The coolest car you’ve owned

5,391 · February 1

His and hers!

4,356 · February 1

18 minutes ago, MrBiscuits said:

That's really surprising. Mechanically there really isn't a lot that can go wrong with them. Certainly nothing complex, they've been around for decades and any problems are well understood. I'd be looking for another 'specialist'.

I think it’s a combination of shit luck, shit quality parts, being a bit tuned and driven hard, rather than him doing something wrong TBH.
First time water pump failed, overheated, then we realized that one diff teeth chipped, went through the oil filter, and grenaded the engine. Second one was alternator failure and leggy starter. Third one was head skim being skipped because machine shop was replacing the machine so he sent with “it’ll be right”. Fixed at his expense for skipping the obvious. Fourth one is alternator failure (again) which is attributed to shit quality parts, and OMGHGF (again). Probably shit head gasket I’ve been warned about on these beige pages after the fact. Will send both block and head to machine shop to be sure.

He’s very reputable, and considered the best in the Mini world here. I’ve seen him work, and he’s very meticulous about what he does, and has been doing it for ages. This little fucker is the first car that came back to him on a back of a tow truck after he worked on it in 30 years. After being delivered like that 3 times in a row, he’s completely at loss and honestly puzzled, shocked, and heartbroken it’s being such a pain in the ass.

February 1

7 minutes ago, IronStar said:

I think it’s a combination of shit luck, shit quality parts, being a bit tuned and driven hard, rather than him doing something wrong TBH.
First time water pump failed, overheated, then we realized that one diff teeth chipped, went through the oil filter, and grenaded the engine. Second one was alternator failure and leggy starter. Third one was head skim being skipped because machine shop was replacing the machine so he sent with “it’ll be right”. Fixed at his expense for skipping the obvious. Fourth one is alternator failure (again) which is attributed to shit quality parts, and OMGHGF (again). Probably shit head gasket I’ve been warned about on these beige pages after the fact. Will send both block and head to machine shop to be sure.

Fair enough, I still think a specialist should know where to source quality parts though. Some of the aftermarket stuff has been dog shit for years.

I guess I was spoilt when I had mine. In the UK anyone of my father's generation who was handy with the spanners knew these inside out. Sure they are needy by any standard, but also quick and easy to fix. I used to do head gaskets by the side of the road.

4,356 · February 1

1 hour ago, MrBiscuits said:

Fair enough, I still think a specialist should know where to source quality parts though. Some of the aftermarket stuff has been dog shit for years.

I guess I was spoilt when I had mine. In the UK anyone of my father's generation who was handy with the spanners knew these inside out. Sure they are needy by any standard, but also quick and easy to fix. I used to do head gaskets by the side of the road.

I agree with the general sentiment. He has a bunch of NOS parts squirreled away, and prefers using those to what’s best described as “described over the phone to a Chinese factory by a blind man” which seems to be quality and fit of most of the things sold new nowadays. Particular headgasket is a case of it was good and now it’s utter dross as we changed the factory to save a few pence. Sold under same part number and SKU. Black package good, green package garbage.

The issue is exacerbated by bits mostly being in the UK, so if he doesn’t have it, there’s no next day shipping. It’s been made even worse by Brexit, delivery times and costs went from that’s dear to HFM?!

5,874 · February 1

None of my former cars have been cool. :oops:

I guess that the 1990 Rover Mini Racing Green 1.0 was a bit cool as it looked like a Cooper.

12,120 · February 1

3 minutes ago, ProgRocker said:

None of my former cars have been cool.

We could, instead, have the alternative "what's the uncoolest car you've ever owned?"

Mine**: Ovlov 440, hated it from Day 1, not missed - less cool than any Mini?

10,687 · February 1

1 hour ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

We could, instead, have the alternative "what's the uncoolest car you've ever owned?"

Mine**: Ovlov 440, hated it from Day 1, not missed - less cool than any Mini?

Oh yeah, probably a PT Cruiser, the wife liked it!

it was roomy and the aircon was great but it was a fucking awful car.

