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

Late to this but cool to see the list of some of the cars folks have owned. Mines not massively interesting but I can't remember the last time I put it together.

Mini 1000 'Red Hot' - Bought when I was 16 to repair (had a shunt after being restored so needed front subframe, wings etc) in time for me driving. Never got back on the road.

Renault 5 (Ph2) - was an 1100 and then my dad leant it to someone who managed to break it. Later swapped a 1400cc into it. Ended up being the first car I crashed as a result of youthful exuberance/pig-headedness. Also before I had passed my test. It's a fun family story.

'94 Peugeot 106 XSi (Ph1)
'97 Mini Cooper Sportspack
2 x '88/'89 VW Golf GTi - Both 8 valves. Both projects that never really saw the road.
'90 Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi
Renault 19
'90 VW Jetta 1.6
'94 Rover 214
'90 VW Corrado G60
'94 Peugeot 106 Rallye - Never should have sold it.
'96 VW Golf 1.6 - Bought for £100, painted it with £15's worth of graff paint cans. Never let me down.
'01 Citroen Saxo VTR
'98 Honda Integra Type-R DC2 (UKDM)
'90 Eunos Roadster (still in UK)
'07 Jetta/Bora 1.8t
'17 Hyundai Accent (bought to not have to think about anything car related. gets me to work. very boring)

Also before I had passed my test. It's a fun family story.

Ah, you too? My first crash took place the first time I ever drove on the public highway, with my father in the passenger seat supervising me. T-boned a green Nissan Sunny. It was parked.

I also had a crash in a BMS dual-control car before I passed my test - first time pass, I should add. Given that neither I or the instructor had time to hit the brakes before impact, when the other driver pulled out of a junction straight in front of us without looking, I'm going to claim that one wasn't my fault.

The failed handbrake turn just after I passed my test definitely was my fault. The one where the chap opened a car door straight in front of me (still in the much-abused Maestro) not my fault. He tried to claim I'd been speeding, but given that there was a speed hump just before the spot where he'd parked his car if I'd been doing the speed he claimed I'd have cleared the door with feet to spare. Vertically.

Since we're doing it

Cars I owned:

1. 1998 Toyota Tercel 1.3 Auto (JDM 4 door Corolla)
   
2. 1990 Eunos Roadster (MX5 JDM import - early 1.6)
   
3. 1991 Eunos Roadster (MX5 JDM import - early 1.6)
   
4. 1993 Peugeot 205 CJ
   
5. 2003 Mini One I shared with my sister
   
6. 1993 Mini Italian Job Limited Edition
   
7. Bought my sister out of the 2003 Mini One and did silly things to it
   
8. 1993 BMW 520i
   
9. 1995 MK1 MX5 Supercharged
   
10. 1993 Eunos Roadster with ITBs
    
11. 1994 Eunos Roadster with ITBs
    
12. 1996 Volvo 850R
    
    

Cars I had/have regular access to and drove all the time:

1. 2000 Alfa 156 Selespeed
   
2. 1993 Subaru Legacy GT (pre Bilstein Spec B model)
   
3. 1994 Mazda RX7 converted to single turbo
   
4. 1990 Mazda RX7 turbo
   
5. 2003 Mercedes C220i estate
   
6. 2003 911 C2 cabriolet
   
7. 1987 Karmann Clipper Cabriolet
   
8. 2015 Audi A4 Avant
   
   

My uncle was a grey import dealer, hence all the JDM cars I owned or drove regularly. On top of that list, any 90s performance JDM import you can think of, I've driven it like a twat.

Chronologically

1. Audi A3 (mk1) 1.6
   
2. BMW E46 316 compact
   
3. Volkswagen Polo (mk4) - can't remember the engine, miserable thing
   
4. Nissan 350z
   
5. Range Rover L322
   
6. Audi A2 1.4 TDI
   
7. Audi RS4 (B7)
   
8. Audi S5 (B9)
   
9. Volvo V90
   
10. Skoda Octavia VRS (current)
    
11. Renault Clio 182 (current)
    
    

Or in order of preference:

1. RS4
   
2. Range Rover
   
3. 350z
   
4. VRS (current)
   
5. 182 (current)
   
6. S5
   
7. V90
   
8. A2
   
9. 3 series
   
10. A3
    
11. Polo
    

On the subject of modern car designs looking shit. What do people like the look of that’s come out in the last 10 years or so? Not a lot comes to mind.

Are you talking all cars or cars that are within the reach of mere mortals?

Alfa 8C Competizione. Beautiful.

yep - glorious
more than 10 years old, though

I wouldn't say no to a new Alpine A110 or Suzuki Jimny

You can add the new Giulia to that.

True. But it was 'last 10 years or so' and it was released in 2007. I'm claiming 3 years as being within 'so'.

acceptable

In terms of modern cars, i think there are still a few decent looking cars or ones that are breaking the mold...

Honda E
Volvo / Polestar in general but the V60 is my favourite
Alfa Giulia
Range Rover Velar
Tesla Model 3 (mainly for the interior obvs)

All of these stand out against the norm of the category.

Suzuki Jimny

Perfect example.

