Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

It's worth it because it looks and sounds great

Depends why the belt has gone.

Our search for a more sensible car than the W201 has gone a little off piste.

Current contenders now include the Renault Megane coupe with the foldaway roof and the Citroen C4 after similar were mentioned here. A turbo diesel X-Type Jag was also briefly mooted. Golf or maybe Civic is probably still most likely but it could be something more interesting.

Don't go for that folding tin top Renault.

They're utter dogs.

Boring car chat and observations from this week (based on Zipcar and Drive Now usage):

A VW Golf is a more practical, sensible car for tooling around London and getting baby seats in and out of. Smooth and mindless to drive.

A BMW 1 series is a far better drive and the car I'd like to buy if it was my money. Nice and responsive and feels like more than just a hatch inside. Slightly annoying and weird electric steering though.
Unfortunately getting a baby seat in the back is a little tight and the door opening is awkward. Things I never thought I'd even care about...

@IR nice work on the mini - looks fun. I am surprised you didn't expect to replace the sills.
What are the plans? Some kind of rat style mini perhaps? Exposed welds etc.

What b&d said - do not touch the renault folding roof thing. total dogs.

And nobody will take you remotely seriously if you're driving one...

Fair enough.

Dogs in terms of quality? Cause they don't look too bad I don't think.

My courtesy car just reverse parked itself! Weird. Useful.

Are the japanese worth toying with? I.e prius, qashqai. My family is getting bigger with one on the way so would like to step up from my (rubbish) all but loving pug 206. I do quite a lot of miles at the moment since i started work but that will soon stop once me c2w is all sorted and what nots. Ive always thoyght golf was practicsl. I quite like the audi a3, MIL has one. Its spacious easily fit the pushchair withiut taking all the wheels off. Car seats fit nicely. Light in the back for my 2 yr old.

Buy one cheap from a magazine and sell for profit of it doesn't work out?

I didn't expect to as it's got cover sills on that are solid but from what I gather these almost always cover up and exacerbate any problems with the originals.

The plan was to try and get it as close to original as possible but I haven't been able to find out what the original colour was. Some things I'm sure of: 10" wheels, a little bit of poke, no wheel arches, front disc brakes and a nice roof rack.

If you like audis and need to lug stuff around id look at an A6 Avant, be warned about the S Lines though, very harsh

A diesel Jaguar :(

The X-Type is basically an XJ (X350) which was pretty much an aluminium XJ8.

Just buy an XJ8!

Good plan. So a standard looking mini with a few subtle upgrades.
As for original colour, would there be any clues around the firewall or under carpet/behind dash?

I wonder if you could fabricate bike mounts into a retro style roof rack - this kind of thing:

Any excuse ;) thirsty beast soon to become even thirstier with a massive IDF Weber taking from a 2.7RS sticking through the bonnet :D

Electrical failures and bits of trim falling off. The stuff you forgive the Renault Sport Megane of because turbo and fun. Coupé, not so much.

Possibly too big at this stage im sure my insurance would love it though. I do the smaller a4 though if i could get away with it

There are a few colours going on but the thickest one appears to be a light olive green.

That's my plan for the rack, gonna fit something near the front to simulate a front hub so I can bolt a fork on and then a gutter towards the back to hold the rear wheel. + straps. Will likely only use this for mountain bikes.

This is so rad, what ever happened to the green (or was it blue?) one you used to have?

a massive IDF Weber taking from a 2.7RS sticking through the bonnet :D

a 2.7 RS had mechanical fuel injection. The SWB and base model 2.0, 2.2 and 2.4 cars had carbs but with three chokes to feed three cylinders so I can't think how you'd make them work on a, presumably, 4 pot. Or am I missing the point?

.

Sorry, was tired I genuinely have no idea why I typed 2.7 Rs. Meant to write 356 RS. Ive got a 2.7RS one knocking around im trying to sell!

Have the manifold coming soon

fingers crossed no one else does it for l2b this year

Just found that the one of the fiat engines heads can be made to fit the mini, easier and cheaper than the k1100 and micra

Edit and a CBr600 head too.

There was no 356 RS. The super fast 356s were called Carreras.

Am I being annoying yet? ;)