14,117 · February 1

Light metallic blue C3. Made worse by the fact it had a light grey leather interior 🤮

5,559 · February 1

The 1950 Jowett Javelin, and only because I was 17 at the time. My mates all had rusty Anglias and Cortina's, and this was different. It was crap though.

Also my (long destroyed) Cosworth Sapphire, although that is cooler today than it was at the time.

5,559 · February 1

1 hour ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

We could, instead, have the alternative "what's the uncoolest car you've ever owned?"

Mine**: Ovlov 440, hated it from Day 1, not missed - less cool than any Mini?

My Fiat Doblo.

Radically uncool, but one of the best, most versatile cars I have owned.

19,068 · February 1

Subaru Impreza WRX blob eye wagon in WR Blue. By far the best car I’ve ever had , never had anything else with remotely the same performance and handling.

Bought new , I’ve spent a fortune keeping it on the road for 22 years but probably would have lost far more in depreciation with 4 or 5 new cars in the same period.

Used as a daily driver but my wife had a company car for most of that time, so long trips and commuting was avoided and kept the mileage down ( currently 80,000).

Cool? Maybe or possibly embarrassing, wagons are slightly less conspicuous than the saloons with massive wings. Bye word for chav car and when it was new only teenage boys said “nice car”. Now many people are very interested and complimentary.

3,543 · February 1

Coolest car I owned hmm, probably this, my E28 5series.

It looked good from a far but it was far from good! It got lots of positive reactions, fortunately not many people got to see it close up!

February 1

12,553 · February 1

Only car I considered as cool when I owned it was the Sheerline, the rest it would be cool to own any of them now.

6,475 · February 1

26 minutes ago, Marina door handles said:

Coolest car I owned hmm, probably this, my E28 5series.

It looked good from a far but it was far from good! It got lots of positive reactions, fortunately not many people got to see it close up!

Nice. Mine was the same colour, a 2litre (?) 6 cyl, manual, 1985 model I think, but my wheels were different, probably just the standard ones.

Edit: C75UNV was the reg. Sold it in 2001 for recycling because the engine management was going nuts.

31,235 · February 1

30 minutes ago, Marina door handles said:

Coolest car I owned hmm, probably this, my E28 5series.

It looked good from a far but it was far from good! It got lots of positive reactions, fortunately not many people got to see it close up!

I had one of those. For four weeks. Won't be doing it again.

8,438 · February 1

Without a doubt, the P6.

Weirdly though, of the other cars I've owned, the BMW gets the most appreciation, mainly from "BMW people" who love to bang on about "That N52 being the best engine ever made".

I've even been invited to BMW meets with it, which frankly I'm less likely to attend than my own funeral.

Personally I think it's absolute road furniture, but each to their own I guess...

14,117 · February 1

Should have bought it while i had the chance. Not one of my better decisions bud 🙄

2,811 · February 1

On 30/01/2026 at 21:33, delux said:

My head says its my Impreza.

Its in great condition, its fast, reliable and doesnt look like I'm taking it to weigh it in but...

Its a wagon, its not blue and (on here anyway) its still pretty modern. Besides everyone on here has probably been subject to a pic of it at some point!

My heart says it was my green Mini. It was the 1st car I had to borrow money to buy, it was the 1st road car I modified, 1st car I almost lost my license in for speeding and I got banned from a girlfriends house cos there was a footmark inside the rear window! Spent 90% of my ownership fixing/rebuilding/modifying it but that 10% of driving it like a dick, firing flames out the exhaust, torque steering and jumping over mates lying in the road was 100% worth it!

Then again, that was before camera phones and the only known pic is at my folks house and I dont care enough to drive for an hour to get it!

So, heres a pic of that sodding Impreza again!

Ok, found it!

Behold one of the biggest bad influences in my life! The infamous green Mini!

