End of year Tat Accounts.

[Skizzer]

Yo shitters.

In:

1979 Vauxhall Royale bought unseen and delivered in early summer. As seen on HubNut. I’ve replaced all the ignition but it’s still not happy. Lovely car though.

Early Espace, enjoying the tender care of @RobT  for the foreseeable as I’ve run out of space. I haven’t even met it yet, because of work and the closure of the Welsh border.

Not a car, but I also bought this:

which is a new R-Tech mig welder, and have learned to weld.  Haven’t used it in anger on any cars yet but I did build a garden bench out of stainless box section and recycled hardwood:

Accord rear wheel arches will be the first car welding job in the new year when it’s not as damp and when I’ve got myself a shrinker-stretcher. Then Rancho work can start.

 

Nothing out, in spite of various resolutions to reduce the fleet. A sign of poor moral fibre, probably.

[Vantman]

Welcome back Skizzer--Merry Christmas!

[Skizzer]

4 minutes ago, Vantman said:

Welcome back Skizzer--Merry Christmas!

Thanks Vantman, you too!

PS your old Aerodeck is now my main daily and still hasn’t missed a beat. I love it.

[RobT]

7 hours ago, barrett said:

I totally missed the Xantia, Carlton and 800! Can you point me towards your fleet thread please, mister?

I'm afraid my posts are all over the place in News 24, rather than one fleet thread.  I should probably do it that way really, makes more sense.

Morris is here though, but you've probably seen that.

 

[Skizzer]

On 12/12/2020 at 4:08 PM, Shite Ron said:

In:

Considering I keep telling myself I have too many cars and have not been able to get out much I have bought more cars this year than I have for a long time. I have wanted a Granada saloon for quite a long time, especially an early mk2 and I particularly wanted a GL, preferably with a 2.8 engine, so when a very original unmessed with one appeared  I thought the opportunity rarely presents itself so made an offer:

This was collection day in February, it was a lovely drive home, no collection thread as my attempts to join here were not successful at the time.

Not long after this I went to the CCI auction in Evesham just to have a look, as you do. There were a few interesting cars there and egged on by offers of somewhere to store cars when I said I had no room for more I decided if the CX was cheap I would like it:

So above was number 2 purchase of the year. My girlfriend has wanted a Capri for some time and was taken by the mk1, I would of preferred a mk2 but had to agree that a very early mk1 had some appeal and if the price was reasonable then it would be rude not to. So purchase number 3 soon followed.

Due to lockdown and the Citroen being away from home, then work becoming very busy no progress was made on the Citroen, it also had several parts missing which seem to be extremely expensive for these cars. When a cheap complete car appeared on ebay locally it seemed the logical answer to buy it as a spares car. So this lead to the fourth and final purchase:

Out:

Errr.....Yeah right!  I am not so good at selling cars, the Mondeo should of gone 4 years ago but is still here, I must try harder next year.

Remainers:

These were both insured and fully road legal at the beginning of the year, the S is now on SORN. Many others will remain also but sadly none have seen much use this year.

 

Oh wow, that Granada. Those Cortinas.

All of it in fact. Just...wow.

[cort16]

Slow year:

Out

In

 

 

 

[phil_lihp]

Welcome back @Skizzer, the Espace in particular is marvellous.

[vaughant]

On 11/28/2020 at 5:53 PM, vaughant said:

Merc Vito out, realised I was chasing my tail with it, needed loads more welding, was a bit smoky, generally not great but such a shame as they're lovely things to drive, IMO miles better than the equivalent T5 crock. 

 

Doesn't look to bad there but :

 

In:

(X2) Citroen Berlingo :

Collected the night before Boris locked down the world its been fantastic. 

First drive home was highly unpleasant with a wheel bearing groan and serious wheel wheel wobble on the bends but was easy enough to deal with as I had essential worker status thank god. 

Been doing sterling service since. 

I'm so sold on them I've bought another which will be more suitable for the 1 man camper idea but I'll keep tthis as a dog/general van mobile. 

At with other things in live, I'm being a bit premature. 

 

This one is sold and being collected on Monday, a great car again from this parish. Sold as described and done sterling service for the last few months but simply not being used.  Actually driven it myself this last week and been mighty impressed with how good the avensis is as a motorway hack, nice warm and comfortable, you find yourself just relaxing really as it doesn't feel like something will break every 5 minutes. 

