and it failed its MOT on its sills. I had a look and said I would get it through the test for Ã‚Â£25 as would make any loss back in cheap beer.

What a fucking mess. These things are made of ricepaper. The sillcover is thin but all it has done is trap moisture behind it to totally rot out the sill. Took me a day to do a few small repairs to an MOT standard and then the chap who owned to got t-boned in it and the car perished. In hindsight, I should have just done the whole thing but was not to know.

But I did get a few cheap beers. So its all good.

1,087 · November 23, 2014

I had a lardy Mk2 MX5 a few years back, and ragged the tits off it round Knockhill...

Rolled a bit, mind.

The sills were just starting to get crispy when I flogged it.

Amusing cars to drive

19,786 · November 23, 2014

yep, those Knockhill corners are a whole heap of fun in a 5 how long ago was that ? I've been a regular up there for a few years, we may have crossed paths sometime

Here's how not to take that corner

19,786 · November 23, 2014

Fab, but does anyone on here not live on a council estate* and/or have a pebble dashed house?

*I do.

I'll have you know sir that is one of Wimpeys finest ! Or is it a Barretts ? We do love a bit of pebbledash up here, we call it Harling, and it hurts when you fall over and scrape your face off it

1,087 · November 24, 2014

yep, those Knockhill corners are a whole heap of fun in a 5 how long ago was that ? I've been a regular up there for a few years, we may have crossed paths sometime

2011, I think - I chopped it in for an S2000 a couple of months later, as although the MX5 was a riot on the twisties, its VMAX was 91mph on the back straight / 90 mph on the pit straight...

...I did buy all the stuff to turbo it (direct from Flyin' Miata while on holiday in Colorado - Good bunch of lads), but couldn't be arsed in the end.

Been attending KH for trackdays since '99, and raced there in the SMRC Caterham Academy in 2004, so our paths may well have crossed...

19,786 · December 5, 2014

look what came in the post

19,786 · December 30, 2015

Ok, so as the year is drawing to a close it's time for a quick update :

the diesel civic had done its job as a frugal commuter box but I was now back working locally and fancied a change - it sold for exactly the same amount that I paid for it a year earlier although I had just wazzed several hundred on its mot

the replacement took the form of another CR-V, as collected here

http://autoshite.com/topic/20826-man-waits-at-bus-stop-can-only-mean-one-thing-collection-thread/

a really nice car at first, I tended to servicing and fitted decent tunes but when I popped the cam cover to adjust the valve clearances, I noticed something rather odd - of the four exhaust cam lobes, two had this strange pattern of wear. stranger still, the engine was running just fine

I ignored this for a while and pondered what to do - then work decided that I should do a bit more commuting and it found its way back onto gumtree. averaging 25-30mpg was starting to hurt after the 55mph I had gotten used to with the civic so another diesel was sought out

as collected here (warning, still contains modern toss)

http://autoshite.com/topic/21716-collection-warning-contains-modern-toss/

it's still a bit boring but seems quite content to deliver 50+ mpg. it does have a really good stereo in it, I'm hearing new parts to music that I know very well - every cloud etc

I'll keep it until the winter is done and see what I fancy next.

The little Mazda hasn't seen much action recently but still starts first time after sitting for days and weeks on end then puts a massive grin on my face when it reminds me what a great little car it is

Happy New Year all

8,916 · December 30, 2015

Offft, that some non-cam shaped cam lobe!

19,786 · June 28, 2018

Curiously, the pics lost in the great photobucket fiasco seem to have been restored so I shall update with what has happened in the last couple of years.

So we left at the point where the drive was occupied by a red mx5 and a silvery blue a3. I'd been keeping an eye on the classifieds for mk1 mx5s and saw this one locally which had a pretty sound mot history (no mention of the word corrosion)

So I went and bought it, as seen here

http://autoshite.com/topic/25192-stroppy-mazda-collectioning/

Now having a garage to work in / store the mx5, I decided to make this one a bit more track focussed

within the space of a few weeks, all of the good bits came off the red car and transformed this

into this

which allowed me to do a whole load of this

In the meantime, the red mx5 found a new home with Tickman in Dundee

http://autoshite.com/topic/25441-1990-mazda-mx5-£950-free-trackday/

who got her welded up and mot'd before coming over all French and selling her on to Mr Moog.

In the meantime, the a3 was falling apart so got dumped onto webuyanycar and a replacement sought. With a comically low budget, I ventured north to Pitlochry and returned with this

which got me through winter but I quickly got bored and splashed out on more modern toss

which gave me a pleasant year of motoring, good mpg, needed only basic servicing, I probably should have held on to it but planning ahead for a bad winter, I fancied another crv, this time in diesel flavour. In October, I headed over to the west coast and picked up this beauty

which sat on the drive while I pissed about trying to sell the civic, until one day it started to snow so i congratulated myself on being so well prepared and swapped the insurance over, the sodding thing shat it's fuel pump the second time I drove it.