Car history:

1. Ford Fiesta Mk III 1.0 petrol - 4 speed, no left wing mirror, swapped a bass guitar for it
   
2. Ford Fiesta Mk III Ghia 1.2 petrol - Velour seats, had a button to open the boot, got crashed into and written off
   
3. Fiat Punto 2nd Gen "sporting" 1.6 petrol - My mums old car, fast (for what is was) but fell apart. Planet gear literally disintegrated on the M11
   
4. Seat Ibiza 3rd Gen FR 2.0 diesel - Mums old Loads of pep, fun to drive, noisy and crashy though
   
5. Nissan Qashqai 1st Gen Techna 1.6 diesel - Brother worked for Nissan, cost me less than £150 a month inc insurance. Comfy
   
6. BMW 1 Series F21 Eco 1.6 diesel - Company car, cheap to run, nice to drive, boring
   
7. BMW 2 Series F22 Sport 2.0 diesel - First "proper" car i actually bought new. Loved it but should have bumped the specs a bit
   
8. BMW 4 Series F36 Gran Coupe M-sport 3.0 diesel - Much quicker & more refined than the 2 series; more practical. Bought with 5k on the clock
   
9. Range Rover Velar R-dynamic HSE 3.0 diesel (current) - Get a deal through work that made it impossible not to buy. Huge, gaudy, comfy.
   
   

Bike history:

1. Honda PSX - 125cc - Super cheap to run. Cost me £2 a week to get to work
   
2. Honda N700s - 700cc - Cheap to insure but so dull
   
3. Yamaha MT07 - 700cc - Fun and light but terrible for anything over 60mph
   
4. Yamaha MT09 Tracer - 900cc - Lots more oomph but got nicked
   
5. Yamaha MT09 - 900cc - Most fun to ride but still no good two-up or on motorway
   
6. Yamaha Tracer 900 GT - 900cc (current) - Done 900km in a day, two-up but could be more exciting
   
   

Ones i've enjoyed the most:

Driving/riding:
BMW 2 Series (though needed a bigger engine)
Yamaha MT09

Owning/using:
RR Velar (Massage. Seats.)
Tracer 900 GT

Car History

1 - MK1 Golf L 1.1 , had GTI wheels and Steering wheel
2 - Astra 1.4, think H reg, bubble shape, terrible handling, Broken into lots, knicked
3 - Skoda Octavia - first proper car, talked into by parents, didn't like, I was to young should have got a VW Corrado or Scirroco (what i wanted)
4 - MK1 Golf GTI Stock, silver 1.6, favourite car ever, would get back in a hartbeat
5 - Escort Van to save the Golf from building sites!
6 - Saab 95 Aero Estate (Nice to drive but went bang week after 1st child was born)
7 - Saab 95 Aero Estate (Needed car, to tired to look garage had one when i got quote to fix previous) still have

Car history:

1 - Ford Escort mk4 RS Turbo
2 - Renault 19 cabrio
3 - Ford Cortina 1600e (mk2)
4 - Ford Capri Cabaret 2.0
6 - Mk1 Golf Driver 1.3
7 - VW Polo 6n2
8 - Mk3 golf driver 1.8
9 - Mk3 golf 4 door
10 - Mk2 golf 1.3
11 - Mk1 Golf Gti

Ford Escort mk4 RS Turbo

oooooooph! if that is chronological, strong first car!

Same first car.

Fucking loved it! Mine was a 78 so had swallow rear lights, also had upgraded Scirocco steel wheels, steering wheel and horn (for extra parp).
Possibly the most fun car I’ve had (I’ve not had a great car history (to follow)). Great to rag around in the lanes of Kent!

First car indeed - I swapped my RM125 for it. Was incredibly fast and had an Orion Gearbox (no lsd) Swapped it for the Renault 19 and £800 :)

It was such a great car, Lucky the handling was good as the brakes weren’t, if you hadn’t slowed down enough about a mile from the corner you just had to commit!

Mine went something like this:

Driving home through semi-rural Northumberland with my dad in passenger seat and sister in the back. Dad and I have a disagreement about my use of speed (for context my dad has raced on and off for as long as I've been around and enjoys a spirited dive). I say something to the effects of "I'm driving, I'll handle it". My dad gets sick of me being an arse and decides to pull the handbrake on a click to slow me down slightly. Turns out the handbrake was surprisingly responsive and as he pulls it on I look down and then to him to figure out what he's doing. Hands rotate to the same way I'm looking and the car starts to slide, front wheels getting pulled into the soft muddy verge we were passing and then the car performed a 3/4 roll onto its roof and then back on it's side at about 30mph.

I knew what happened, my dad knew what happened. My sister less so. We were all ok.

Que lots of apologies from me and my dad. Lots of looking sheepish. We pushed the 5 back onto it's wheels, and a passing car gave us a lift back to home which was only 2 mins away.

Initially I explained it had been my fault as I was expecting my mum to divorce my dad once she heard but he fessed up and took the blame.

The 5 had the dents removed from the roof and and vinyl roof stuck on top of the metal.

TLDR: I rolled a car with the help of my dad. Pre-passing my test.

Definitely the latter. There’s always gonna be some boutique sports car that looks nice, but are there any modern reasonably priced cars that look half decent.

Ricky!!!! Proper lollin.

Car history:

Triumph GT6 mkII - joined a big corporate as a graduate after uni and got a small signing on bonus. All the rest of the joiners bought Corsas, Lupos and Rover 25's, I got this :) It was a monster - just had a full rebuild by the previous owner to some kind of streetcar spec. Full photo history (I had photos of the inside of the gearbox being pulled apart), full receipts. Sold it for more than I paid but regretted it immediately as it drove away down the road; it's replacement didn't help...

Peugeot 307 - started spending every weekend in London and the triumph didn't like the miles. At least it had a CD player...

...Many years later...

Triumph Dolomite Sprint - very ratty, had a plan to do it up in a lairy way but never really fell in love with it enough to follow through.

Ford Focus ST 225 - slowly adding to it, got a target of 350 hp in mind over the next few years.