Nice solid drive but it had highlighted a noisy wheel bearing which I'll do for the new owner when time allows as he's a work colleague. On the plus side the clutch judder doesn't seem anything like as bad as I remember it which is great news. 

 

[hairnet]

On 12/10/2020 at 1:23 PM, Mr Laurence said:

 

 

thief barstard - mines not outside my house right now - is that where it went

 

[BeEP]

OUT

 

IN

 

IN AND OUT

 

UNCHANGED

[barrett]

1 hour ago, RobT said:

I'm afraid my posts are all over the place in News 24, rather than one fleet thread.  I should probably do it that way really, makes more sense.

Ah, I haven't looked at the News 24 thread for about three years. Too much news for my liking.

@Skizzer is back! It's a ruddy Christmas miracle!

[wuvvum]

13 hours ago, RobT said:

Room for the Innocenti in the back?  Dry-ish storage m8.

Alas no, it's only a MWB.  If it were a LWB I could probably squeeze the Innocenti in the back.  But then a LWB with that engine would probably be completely incapable of forward motion.

Can I also add to the chorus of voices expressing their pleasure at seeing Skizzer back on these hallowed pages.

[SiC]

8 hours ago, Skizzer said:

which is a new R-Tech mig welder, and have learned to weld

Wahoo! You're back!

Being able to weld opens up a whole new world of shite ownership. Stuff that most will run away from because it needs a few patches or the like, becomes no problem. Just don't fall into the trap of anymore than that. Otherwise it'll be the week before Xmas, knowing you need to go out and get on welding a project that is worse than you first thought...

Oh and get good PPE. White hot balls of steel rolling on the inside of your welding visor, from where you've just run a weld over a bit of dirty steel is no fun. I wear fire resistant suite, goggle, high quality 3M respirator and welding hood. Plus the visor. 

[BL Bloke]

I agree that it's good to see Skizzer back, that Royale coupe looks ace. 

On to my end of year fleet update.

Out:

Fiesta 1.25 LX sold to @Floatylight for the use of Smollest FL.

Unchanged chod:

I also still have my modern 2013 Skoda Fabia 1.2 which has done 800 miles since its last Mot in January. 

[sharley17194]

If i did this id only cry! I never ever ever add up how much cars cost me but this year has been the most expensive yet due to buying the Golf GTE!

[The Vicar]

Out:

In (then out):

In:

And on the side:

In:

Out (I don't know what I was thinking):

In:

 

[brownnova]

Ok, so now I’m in lockdown for the foreseeable future here in Cymru more purchases seem unlikely. So I’ll call it here, I think I’m done for 2020... 

The maths is started with 6, 2 out (both to shiters), 1 in and out, 6 in leaves 10 total.

OUT

First out 

The 9000 I pulled off a driveway where it was languishing, spent money to get it back on the road and promptly reversed onto a fence post damaging the door was sold at a heathy loss to RobT, who sold it on to rwd who scrapped it... 

Second out was 

Tilly the beloved Campervan went up to Scotchland with cms206 as it had become too small for us... it turns out some of the rust repairs which looked ok on the surface weren’t when you dug deeper... 

IN AND OUT

Won a Clio in a roffle from Conal d Conalrad, was actually far better than expected, ran it round for a couple of months and then sold on to Jamie having spent not a penny on it. An actual profit on a car... unbelievable Jeff.

IN

First in back in January was Mrs_brownnova’s C5. A very worthy family wagon. Looks like it will take the Christmas Day strain now that we’re limited to one day! Flew through its MoT last month, may be replaced this year with something more Swedish, we’ll see. 

This has now been on my drive so long I’m counting it as part of the fleet... FiL’s 206 Quicksilver with knackered clutch came to stay in January, with the promise that it would only be there a couple of weeks... nearly a year later it’s still here. I’ve been told to do whatever I want with it. I’ve just not got around to calling the scrap man.

February brought the excitement of more Swedish... technically the replacement for the 9000 which went out this was a £300 purchase blind from eBay, spent double that getting/keeping it roadworthy. Used it a fair bit and was the main car kept on the road during lockdown. Will be for sale in the new year.

Dolly arrived mid-lockdown thanks to WorldofCeri. A very shonky but structurally solid 2CV for a price one couldn’t ignore. It was far better than we thought it was going to be when it arrived. Achieved a fresh mot last month (with some significant advisories granted) and will be improved through the year with the aim that it becomes mrs_brownnova’s car of choice for any local running about.

