TheBigMan

What is the best car you've owned?? I don't mean the best looking, fastest, best handling, best looking. I mean the car that, when you owned it, gave you no grief and you just simply loved it.

After owning:

Ford Escort 1.3 Popular
Citroen AX GT
Vauxhall Calibra 16v
Renault Clio 1.8 16v (they gay one with bonnet vent)
Honda Prelude VTEC
BMW 323i SE
BMW M3 Evo
Renault Clio 172 (Mk1)
Vauxhall Vectra GSI
Porsche 951


From all of those, I can honestly say the Vectra GSi was best overall car, the 323i SE a close second, with the Prelude very close in third. The AX GT was my first car, and in a way miss it the most. The Escort I bought pre-test, drove it (tut-tut) and subsequently sold it for £200 profit. Was crap, though only had 27k GENUINE miles on a E plate in 1997!!

Worst were the 2 Renaults. The 1.8 16v was ****e. The 172 Mk1 was ****e - nothing more to add!!!!!! Though, I do like the new 172 Cup/182 cars. Been in one and Renault look to have FINALLY sorted the crapness of earlier models.

So, you?

NotoriousREV

The cars I look back on with the most rose-tinted of spectacles are my 1430 Mini (overbored, stroked crank MG Metro engine, standard drum brakes) and my Vauxhall Magnum 2300 Coupe.

By your definition, my "best" car was probably my Vectra SRi, but it's not a car I had any feelings for, it was literally just transport.

boxst

Hello

Even though it's almost killed me a few times, I really like my Supra. It's a car that I always wanted since I was a child. I've had it from new for the last 6 years and the poor thing has just clocked up 90,000. Most of those have been motorway miles, so it's still going strong.

Steve

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Every car I've ever owned has given me grief one way or the other, except for the '96 'P' Nissan Primera that serves as my current 'expendable' car for trips to supermarkets and DIY stores. It's not the sort of car I think I'll ever 'simply love' though!!

My previous scooby was by far the best car I've owned - nothing went wrong apart from an interior light switch, right up until the engine blew at 60k miles. The rebuild effectively added £500/yr in running costs, which was still small compared to the cost of its insatiable thirst. Though I never quite forgave that car, it didn't stop me buying another.

fatscoobyfella

Bmw 540i sport...did 68k with just 1 set of tyres and front pads..Quick,steady and never out of place in any situation.Was a classic all rounder.
My brother had a P reg Primera SRi,when he sold that it had 169k..only had pads,tyres exhaust and 1 Cv boot..Quality car!!

JackClark

Land Rover Defender. Much more fun than the scoob - when you're not driving too far. Something broke the other day and I was sat there with no gears, a bit of scrabbling around and a clout with a field hammer and we were back on the go. Full repair of the gear linkage cost me £1.80. Nice. At the same time the impreza sat on the drive and cost me £450.00!!

Leslie

I have owned a great number of cars and bikes but I think the best all round bearing in mind when I owned them were as follows.

Bristol 400, hand made car by aircraft engineers to keep them in work.

Veritas/BMW, Another hand made car by a couple of blokes by the Nurburgring. This was a sports 2 seater and was driven by Karl Kling to win its class in the 500 mile race at the Ring.

Lotus Cortina Mk !. Outstanding car once I had sorted the back axle with radius arms and tweaked the motor with Cossie cams and gas flowed the head.

Ford 1600E, not bad but not in the Lotus Cortina class

BMW E12 M535i. I restored it and tweaked the motor-lovely car but a bit tail happy.

Vectra 2,5 V6. Good car all round but not very exciting.

Classic STi One. Lovely car especially with the bump steer mod and solid rear roll bar links, and the motor tweaked to 300+. Always worried about No3 big end though!

M3 Evo. Another oustanding car, classy and goes like a rocket with very good handling. Have not regretted getting it. Expensive to renew the Vanos but it was allowed for in the price I paid.

Vincent Rapide. with a Black Shadow engine it was unofficially known as a White Shadow, really left everything for dead in those days

Kawasaki ZX12R, modern equivalent of the Vincent, shattering performance.

Les

Shaolin

My second car, it was a knackered Nova sr, had it all resprayed, different suspension, wheels etc, all ready for the Courtney (sp?) turbo conversion, this was back when that courtney nova was on top gear, then my mate got a R5 turbo and i sold the nova to get a R5..........biggest mistake ever, what a bag of ****e.
Sold the R5 and bought the most immaculate E30 M3, bloody amazing cars, probably the best car that i'll have ever owned, the only car that when i sold it i started getting second thoughts.
Sold that to get my present car which is a R33 Skyline GTR........my dream car!!! Yes its quicker than my M3, but for a complete car that is so well made the E30 M3 is still the best by far, a proper M3.

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

I loved my Mini to bits, in fact it was often in bits

OllyK

My first car was a beetle, I enjoyed it, but it cost a bloody fortune to run, makes the scoob look cheap. In the 3 years I had it, it had 2 engine re-builds, 1st to take it to an 1800 (tweaked) and the second to re-build again after the fan belt went and it cooked the engine! I think the floor pan was the only original part left by the time I'd finished!

CrisPDuk

My current one, a 1986 Mercedes Benz 250TD, E CLass Wagon. It's not as fast as my scoob, not as much fun as my XR4x4, and not as nibble as any of my old Golf GTi's. But it does 40-50mpg, cruises at 90mph on motorways, handles well enough to put a look of awe on the faces of those trying to catch you, or, those your catching and when you go to Santa Pod you can get a mattress in the back which beats sleeping in a tent on a p!ss soaked field

Plus, I bet I can get low 20's at 50+mph if I RWYB it

Buckrogers

So far, just a simple Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec. Touch wood, no problems at all for 2 years. Handles very well for a 5 dr hatch.