Least cool car I've ever had? Not sure, had plenty K10 Micras and metros. Worst car I ever had was an RS Turbo! Almost bankrupted myself to buy it and it was less reliable than the green Mini! It had an adjustable boost control so if you turned it up to 10 you could burn the clutch out from one side of a box junction to the other. It had TSW stealth wheels on it that were too big so it used to smash up track control arms. 3 miserable months of changing clutches and arms then I slid it into a lamp post dicking about in the snow. Insurance and police didnt seem very convinced but its pretty hard to prove a mystery dog didnt run out in front of me, lol! No pics exist, can only assume satan made them vanish when he took the car back!

First car I had to buy on finance (only car I had to buy on finance!) was my M3...

I never really bonded with it as it always seemed focussed on killing me! Everyone else seemed to like it though. Its actually 'Ultraviolet purple' but looks black in this pic. I remember showing it to my Dad...

'What engines in that?!' he asked

'Its a 3.2!' I boasted

'Fuck sake, what mpg does that get?' he continued

'If you really kick its arse you can get it to read 7mpg!' I replied

'What do you get if you dont kick its arse?' he queried

'Dunno!' 😄

I figured I was never gonna give the car the respect it demanded and moved it on to be replaced with a Toyota Corolla that cost me 20 L&B! 😀

Rolla at Japan classic sunday, JCS in Gemert, Netherlands

2,363 · February 1

E32 735i. White. Utterly fucked. Bloody cool though!

22,357 · February 1

Long gone. But I would love another. I loved it because I stopped feeling like the ugly duckling when I got it - a bit like Arnie Cunningham in Christine.

Mine was a dog - a lesson in not buying a cheap Vitesse.

Fantastic car with 333hp. Sold to pay for a HGV course. My current F11 is not much slower in the real world and better on fuel but's not a V8.

February 1

Hands down this beast, my rare R32 GTR V-spec2 that I stupidly sold many moons ago to a friend who then sold it on, it got absolutely ruined by some clown who turned it into a 2JZ powered drift car.

3,543 · February 1

6 hours ago, RayMK said:

Nice. Mine was the same colour, a 2litre (?) 6 cyl, manual, 1985 model I think, but my wheels were different, probably just the standard ones.

Edit: C75UNV was the reg. Sold it in 2001 for recycling because the engine management was going nuts.

Mine C537JTM, it was a 528i (and for once that did actually mean it had a 2.8 straight six) due to a money shortage it was eventually sold to someone apparently representing a film company, to be used as a prop. Sadly I don't know anymore than that, it seems to have vanished without a trace on the DVLA system.....

13,954 · February 1

This, both then and now. In my eyes at least.

1,914 · February 1

Coolness is a nebulous concept though isn't it, and dependent on context at least to an extent. I think generally I'd join others on here in saying one of my T16 Saabs was the coolest car I've owned (one in particular looked really sharp).

But the most turning heads, thumbs up from kids, random people expressing admiration, etc, was on a tour of France in a Fairway taxi. They hadn't long been phased out in London at the time so they were utterly unremarkable when on home territory but the French bloody loved it.

5,391 · February 1

4 minutes ago, Mr Livered said:

Coolness is a nebulous concept though isn't it, and dependent on context at least to an extent. I think generally I'd join others on here in saying one of my T16 Saabs was the coolest car I've owned (one in particular looked really sharp).

But the most turning heads, thumbs up from kids, random people expressing admiration, etc, was on a tour of France in a Fairway taxi. They hadn't long been phased out in London at the time so they were utterly unremarkable when on home territory but the French bloody loved it.

There are some who think that coolness can be acheived by proximity. I can park my DS all on its own and far away from other cars in a car park but there is invariably something shit not shite parked next to it when I return. A modern BMW, Range Rover or Bentley frinstance.

February 2

Thinking back on the other four cars I've owned which have all been incredibly fucked subcompact Japanese and Korean hatchbacks, my ex- @DoctorRetro and @castros_bro Carina II is probably the coolest thing I've ever owned, which should reflect badly on me I think.

11,086 · February 2

Mk1 metro with pepper pot alloys when I first passed my test.

30 years on and i'm still putting alloys on 15-20 year old shitters and thinking i'm cool.

February 2

the mighty corolla, naturally*

February 2

This thing - I loved it. Big, solid, comfy and THIRSTY 🙂

The coolest car you’ve owned

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