Replacement camper bought mid Campervan price rush... another Talbot Express based van, even though that wasn’t the plan. This one was in such good condition it couldn’t be ignored. I’ll try and keep it that way!

Final in of 2020 was the brown Nova, off the road since 2005, in surprisingly good condition. Needs recommissioning but hopefully that won’t be too hard. But for the busiest term ever at work this might have been done by now. Definitely top of the list.

REMAINERS

Car I’ve owned for the longest ever, I keep threatening to sell. Currently furloughed with a mystery running issue, but recently had the spur to get this back up and running. MoT expires on Christmas Day!

The 9000 soldiers on with 206,000 on the clock. Spent much of the spring perked up, but has been back with avengance recently. MoT is out next month, hopefully won’t need too much. This one is a keeper... best car I’ve ever owned.

Yellow 2CV plods along nicely. Sailed through an MoT last month a pleasure to own.  Not as many adventures as one would like this year. More next year, including maybe Switzerland This one is also a keeper.

 The Yugo is still here, and has made next to no progress on the last 12 months. Which I’m pretty miffed about considering I had a whole lockdown to get it done. Need to recapture my enthusiasm for this one and get it back on the road.

I have a shopping list of things to try in 2021, but also need to focus less on buying things more on fixing things... 

[N19]

In:

Mondeo bought from this very site, it's had new service parts and a bumper. A few hitches along the way and the fuel consumption isn't as great as I first thought it was, but it's generally reliable (when not dumping coolant everywhere) and comfortable. 

Remaining :

The Capri will definitely never be sold. It's had a quieter than usual year because of lockdown. Still unable to drive it without a massive smile on my face. Some welding needs doing, so planning a fair bit of work next year. 

 

The Bluebird has given mostly reliable service. The starter motor has needed the odd thwack to nudge into action, although in fairness this hasn't happened in a while. The arrival of the Mondeo takes a bit of pressure off and allows me to actually spend time on this. Most jobs on this that need doing are cosmetic. 

[dome]

On 12/9/2020 at 7:18 PM, dome said:

Been a busier year than I thought.

I started off owning this thing which I'd bought last year with a blown turbo.

Plan was for it to be my daily but it was shit. Duly punted and the next contender was this

 

 

This was bought last year too for the same reason. Tatty but solid, it was bought with a noisy gearbox. New bearings fitted in the box and I trundled around with it before selling on early this year.

i also had temporary custody of this which I enjoyed very much.

I fixed a few bits and bobs for the owner who kindly let me use it to collect my first purchase of the year, this little bundle of fun.

From the bulkhead forward it's all Clio 182. Bought as a project it's been made roadworthy and is amazing fun. Still here.

This little bundle of terror had been off the road for a while after a bump.

It was duly fixed up and sold on quickly.

The S4 shat itself big time with slipped timing chain. It wasn't economical to fix so is currently at a mates unit being broken for parts and there's a good chance I'll get back more than if it wasn't broken. Still here, or at least some of it is.

This left a gap for a mile muncher which was ably filled by this

Possibly the lowest mileage 2.2cdti in the country-bought on 44k. Excellent at being a car. Still here.

Also still here is the 2zz MR2. 

We only managed a couple of track days this year but it's just had a new set of coilovers fitted so we'll need to find new excuses for being slow next year. 

The icing on the cake for the year was these two

The burgundy one was languishing outside looking sorry for itself and after enquiries were made as was told the owner was looking to sell both. Both? Yep, the XJ40 was lurking in the garage. A deal was struck and first the x300 was resurrected with the help of @Tickman and passed on to @SRi05 who made it even better before passing it on.

The XJ40 is still here and a lovely thing.

 

Next year the plan is for a Manta. That was the plan for this year though. Stay tuned...

 

Guess I spoke to soon.

In last week came this in a fit of stupidity

Despite the mild barrying it's a wonderful big bus.

Naturally with such a reliable vehicle on the fleet now there was no need for the Accord, which I duly passed on to @blackboilersuit at the weekend. 

That's it for 2020. I think.

 

[blackboilersuit]

While 2020 hasn't been a good year for driving cars and riding bikes it's afforded me a great opportunity make big inroads into sorting out the automotive mess I'd gotten into from too many years in a high stress, cash rich, time poor  job. I escaped that in 2018 and made a small start on fleet rationalisation in 2019 but extended furlough time in 2020 saw big changes. The goal was to clear the "hoarding" lockup where bikes went to sleep and rationalize the cars. 