SJ_Skyline

1987 D Reg Nissan Micra, bought for £2300 in 1992 with 43K on the clock. Sold for £500 in 1997 with 110K on the clock.

In 5 years:
* 2 lock barrel replacements and 2 window replacements all due to attempted theft.
* 1 clutch cable replacement.
* Usual service replacements of pads, filters, etc.

Never broke down and apart from the idiots trying (and failing) to steal it I never had a problem with it.

Would I buy another one? er.... probably not as it was a touch cramped!

hawkthescoobslayer

best car i ever owned was a 1989 F plate sierra sapphire cosworth 300bhp.........................reason I was only 21 and it I was a hooligan at the time..........the thrills the spills.....

ooooooohhh to be young and care free again...


now i'm just older with a mortgage



ps edited to add i've just remembered whats parked in my garage and............forget EVERYTHING i said earlier

CrisPDuk

The Zohan

Great thread, i have wracked my brains (did not take long) and i cannot come up with an overall car.

so
1972 Austin Healy Sprite in BRG with a cosworth 'tweaked' engine, when i say tweaked, road/race cam bigger carbs, ported and polished head, balanced bottom end had a timng belt mod rather than the old chain drive, etc.

It went like stink, only to around 110 but getting there was a hoot!

always felt fast no matter how quick you where going.

RS2000 custom mk2 when i was 20 was grrreat, spent more time in the dealership than on the road though but still miss it.

Several Yamaha IT175's, OK not a car but much more fun in different ways

Impreza MY99 UK Turbo was probably the best all round car and always put a grin on my face no matter how lousier day i was having.

hedgehog

This is a good questions because, I guess, everyone has a different view of best.

However, can I have two winners?

MkII RS2000 custom: It was just so much fun and you could drive it sideways all day. I miss it but, on reflection, would probably not want one now as everything was just too heavy specially the clutch and steering.

VW VR6 Golf: Bought it ex-demo with about a thousand miles on it for £16k, kept it two years spending virtually nothing on it and sold it for £16k. Service was great and inexpensive. Not a great drivers car, I just can't feel right in front wheel drive, but a good cruising car and mine had all the VR6 badges replaced with TDi badges so it didn't generate any interest from undesirable types.

Robert Rosario

Would have to say that my old 205 gti 1.6 is the one I look back on with the most fondness.

91 "J", Miami blue (the best colour in my opinion), 106 gti wheels, great handling, and although not the fastest, a great car.

Scooby-Doo

Daihatsu Mira Avanzato TRXX R4. Love it so much its outlasted 6 other cars

pvtbanner

I used to have lots of fun in my old lil Metro Gti Mpi great car to chuck about then it disintegrated into a pile of rust.
Mine is my P reg Nissan Almera 1400Si done 30k in a year and a half. Spent 150 on 4 decent tyres. 50 for wheel bearing. 105 for a full service. Never broken down. Never failed me. But still saving up to get a Subaru in the next 6 months

carl

TBH I think the "best" car I ever had was my Scoob.

1) It never went wrong (93,000 miles without missing a beat)
2) It was pretty quick
3) It was suitable for all weathers
4) I could fit the kids and a load of luggage in it

So it really did everything.

Brendan Hughes

205GTI 1.6. But I don't have much to choose from. Scoob too boring, Dutton I remember with fondness but the last year I utterly utterly hated it most of the time.

Jap2Scrap

Back in 88/89/90 I was running a Cortina Mk4. It started life as a 1600 but after dropping it onto the deck on fat firestones and fitting an RS 2.1 engine supplied by Hendy Power Products it was a true beast. Stripped out it would manage a 6 second 0-60, with passengers, and in its day would obliterate almost anything not carrying an Italian badge. No money got spent on the cosmetics whatsoever. It had 2 fibreglass replacements wings and they never got sprayed. It was missing a front grille and most of the trim inside and out but it was an awesome machine. The 4-speed box finally gave up the ghost and began popping out of gear at undue moments. Finally it expired and I'd been given a 2.0 Capri. I always intended an engine transplant but I think the parents got fed up of the front garden looking like a Ford graveyard and it was unceremoniously removed one day when I was at work. Jeez, I loved that car.

All things considred though, the best car I've had was an MR2 G-Limited that I ran for 2 years 2002-2004.. Not one single problem in 2 years of tail-out fun

Diablo

Honda Integra Type R DC2

An absolute pleasure to own

Apparition

Vauxhall Astra CD? 1.8 the last shape but one if you get my drift. I lurved that car and it broke my heart when I had to part company with it in order to go up in size to the new Previa for family reasons. Wings well and truly clipped. It was compact, versatile, fast when necessary, and RED ! Never a thing wrong with it either. Ahhhhh sweet memories.

daiscooby

My RX7, still love every second I am behind the wheel.

For sheer fun though I had a Mk1 3.2 V6 Ford Capri with twin 45's as a project car about 15 years ago. Two buckets seats, a roll cage and a fire extinguisher, oh and the essential two bags of concrete in the boot
Looked like crap, drove like a vandal on hard drugs

Spoon

928S4 - Utterly faultless from new to 90,000 miles.

PG

For fun: has to be the Metro Gti
As a car : Mondeo V6 Si estate. Practical, roomy to the extreme and was fun to **** of the hot hatches when they annoyed me. Quite the wolf in sheeps clothing

Brendan Hughes

Spoon, would you shut up about how good 928s are please? You're going to cost me a fortune in mid-life crisis