Best car you've ever owned?

[Cavcraft]

Does anybody know how to post pictures? I want to post a photograph of the best car I have ever designed, the Reliant FW11.

 

Go back to your own forum and try on there?

[tonedepear]

capri by Tony Lloyd, on Flickr

^this.

 

1.6 Laser. It was absolutely mint. Bought in 1999 for £700, before everyone decided Capris were OMG RETRO COOL.

Sold in 2002, for £1500, after people had decided Capris were OMG RETRO COOL.

 

I'd never afford the fuel now but it took me all over the country, it was fucking brilliant, and I still miss it.

 

(Excuse the models, we were only young)

[cms206]

Every time someone asks, this is the answer...

 

G341 NTO by cms206, on Flickr

 

 

Bought for 450 dollarpounds from it's original owner, FSH, 161k on the clock at the time, dealer plates, dealer tax disc holder and it's original steel wheels and wheeltrims in the boot. Currently languishing not far from the house, thankfully out of sight, waiting for me to scrape the pennies together to see him back on the road.

[CortinaDave]

This. I've got a new A6 now and although it's a better put together just look at the Alfa..

 

P.S. CortinaDave did you know your ex SD1 v8 was in in STV's field of blood a couple of weeks ago?

 

...I had no idea! C452 OUY? Please tell me it wasnt getting smashed up... was a tidy car

[BrianDamaged]

There have been several contenders......

I bought this on a whim in 2006. '82 RR with Nissan 2.8-litre six-pot TD conversion, lifted suspension, 24V starting....the lot. Gobfuls of torque and an exhaust note to rival the V8 it came out of the factory with....and just about unstoppable off road. The stock four-speeder was augmented by a Fairey overdrive which meant that if one felt like showing off one could make it sound like it had a Cummins/Eaton Twin-Splitter under the bonnet. 100mph all day if you were in a hurry, and over 35mpg if you weren't. Even on an off-roading expedition in North Wales it STILL averaged 28mpg. Brilliant machine. Used it daily for 12 months, then sold it to a guy from Cumbria for £100 more than I'd paid for it. He used it for leading guided greenlaning tours in the Lake District. Last I heard it was still going strong albeit with a 300TDi Land-Rover lump after the torque of the Nissan chewed its way through three Range Rover gearboxes in six months.

 

This is the one i wish I'd never sold. I don't think I ever clambered out of it without a shit-eating grin on my face. Cramped (well it was when you're 19 stone, anyway), noisy (as you'd expect with no proper silencer.....it was so loud inside that after one trip back from London I actually chucked my guts up), awkward (the lowering job meant that it didn't steer quite as Citroen intended, all the camber/castor angles were screwed), but IMMENSE fun.

 

Unfortunately my ownership coincided with the worst of the Recession and after a swathe of redundancies at work and pay/hours cuts I couldn't justify owning two cars. The lad I sold it to blew the gearbox after a few months of long-distance commuting in it, but has apparently fixed it now and is threatening to return it to the road in time for this year's Retro-Rides Gathering, in which case it will be the first time I've seen it in almost two years. He's also made noises about selling. I'd love to have it back, I really would. Just don't tell Mrs.Damaged..........

[504GL]

I'm going to be very boring and nominate a few cars

 

Firstly the 504 GL I owned back in Australia. Had it for 4 years and did a load of miles in it. A few little things went wrong with it such as the brake booster going up in the hills of Perth (I wanted to get down!!!!) at some silly time of the night, my dad drove up with whole brake booster and changed it by the roadside. By god, I'll never complain about overservoed brakes ever again. I crashed it into the back of Mitsubishi Lancer and wrote the Lancer off, damaged some panels on the front of the 504 and broke a blade off the fan when it touched the radiator, as always my dad had a full set of front panels and a bonnet at home which went on, they were metallic green but it didn't matter. Got up to some ridiculous speeds on gravel roads and had a few very nice sideways moments in that car. Having a dad who has a garage full of spares make for a smooth ownership experience.

 

Not strictly a car I own, but the wifes Mk1 Series 2 Subaru Legacy Turbo. Never really been a fan of Subaru's as they're not the best looking and Impreza Turbo's do have a certain image. It's stupidly quick and oh so surefooted. It's showing its age now though and has a bit of rust and a few mechanical problems. I'm trying to convince the wife that we need a house with a garage and that we need to get the rust cut out so the Subaru can sit idle till there's enough money spare to give it a respray, completely replace the suspension (the front has been completely rebushed and the steering has been renewed), sort out the mechanical gremlins, get the original wheels resprayed as they're uber tatty, perhaps give it a retrim inside and ensure that it lasts for another 17 years GR8 4 4wd donuts in the snow

 

 

Also probably least excitingly, there's the Fiat 500 that we have which is just under 2 years old. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a 504 again, but it's great to just get into a car, turn the key and know that everything's going to work. It's just nice to have leather seats, air con, alloy wheels and all that sort of crap and even better to know exactly how it's been treated, rather than constantly finding things wrong with it because of neglect. An absolute hoot to drive in the winter on its winter tyres when everyone else is on summer rubber. Managed to take us on a 2000 mile trip to Turin and back last summer, most of it spent at around 90mph. Don't have quite the same attachment to it as the Subaru because I know if it got written off that I could just walk into a showroom and order an identical one. Manages around 50mpg most of the time on petrol which I think is pretty darn good.

[overheadvalve]

When i owned the cars i was not the least bit interested in photography, with this in mind maybe you will understand why i didn't own a camera and the images below are from the net.

 

One with loads of character? i owned around 25 years ago.

Mine was "N" reg. KAU 228N ?? i think.

Cheapestwas a SAAB 900 which i won on Ebay for £37.50. collected it from Nottingham and used it for 2 years, at mot time it just needed a small piece (50p size) welding into the underside of the rear arch.

 

Positano yellow Fiat 128, this was actually given to me by my mother, GRY 30N. went like shit off a shovel for a 1100 the engine was bloody great, sadly the body .........wasn't

 

much fun for little cash.

 

However by far the best was my Rover 2000tc VBF 28J

Bloody brilliant car, i was 19 when i owned that car, i wish i still had it.

 

MGB GT, MEA713L

I sold the Rover for a Burnt orange B GT, loved that one too.I know this is a USA model, it's the only image i could find in the correct colour (in a hurry)

 

To be honest i don't know how anone who has been driving for the last 30 odd years could pick just one, i cannot pick less than the four above, the Rover and the B gt i really regret selling.

Edit: Mini's......I've owned several and loved them all!