BIKES FIRST

NON-MOVERS

1967 BSA A50 - Bought a few years ago and I've never really used it much. This year I repaired all the major oil leaks but then took the decision to put it in storage and focus on the bikes that needed re-commissioning and selling. In 2021 I'll put some decent miles on it.

 

ZZR1100 - A fun old rocket ship I rode around europe in 2019. Only did a few miles this year but handily a Boris MOT extension meant it didn't actually need any work doing. 

A bit of porn here for @Cavcraftmy 1976 Suzuki TS250. Rebuilt from a field bike I bought in 2017 and registered at the start of this year. One like this was the first proper bike I ever rode as a teenager on farm roads in the mid 80's. I was expecting it to be worse than I remembered but was delighted to find out it was much better than I was expecting! Huge thanks again to @nigel bicklefor pointing out that being tax/MOT exempt meant that I didn't need to MOT it for the registration process. Were it not for that post it probably wouldn't have made it onto the road this year.

 

GPz1100 - Owned for 5 years now but not moved for a couple. This year saw it brought out of the hoarding lockup and taken home. Currently in a million bits getting some oil leaks sorted out and a cosmetic refresh. Still running it's original fuel injection and all the better for it. Fired straight up with a new battery even though the fuel in the tank was years old.

BIKES

IN

2014 CRF250L Dictionary definition of AN BIKE. Not very exciting but bought in February to replace the XR250 I sold the previous year. Was supposed to have been ridden to Spain in June for a trail riding trip with friends. Used it a few times over the summer for local runs only. Having a modern bike with fuel injection is a novelty to me. Starting first press of the button after sitting for 3 months and using no oil at all is taken for granted by folks who only know know modern machinery. Being used to carb fed air cooled singles this level of sophistication is an alien (but very welcome) experience to me!

BIKES OUT

1979 Cotton EMX motocross bike. I bought this in 2014 with the intention to go classic racing. It was scrap and had sat outside with it's engine full of water for nearly a decade. I did get it finished and running in 2019 but in the intervening period gained a 14" pin in my left leg after a tumble trail riding in 2016. Discretion being the better part of valour I decided a return to circuit racing at 50 with a leg full of meccano was a stupid idea. The bike was sold for less than I had into it but the new owner is actually going to race it rather than just have it as a collectors item. Definitely a case of finding the right owner being more important than making money. 

1996 Honda XR650L - The bike that broke my leg! Crazy scary monster of a bike that I wish I'd never bought! Now with a new owner in the south of England. He was over the moon as this will replace an XR600 which is essentially the same bike but kick start only.

1989 Honda Dominator (650) - The bike that I cut my teeth on riding trails in Spain. Heavily modified and beat up to heck it could tell 1000 stories so had a bit of sentimental value. Sold to a friend of a friend at a knock down price because he'll just enjoy it as is. So many of these sold on ebay get turned into horrific customs so this one was also a case of finding the right new owner being more important than making the most money.

Technically not an out for me. My friends Yamaha Tenere 600 that I'd been storing for him for 3 years went back to him after sold another bike to make space for its return. It made space in my lockup so I'm listing it here.

CARS

NON MOVER

The SAAB (2004 Aero Hot) of much boost, many oil leaks and few MPG's is still on fleet and made it through another MOT without major issue. I've enjoyed tinkering on it and hooning around in it this year. 

CARS IN

Sonic the 1972 Triumph Toledo bought from @Tickmanof this parish during the summer for an embarrassingly small amount of money given what a good car it is. Clearing the lockup of bikes I wasn't using meant I was either going to hand it back to the council or use it to keep something that I'd actually use. I've tried classics before but that was keeping them outside at the house in the days before MOT exemption and it didn't really work out. I've now got what I consider the perfect setup. A tax/MOT exempt car in good order (but with room for tinkering and improvement) that only costs £90 a year to insure kept in a lockup that's a 20min walk from my house and only costs £8.50 a week in rent. Sorry - You all hate me now don't you?

Last minute in. 2006 Honda accord derv estate bought a couple of days ago from @domeof this parish. I had planned to update my daily eventually but no plans for any time soon. This being on the doorstep was too good to pass up. 50k miles with FSH it drives like new and is high spec with all the toys, hot leather, sat-nav etc. The bodywork's had more hits than the Beetles though so there's room for a little improvement here and there. Not so much  AN CAR but AN POSH AS FUCK CAR. Cavernous interior, 40+MPG's manageable (£200) tax band it's a real do it all car.

