What is the best car you’ve ever owned other than your MX5?
I’m thinking mainly along the lines of the ‘fun’ factor and the context of owning it. But it might also be iro style, practicality or rarity to you.
And, as a Brucie bonus question (the Forsyth variety), what’s the worst car you’ve ever owned and why?
For me the most fun car I had before the MX5 was a mk2 XR2. During the 80/90’s hot hatch era, it was the best hot hatch I could afford (I wanted the Peugeot 205 1.9GTI). But coming from a Ford Escort 1.3 it was amazingly fast and just looked so cool.
Ironically it took me some time to discover the twin choke carb. So at the beginning of my ownership I was wondering what all the fuss was about, thinking ‘this car isn’t that fast’….and then by accident I pressed through the resistance on the end of the last inch of the accelerator pedal. One of those ‘big smile’ moments!
My worst car was a Lada Samara…bought as a cheap stop gap…and boy did I regret it. It had less than 3000 miles on it and looked brand new. But within 3 months it needed various new components including a new clutch! I got rid of it after doing just 60mph (hard work) and the spot welding on the front of the bonnet sheared in several places, allowing a corner of the bonnet to suddenly rise up. Thankfully the whole bonnet didn’t go. But I decided it was a potential death trap and sold it ASAP.
From the sounds of it, Russian vehicle technology hasn’t advanced that much!
Best cheap car was probably a very old Escort 1300 estate, mainly as it was cheap, reliable, very practical, and lasted a good few years… or it may have been my first ever company car which was the first of the “new” Skoda Octavia’s (mk1), and was the VrS. A car that was great to drive, quick, practical and reasonably economical, (unless you drove like a loon…)
…worst car I have had without a doubt was an Allegro!!..also bought as a stop gap as we had moved and we needed a ccar each and a friend of a friend just happened to have one they wanted to sell.
Tesla Model 3, fantastic car. Had a couple of Imprezzas which were fun then went for a couple of Prius’s which were a sensible means to an end. Pretty dull but suited my 25 mile journey to work which regularly took an hour in traffic and saved me about 250 quid a month in Company car tax, which helped clear my mortgage 10 years early.
Nissan 200sx S13 such a fun car. Worst was possibly the Fiat Brava not because of the car but the terrible service from Fiat who ruined the engine during a service and then refused to take responsibility for it.
Back in the 1980’s a friend of mine had a mkII XR2 in red, a fabulous motor car, at the same time I had a mkIII Capri, they were fun times but alas that wasn’t my best ever car.
That accolade goes to my 2000 Jaguar XJ8. I had wanted a big Jaguar since i was 17 and have been lucky enough to own three since. I pammpered and loved that car so much.
Ironically my worst car ever, by a country mile, was my 1998 Jaguar XJ8 that I had before the blue one. The engine would cut out constantly, sometimes when we were batting down the motorway at 70mph.
Horrendous experience. I was well versed in the art of knocking the car in to neutral , switching off the ignition, restarting the car and then knocking it back into drive. All while still doing 70mph on the motorway.
On the day I sold that car, it broke down on the roundabout 800yds from the garage where I could see the blue Jaguar waiting for me on the forcourt to be collected. What a disaster of a car. But the love was fully restored (and some) when I took ownership of that blue XJ8
Very much the best car I’ve ever owned was a Lotus Elise S2, I had always wanted one and when the opportunity came to own one I had a smile from ear to ear. Actually drove over 500 miles on the day I picked it up. Everything about is was great apart from the stereo. I decided to upgrade the stereo only to find I didn’t use it anyway and preferred the engine/exhaust sound. Now I have a RF Launch which is close to smiles per mile.
Worst car as a company car. My boss decided after getting himself a top of the range Renault Espace he would get us the most basic Citroen Xantia 1.9d without turbo, central locking or electric windows. Oddly it had an electric sunroof. I had the last laugh as we had a workout and it was pouring with rain, I opened my door and he was pulling his handle to open whilst getting soaked. We soon had better cars
Undoubtedly the Capri “Special” 2.8i. In Ford launch poster maroon.