As seen here

http://autoshite.com/topic/30467-need-help-with-this-poxy-crv-its-fiiiiiixed/

It's a nice car but running costs are just too high with the mileage I'm doing at the moment so it's back up for sale and it's replacement has already arrived in the form of this wierd looking thing

as seen here

http://autoshite.com/topic/31924-tall-and-slim-but-a-bit-funny-looking/

It's had a few teething troubles but seems to be running well now, i'm putting 60 miles a day on it and will see if I can keep it going until the odo ticks over that magical 200,000 miles.

Unless I get bored, which may / may not happen

So that's everything up to date for now, the little black mazda is still having the shit kicked out of it up at Knockhill, the audi trundles daily to Edinburgh and back and the crv sits grumpily on the drive waiting for a new owner to take her home.

Cheers all,

GM

3,078 · June 28, 2018

What's the A2 like to steer? Ive always had an eye on this as they were a bit of an odd ball at the time and have aged nicely.

19,786 · June 28, 2018

It's quite a fun little thing, it bounces along the backroads quite merrily and will sit comfortably on the motorway at 60-70 without much fuss. Considering the mileage on this one (178000 and rising) it still feels remarkably solid, testament to the previous owners who seem to have looked after it. Mine is the lower powered 75hp diesel one, I reckon the 90hp diesel or the 1.6 petrol could be fun to thrash around in.

They do seem to have a bit of a following, the owners club forum is active and full of useful info, I wouldn't have thought the car would lend itself to modifying but there are some good examples on there

https://www.a2oc.net/community/index.php

19,786 · July 5, 2018

The crv sold this morning, leaving an empty space in the drive - now, is there anything good on roffle this week ?

22,744 · July 5, 2018

I thought I’d chopped in my cars too regularly, whilst owning too many Mk1 Eunos’.

Have you tried a mk1 turbo yet? I briefly owned one which had been converted - it was a weapon, but felt bloody lethal.

19,786 · July 5, 2018

it's only 17 in as many years - fairly average for round here ?

I've driven but not owned both turbo'd and supercharged mx5s which were both bloody impressive but I prefer the simplicity of an n/a engine and the requirement to drive it at ten tenths at all times

16,924 · July 5, 2018

Bought an MR2 yet?

19,786 · July 5, 2018

not yet !

http://autoshite.com/topic/30877-what-makes-you-grin-antidote-to-grumpy-thread/?p=1546905

22,744 · July 5, 2018

it's only 17 in as many years - fairly average for round here ?
I've driven but not owned both turbo'd and supercharged mx5s which were both bloody impressive but I prefer the simplicity of an n/a engine and the requirement to drive it at ten tenths at all times

Ah fair enough. I’m definitely a bigger car slag; I’ve owned 56 cars in 25 years.

As for the power of a turbo or SC, I know what’s you mean. I’ve just sold my Corolla T Sport, which I bought specifically tor it’s 190bhp motor to drop into my MR2 Roadster I’ve got other financial priorities at the mo, and £1500 minimum costs + probably running out of talent much more quickly when driving, didn’t stack up.

Have you driven an MR2 Roadster? I find mine much more planted than any of the mk1 Eunos I’ve owned.

19,786 · July 6, 2018

I had a go of Dome's mk3 mr2 the other week up at Knockhill, obviously I wasn't giving it full berries but it felt pretty good on the track. It would be interesting to see how it behaves when you really start pushing the limits, I'm not sure I could catch it as easily as the mazda when things do get a bit carried away. It would be fun trying though

19,786 · May 26

only 7 years later, I think it might be time for an update

the Audi A2 was doing fine service on my 60 mile daily commute but fate threw a spanner in the works when I won a peugeot 107 from cavcraft in a roffle

which took over commuting duties until I decided to sell my house, pack my life in a van and move back to the north east of england

no longer faced with 60 miles a day, I fancied something a little more luxurious so jumped on a train to Ashford to collect this fine looking Saab 9-5 from vantman

I gave my mam the little peugeot to run about in, she was happy

and I enjoyed getting 25mpg whilst hooning the Saab to work and back (2.2 petrol turbo auto, it was thirsty)

until work decided I needed to do more commuting and I found myself back in a mk8 diesel civic

19,786 · May 26

lockdown happened and I was bored so picked up another mx5

which was rusty as hell so was quickly stripped

and project Exo began

19,786 · May 26

I changed work location again so a frugal mile muncher was no longer required, a Bini Cooper S was collected from Jamie down in preston

which was hilarious fun but always felt on the brink of something major going wrong. I sold it by accident to a neighbours dad (I'd been idly telling his son that I was thinking of a change, next thing I know, his dad is waving ££ in my face)

so I needed a new daily

collected from Yorkshire, this had never seen the rain in years and did only a few hundred miles between mots. really it was too nice for a daily but I couldn't resist