CARS OUT

With the arrival of the Accord the venerable old diesel Astra was moved on to @cms206of this parish. Bought from @davehedgehog31 in 2018 it's been a brilliant motor and is the dictionary definition of AN CAR. I think between hedgehog motors and boilersuit motors we put around 17k miles on it. It had some improvement works done in my ownership and went through 2 MOT's but the joy of these things is that any part new or second hand seems to fall in the price bracket of £5 to £35. A golden era of motoring and a car I shall always have a soft spot for. I hope it continues to serve its new owner well for a long time to come.

So that's it, what a year it's been! Plans for 2021 don't include any major changes now and fleet management has definitely found it's path. Things that have a regular job to do will be relatively new (2006 is super modern right?), well sorted with lots of life left in them. Occasional use vehicles are being moved towards the tax/MOT exempt bracket. Partly this is so I don't need to think about the merry go round of tax/sorn for things that might only get used for the odd day here and there but also for the time savings. Every MOT is a Saturday morning to me. With 8 vehicles on fleet that's a lot of Saturday mornings I could be doing something far more enjoyable.

Well done if you made it this far, it's been a much longer post than I was anticipating!

 

[Cavcraft]

Some proper nice stuff there, @blackboilersuit. The TS is ace, but that GPZ1100 is class.

[blackboilersuit]

1 hour ago, Cavcraft said:

Some proper nice stuff there, @blackboilersuit. The TS is ace, but that GPZ1100 is class.

Cheers. Hard to believe that the GPz is only 3 years away from being MOT exempt!

[Craig the Princess]

Most have spend another year not being touched sadly. Some plans for next year in that front hopefully when I can get the new garage finished.

Fiat Multipla had a new clutch early in the year, timing belt and water pump towards the end. I want to get this up to 200,000 miles which should be another 18 months or so.

The 940 left during the year, I never r really got on with it but it was a lot of car for the money.

While the Multipla was off the road @LostnotFound lent me his focus which he then sold on.

The @BeEP saw this 206HDi just before lockdown which did a good 4,000 miles before dying (probably injectors) and bring car take backed which was a bit sad.

@BeEP also gave me the loan of this Corsa which was very tidy.

The MGF got some use, the perished rubber coolant pipes were thrown in the bin, stainless front to back pipes are a job for the spring. Also a new his with glass window was fitted.

Applejack allegro did a month on commuting duty and the Inca estate had a day out at Milton Keynes

 

Mrs the Princess's Panda is still going strong, new radiator this year.

[Jazoli]

Its been a fairly quiet year for me (although it hasn't now I have documented what came in and out)

Started the year by selling my A3 to @bangernomics

out:

to be replaced by this

Which unfortunately had issues with the heating, and it was slow and unrefined with the PD dagdag so it was sold after a couple of months, it was the straightest car I have ever owned, there was not a single dent or scratch on it.

I then replaced it with this

The less said the better about this one, so it was sold at a big loss and replaced with 

The insignia of a couple of shiters, it was a great car so I actually kept it for 9 months

The youngest wanted a cabrio to learn in so this was procured from @Robson3022

It was ok but required a fair bit of work to the brake system which I really enjoyed

In the meantime I'd got bored of this

my Z1000SX, as my plans for touring were scuppered somewhat by CV19 and its warranty was due to expire and I'd experienced occasional gearbox issues (on track) so a visit to my friendly dealer resulted in this

A Z900RS

The wife had stopped commuting to work so it was time to get rid of the diesel car so this

got sold to @chancer and was replaced with this 

bought from @Jamie

Unfortunately the missus didn't like it and found it just a bit too small so we sold it to @ChampionRabbit in the longest collection/delivery trip of the year in possibly the worst weather and bought this

Its OK but not my cup of tea

I then had the good fortune to win this

So I sold the Insignia to @SteersWithThrottle and was sad to see it go

The head gasket on the Bini went so out with this

which was replaced with this

The other daughter was struggling with learning to drive with a manual box so the Tigra was sold to @SRi05

And the final car of the year to be bought was this

Which is prime shite but actually really nice and being auto easy to drive.

and that is it, a lot more than I thought, I'm actually quite surprised, there are a couple of cars on here I have my eye on so may buy something else in the new year if they become available but hopefully the family are sorted now and it'll just be me changing cars god knows how many times next year.

[Asimo]

Suzuki is now filthy,  dented and in use, but not automatic or wafty-enough.

Out with electro-shite in blue  

Swapped  @Jim Bell for chod wad.   