Reasonably tame Burton headed / Vulcan bottom end engine of “never to be determined” output and too many chassis developments to mention…including the then much vaunted Scorpion rear handling kit. Capri Club guru guesses reckoned 200/220 bhp…I’m not so certain. My guess would circa 180/190 maybe. But it was blessed with V6 stump pulling torque and would squeal the rears a bit in 3rd. “Mike the Pipe” custom extractors…pretty much twin Cherry Bombs I thought.
All looking disarmingly stock.
It ate 2 stock 5 speeders…5th gear was a factory tack on & known weak spot I had a clever chap put some sort of Sierra box in. 35 years past now…blimey.
Had to go when son was born. Pretty sure it’s scrapped/rotted/ broken for spares as the mods were expensive and sought after.
First car mk 2 golf gti big bumper model
Great little car, followed by mk 2 jetta gti, better drive than golf, stiffer with having the boot.
Stuck a 2ltr bottom block on, TSR big valve head and rallye cam, uprated suspension, corrado lights, m3 mirrors, g60 front brakes…boy racer days.
Then a E46 m3, followed by Porsche (996) 911 carrera 4…deffo the most fun
Now its a daily driver Astra k diesel (im a driving instructor)
Oh and a fairly modified Merc c320 cdi avant-garde sport…300bhp 475 lb ft torque.
Aswell as my nc1…obviously
The best vehicle I owned was not
car but a 1962 Austin A35 van in which I did 100kmiles costing me only tyres brake shoes and servicing. The worst was a 1969 Fiat 850 rear engined thing much like the forerunner of the present 500. It was for ever snapping the rod the vave lifter fitted to, and the brakes were rubbish. Probably the most exciting car with a bit of spirit driving would be a Peugoet 1.6 205 gti.
So much so that my 46,000 mile NB, which hasn’t rotted out and still drives like a new car, will have a FOR SALE sign in the windscreen tomorrow. It’s got to go because we’re just not using it.
Worst: TVR V8S. Handling on mine left something to be desired……two unanticipated low speed pirouettes (one on a high friction surface) left me a tad wary of it.
There have been many cars in my 50+ years of driving, including some nice upmarket company cars, but the one that made the greatest impression was my 1966 Mk1 Cortina GT.
It was my second car after a very worn-out old Mini van and I can still remember the thrill of taking it out on the test drive. It was a proper upgrade from the basic Cortina 1500 with an uprated cam, four branch manifold, twin-choke weber, stiffer suspension and wider wheels and for a 22-year old back in the early 70s it was the business. Dark green with a cream flash. It just drove SO well, handled beautifully, went plenty fast enough for the time, and suited me perfectly.
As regards the worst, being in sales for 30 years I’ve had my share of company fleet hacks but I agree 100% with one of the previous posters about the Citroen Xantia non-turbo deisel. Without a doubt the most dreadful car I have ever driven. The pneumatic suspension made my kids sick, the 0-60 time was measured in postcodes and the engine sounded like someone rattling a toolbox full of spanners. Just awful.
Drove like a madman back in the late 60’s early 70’s and one of the cars I do remember was a little Fiat 127 which seemed to glue to the road no matter how fast I went round the corners.
Loved by first company car, a Peugeot 405. Lots of room, and absolutely lovely car to drive; nothing I owned until the MX5 bettered it for driving pleasure.
Worst car was a 4 year old Ford Capri Mk 2. I was a pretty chuffed 22 year old when I bought it, but the dealer must have seen me coming. In the 6 months I owned it, I had to replace the clutch, the camshaft, the rear brakes, the exhaust, and it was becoming obvious that the suspension was buggered. To cap matters I lost about half what I had paid for it when o got rid of it. It seemed a huge upgrade from my 10 year old Triumph Toledo, but put me off cars for years.
