Here's one for you motors...
I want something Bargetastic to replace the 205 when my insurance comes up for renewal in a few months. Don't get me wrong, I think that the GTi is a manic little machine and I'm very, very glad to have had the opportunity to own such a car there are two problems with it:
A) The car is very much set-up for the track. Firm suspension, no interior + Bucket seats and a loud exhaust are the noticeable flagging points. Whilst these modifications make the car absoultely shine out of track (bar one or two issues) it makes it a bit of a nightmare to live day to day, especially considering 97% of my driving is spent on the pot hole infested, speedbump riddled roads of South London. In the beginning I thought it was awesome in the "I'm a rally driver!" sort of way. Then it became slightly annoying, then really annoying. Then this week it got to the "I'm going to get the Bus to work because I cannot be bothered with this anymore" level of annoying.
It would help if I could use the car to its potential more often, but I can't, not on the public roads. Track days are my only answer, but I really struggle to see the point of 'suffering' with a car that I'll only be able to use properly for maybe 7-8 times of the year. Max.
B) Hot Hatchbacks have never really been my thing.
So...
The top whack budget is about £3,000. Ideally I'd spent less and use the rest of the money.
I do want something that I can still use on track. It doesn't have to be great, but I will be doing the odd track day in it regardless, so for that reason I don't think I'll be considering car with an automatic gear box (unless somebody can convince me otherwise?). I'd also favour something Rear wheel drive or four wheel drive, but it's not an absolute deal breaker
I had a quick think about modern family saloons along the lines of a Mondeo and the like, but I'm dismissing them for not being 'special' enough. I know, it sounds stupid, but My cars are for pleasure above everything else, fuel economy, running costs, mileage heck, even reliability are for the most part irrelevant. What I do NEED something that is going to put a smile on my face with the mere thought of going for a drive and I'm not convinced that a MK3 Mondeo is ever going to do that...
To be quite honest with you, an e34 BMW 5 Series is leading the short list. I know you're thinking, "Eh? £3,000 budget and you want something that can be bought for 50p?". I love old school BMWs. They are very easily in my top 5 cars of all time, probably in the top two. It's a car that I want to own, badly. My mother had a 530i for a few months and it was absoultely awesome to drive. I didn't have to drive like a tit to enjoy myself, merely wafting about at the speed limit in complete comfort was enough. I cannot help but wonder if a £500 auction snotter with overheating problems can make me feel that great, how will a good one make me feel? Any model upwards of a 525i (24v) seems like a good bet.
I never paid much attention to e39s until very, very recently but they seem to be pretty cheap. It seems like £2,500 will see me having the pick of 528i's and creeping in 530i territory. I can't help but think a e39 might be a bit more sensible alternative to an e34? I won't argue that the e39 is probably a much better car, but it doesn't have the 'style' that I love about e34s. Plus I think all the e39s I can afford are the pre-face lift models, which are already starting to look a bit dated?
Any additional suggestions welcome. The requirement for a Manual gearbox has shot down pretty much everything else I can think of.
I want something Bargetastic to replace the 205 when my insurance comes up for renewal in a few months. Don't get me wrong, I think that the GTi is a manic little machine and I'm very, very glad to have had the opportunity to own such a car there are two problems with it:
A) The car is very much set-up for the track. Firm suspension, no interior + Bucket seats and a loud exhaust are the noticeable flagging points. Whilst these modifications make the car absoultely shine out of track (bar one or two issues) it makes it a bit of a nightmare to live day to day, especially considering 97% of my driving is spent on the pot hole infested, speedbump riddled roads of South London. In the beginning I thought it was awesome in the "I'm a rally driver!" sort of way. Then it became slightly annoying, then really annoying. Then this week it got to the "I'm going to get the Bus to work because I cannot be bothered with this anymore" level of annoying.
It would help if I could use the car to its potential more often, but I can't, not on the public roads. Track days are my only answer, but I really struggle to see the point of 'suffering' with a car that I'll only be able to use properly for maybe 7-8 times of the year. Max.
B) Hot Hatchbacks have never really been my thing.
So...
The top whack budget is about £3,000. Ideally I'd spent less and use the rest of the money.
I do want something that I can still use on track. It doesn't have to be great, but I will be doing the odd track day in it regardless, so for that reason I don't think I'll be considering car with an automatic gear box (unless somebody can convince me otherwise?). I'd also favour something Rear wheel drive or four wheel drive, but it's not an absolute deal breaker
I had a quick think about modern family saloons along the lines of a Mondeo and the like, but I'm dismissing them for not being 'special' enough. I know, it sounds stupid, but My cars are for pleasure above everything else, fuel economy, running costs, mileage heck, even reliability are for the most part irrelevant. What I do NEED something that is going to put a smile on my face with the mere thought of going for a drive and I'm not convinced that a MK3 Mondeo is ever going to do that...
To be quite honest with you, an e34 BMW 5 Series is leading the short list. I know you're thinking, "Eh? £3,000 budget and you want something that can be bought for 50p?". I love old school BMWs. They are very easily in my top 5 cars of all time, probably in the top two. It's a car that I want to own, badly. My mother had a 530i for a few months and it was absoultely awesome to drive. I didn't have to drive like a tit to enjoy myself, merely wafting about at the speed limit in complete comfort was enough. I cannot help but wonder if a £500 auction snotter with overheating problems can make me feel that great, how will a good one make me feel? Any model upwards of a 525i (24v) seems like a good bet.
I never paid much attention to e39s until very, very recently but they seem to be pretty cheap. It seems like £2,500 will see me having the pick of 528i's and creeping in 530i territory. I can't help but think a e39 might be a bit more sensible alternative to an e34? I won't argue that the e39 is probably a much better car, but it doesn't have the 'style' that I love about e34s. Plus I think all the e39s I can afford are the pre-face lift models, which are already starting to look a bit dated?
Any additional suggestions welcome. The requirement for a Manual gearbox has shot down pretty much everything else I can think of.
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