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

I guess that’d now be up towards £20k. Why are millennials so bothered about house prices doubling in the last 10 years when 205s have gone up 40-fold? That’s the real scandal.

My mum had a white 1.6 205 GTI when i was a kid, Dad made her trade it in due to age / mileage sometime in the late 90s for a Maza 323 GTX.

Couldn't afford a GTi so got the lesser XS. Was quite a bit of fun when it got going but boy was the steering heavy at slow speed around the roads in Manchester.

Ended up with an AW11 MR2 :)

The garage where i take my cars to, says this is part of his pension fund.

o you have space now? You’d be welcome to store mine while I finish that poxy Fury. :)

Not until Cycliste moves the Minor Trav and her Ginetta out of my storage unit. And TBH, once that's done the spare space will be filled by my Poxy Fury, which I've been rebuilding since 2003, so that I can fill half my garage with n+1 motorbikes.

I went to see a couple of cars this morning, firstly this CLS63 AMG Shooting Brake, which I was a bit unsure of looks-wise as it can, I think, look great from some angles and terrible from others. This one had an all-the-toys spec, including the radar-cruise control that I would like for French auto-routes. However, it suffers from the same offset steering wheel as my old E63, so I think I'm going to say it's a no to that whole platform.

I then looked at this C63 AMG Estate, which felt like it was from a very different era to the CLS, much more basic- very similar to my old C55 AMG Estate frankly, but hopefully without the laundry list of maintenance items that that had when I got it. I quite liked it, but it missed a service (it seems) in 2019 which isn't great. Steering wheel is in the correct place though, which is good.

I think, therefore, that something based on the C-Class platform is what I'm looking for, and I also think that having tried the C55 and the E63 I'd like something with a large displacement and no turbochargers, so the 6.2 V8 for preference.

V10 S6 (if not already suggested/dismissed)? The curve ball would be a Chrysler 300 estate with a hemi.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210180845976

They're just so ugly. Always reminds me of the Wagon Queen Family Truckster...

It's a no to the Chrysler.

They seem brilliant on paper, if you can hold your nose at the looks, but the interior is fucking horrific. Not just to look at, but to be inside and interacting with, it's a burning tyre pile of a car.

Not that it's a truly a comparison, but I'd rather entertain a Monaro and deal with less space than a 300C.

Quite surprised you haven't ventured down the "big Audi" route

C63 AMG Estate

didnt know that they could be had so "cheap". nice car

I got there first. It's all mine.

Just been offered £50k for the M3 by a bloke who swears he won't flip it...

Did he keep looking up and right as he said it?

RS 6 time?

If I'm going to get something newish, I'd rather it's within (roughly) the last ten years for parts availability and risk of significant maintenance. I have, in the past, spent a few £ on fixing stuff that previous owners decided to ignore which is informing this position.

2020> Suzuki Swift sport 'hybrid' (very mild hybrid).

Had various appalling hire cars recently. Peugeot 2000000000008, Vauxhall mokka, Vauxhall grandland, citroen tall wobbly thing. The grandland was the absolute worst new car I think I've ever had to drive, a genuine fucking misery of a vehicle. Yes hire car spec so a 1.0 engine with around 7 or 8 hp, horrible on the motorway, impossible in town as feels like your driving Mr Blobbies car, seats are terrible, driving position a little odd, suspension manages to be floaty, wallows, crashs and bucks at the back all at the same time. Worst of all, its not even good on fuel, 800 miles of motorway, 40 miles of flat a road, it managed 39 mpg at a genuine 70 mph there and back with 1x 75 kg occupant. Clown car.

The suzuki swift, yes! Actually decent, build quality is a bit, Suzuki obviously, little 1.4 turbo petrol with a mild hybrid, snappy gearbox, great driving position, handles nice enough (does a weird electronic self centering of the steering wheel which gives the impression its tram-lining/aquaplanning on fast a roads). Not fast, but defo good enough, lots of stuff as standard, touch screen thats not a total misery to use (the Vauxhall system is going to be cause of death for quite a few road users), a small car that would defo consider if ever needed one. Feels like a Japanese version of a Fiesta ST.

Bit selfish m8. Store my shit.

Weren’t you musing over a twin engine Volvo a few years ago?

I know 400bhp isn’t much these days but V90s are handsome. I’ve not driven one but I bet they still feel good inside.

Yeah just like the guy who bought the Volvo, right?

Are you building a Fury to race or for fun?

Did that end up getting flipped?

I’m building it because a mutual friend of @Brommers and mine failed to finish it over a 10 year period and needed the space and I thought I could finish it in a couple of months and then let him use it.

That was 3 years ago. Unexpected shit happened. :(

I have the desire to be an excellent friend to people, but it never fully works out.

What needs doing?