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

I know somebody selling a rotary Westfield if that's of any interest, does 01.15 around Castle Combe apparently.

Lotus 7 copies/replicas ;)

I'd make an exception for Caterham as they bought the rights to the design from Lotus, but for Westfields etc. that's a fair comment!

Used to be a mondello trackday regular when i lived in dublin. Remember the fastest i ever went round that track was in a hyabusa engined sylva stryker. It was mind bendingly fast.

Pre litigation westfield ;) Also others that Caterham had litigation with.

The 7 has become an icon with many replicas. Some better than others. When my dad bought a kit from caterham, we collected the chassis and ended up looking at a few chassis as some weren't that nicely welded together.

You moving back?

I stand by this assessment.

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Spotted this subtle choice for the daily commute.

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^woah, beast.

Spotted this morning, can't help but admire the curves and condition of this 71 year old Chevrolet Fleetmaster.

Inside looks pretty pleasant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN13ML3Zd64

Motorbike on the cab roof is so much win. How does it?!?

Weird noise from n/s of my golf wasn't wheel bearings in the end, it was a lack of brake pad and subsequent metal on metal. Can't believe I didn't notice it - especially knowing how disc brakes work on my bikes - but I didn't look at the wheels in daylight until I was at the garage.

£400ish for new pads, discs and rotors at the rear. Is it weird that the handbrake would need adjusting 2 weeks after the job? (Mechanic said it may need adjusting in a few months, but makes dodgy noises when engaged). Also there seems to be some like paper still on the pads - is that okay?

Any advice is greatly appreciated, cheers

Edit - do pads get checked on an MOT? Passed 2000 steady miles ago at the garage i got it from

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Ok ok ok, hear me out. I've settled on buying myself a volvo, preferably a v50, but possibly a v70.

I had actually settled on a fairly low specced v50 S 2.4i geartronic, as it wouldn't be THAT slow, would suit the mostly fully loaded motorway driving it'll be used for, and will have a fruity engine note.

Then i stumbled across a manual v50 t5 SE for £4k. Sounds decent: 2 owners, under 100k miles, full volvo history, manual, sport kit. The downside: headlight washer cover missing and towing eye cover missing (will be replaced prior to sale), all wheels cerbed, bumpers scuffed beyond detailing repair.

So now I'm in a swing:

1. Buy a cheap clean 2.4i (like this)
   
2. Buy the super cheap auto awd t5 on ebay and drive it straight to a specialist with a packet of cash to make it nice
   
3. Buy the 4k one above and tidy it up as and when i can
   
4. Stretch to 6k and buy an auto v70r
   
   

Is it ambitious to think its possible to make a high miler nice again for 3k of work with a specialist?
Is an auto v70r a let down?
Will i ever buy a car?

There’s a little crane bracket sort of thing top left of the cab that I assume has a winch/etc. Wanted a closer look but it was in a very quiet housing estate and it felt creepy!

.

I like the look of that really tidy looking V70R but any of those options would work. I used an old v50 D5 (that my dad had taken in swap) for the entirety of my christmas visit last year and for a car that hadn't exactly been lavished with love it was ace. It felt solid, was surpisingly quick and would do 50 to the gallon on a run. If I could find a tidy one of those, it's probably what I would go for to do a bit of everything with.

A quick look on autotrader turned up these two which I thought looked pretty good value

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201911033988190?advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=ne463ew&radius=100&make=VOLVO&sort=relevance&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&model=V50&page=3

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201910163368556?advertising-location=at_cars&postcode=ne463ew&radius=100&make=VOLVO&sort=relevance&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&model=V50&page=4

Are you in london? If so get the scratched v50 and leave it as is so you don’t have to worry about it. Save the monies and sort it out when you sell it instead

Why a Volvo?
Is it for the availability of parts where you are going to be based?

How about a low mileage Subaru wagon, in a nice colour? :)

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201910073031714?atmobcid=soc3

The thing with subies is clean oil, all the time. They are less tolerant of poor servicing than most. Generally very good though and solid build in that era. Down here most liberties (legacy) have their dash completely destroyed by the sun by now... Funny seeing a clean one!

I am trying to buy a Subaru wagon at the moment in NZ, but nearly all of them are autos here.

I have found a bug eye Impreza WRX wagon in manual for under £4K though which I might go and look at this weekend

That is a very good idea.

Listed the MX-5 for sale on Saturday and was driven away on Sunday for the full asking price, that was a lot easier than I expected.

I'd imagine that's testament to it being as nice irl as it looked in photos.
Are you replacing it with something that's also fun?

The fact that you can see what's been done over time online probably helps a lot.

The old adage, buy the owner.

@ricky2slicky hopefully, he certainly seemed happy with it. I have the 3.0l Subaru Outback now and that's about as fun as it'll get in terms of cars for the short-term, we're buying a house in the new year and when I have a garage I'll certainly be considering another project. BMW e28 or Honda Accord Aerodeck are high on the list though. I've resided myself to getting my motoring kicks on the motorbike for now at least.

@hugo7 Very true, i think I was desperate to sell and he was desperate to buy which probably helped.