Still unspent. Don't need anything I want, don't want anything I can afford. 

Van got some love; sill repairs, brush paint, mot... Sorned ever since.

[GMcD]

Out:

Volvo V90CC.

Maple brown with Amber interior. Probably the best colour combo of any car I've ever had. Was only a lease so back it went. 

In/Out:

406 Coupe 2.0

Bought from @davehedgehog31. Sold to @SRi05.  Now gubbed.

In:

Lexus LS400.

In:

Triumph Toledo. Purchased from @purplebargeken. 

Superglue:

Mk2 Mx5 

 

[sdkrc]

IN:

 

 

OUT:

 

 

IN'N'OUT:

 

[Six-cylinder]

The 2020 Review

Against all the odds of 2020, with Mrs6C’s help it has still been a good year of buying cars and we managed 8. Now the war cry to myself at the beginning of the year was buy as many as you like BUT sell at least that many. We have also seen the return of the BMW E36 323i sport coupe, originally mine in 2014 I passed it to my son who has now passed it back as he is abroad.  So another year where we have ended up with 3 more cars than we started with, it can’t go on.

IN – 9 – and why

Jan 2020  L405 – I guess I better own up to it.

Mar 2020 Visa Cabriolet – I had been asked to find a new home for it and Mrs6C thought it was a good idea to take it on herself so answering a call from the seller just said YES, while I was planning to help find a new owner! A huge thanks to Aldo135 for all his help.

April 2020 Rover 216 SLi auto – I have always liked the R8, low cost from a trusted shiter and the chance to try an auto with a Honda engine.

July 2020 Renault 11 Automatic – I loved the colour and how unusual and rot free it was.

Aug 2020 Peugeot 406 2.2 HDi Coupe – I have always loved the shape. Low cost and delivered to my door in one hour after agreeing to buy it.

Oct 2020 Maestro City X 1.3 – I had a secret desire for a Maestro and then a friend asked me if I wanted to save a local Maestro as the owner had passed away. With the help of Slowsilver we soon had it running.

Dec 2020 Triumph Toledo - I had one as my driving school car, otherwise it makes no sense at all.

Dec 2020 VW Beetle Convertible - I have been curious what a modernish Beetle is like so when a convertible came up for on the forum I knew it was the right time to buy because it’s winter, getting dark around 4pm, is cold and wet and we are now in tier 4 lockdown!

+ the return June 2020 of the BMW E36 323i Coupe – I passed it to my son who went abroad and asked if his friend could have it as he loved the car and I agreed to that.  Unfortunately his friend can no longer look after it so it has returned to me.

 

OUT – 6 – and why

2004 Range Rover TD6 Vogue – While still running, very broken and rusty

Rover 216 SLi Auto – I paid, taxed and insured it, got the V5C in my name and as it was the beginning of lockdown no. 1 agreed to collect it later. It became obvious that train travel was not desirable and took HMC’s offer to buy it back. Shame I did fancy it.

Peugeot 406 HDi – While the 2.2 Diesel propelled it well enough it did not excite me. Silver made the car look dull and the special edition wheels looked odd. When another shiter wanted one just like this I let it go. Maybe I should have held onto it for longer as I still desire one, V6 first choice but a 2.2 petrol would be interesting, hold on who am I kidding any one will do if it is cheap!

Renault 11 Automatic – 1.4 with Auto was a little slow for my taste, but it was the lack of power steering that made me rehome it. Also I had nowhere inside to keep it for the winter.

Oltcit – Sitting outside for 3 years after the under bonnet fire made it a very sad looking car. The trouble was while I liked the fact it was rare and unusual, I preferred driving my Visa diesel which did not give me the incentive to get it fixed. When a new and enthusiastic owner offered to give it an indoor home that seemed the best thing to do.

Maestro City X 1.3 – I had done my bit and rescued it. I got it a fresh MOT but decided in the end 1.3 4 speed was not for me.

Remember more detail is in Six Cylinders Motoring notes, which is a good cure for insomnia!

[New POD]

Am liking that BMW.  If you ever roffle it etc 

[rml2345]

IN  - Nowt.

OOT - Nowt.

So that leaves me with the same two Volvos I had last year. And the year before that in fact.

The grey 740 has had a fair bit of fettling this last year, including the headgasket a month or so ago. Continues to perform daily duties on an arduous 3 mile a day commute. 

850 has also had a bit of work this year. Currently V0R due to being an ungrateful bastard and me not having time to attend to it's strop.