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

After giving me a long spiel about using it as a trackday car, it got listed on an Irish site a month or so later with all the same pics plus a nice close up of the V5 with my name and address on.

It then disappeared so don't know if it sold. It doesn't appear to have turned up on any forums or Facebook groups so who knows.

It got listed for barely more than it must have cost after paying Collecting Cars buyers premium plus cost of transporting it over to Ireland so can't see how it was a sensible move. If I was flipping I'd have listed it for 15k.

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.

My van is the sensible car, the 996 is the "never leaves the garage, lives under a sheet" car, so the (potential) C63 would be the silly runabout.

I think I've realised that a very large part of the appeal is the noise, and a 6.2 litre NA V8 with a somewhat rude exhaust should do well in that department.

You really should just buy a motorbike.

Or don't. Cars will always be just a bit boring after.

About 30% of the wiring, an interior (just seats and a blank dash really) and an exhaust. Then a spanner check and geometry. That’s it. It really should be a week’s solid work max.

But I’ve moved to a house with one less garage space than I have cars so it’s in a rented garage under a sheet behind half a dozen bikes.

Well, if it’s atmo V8 noise you want you’re pretty limited on choice so the Merc sounds sensible.

Unless you go Rover 75 V8. Then you’d be my hero.

Bit selfish m8. Store my shit.

Suck my duck, you muddy funster. My first mid-life crisis was a bit modest (buy Porsche, drive Porsche, sell Porsche) so I'm leveraging my new-found singleton status as an excuse for a second and rather more extensive second go at it. And that requires storing stuff to make way for motorbikes.

Unexpected shit happened.

Not least to aforementioned mutual friend and his unexpectedly large number of small children. Expected number being zero rather than four.

Ah. Now the pan-European bicycle recovery drive makes sense. Hope you’re doing ok dude.

Getting a motorbike very nearly caused me to become single and made my mum cry.

Not a V8, but a M5 V10 estate with one of those carbon intakes might be tasty? I guess finding a good one to begin with is the issue.

Yeah, decent ones are now well into £!! territory, if I wanted one I should have bought the one I test drove before I got the C55.

I think the C63 should be an interesting car to watch in future - 6.2 litres, atmospheric rather than forced induction, LSD, RWD, fairly small and light for a modern car.

Compared to the relatively safe Merc V8s, the BMW S85 V10 is highly strung and not the most reliable. I would not recommend buying one unless it's still under original BMW warranty.

Now the pan-European bicycle recovery drive makes sense.

Yep, the cyclists' equivalent of dividing up the CD collection.

Getting a motorbike very nearly caused me to become single and made my mum cry.

I'm single already and my mum's dead. CBT ahoy.

Question - if a non french resident owned a car in France and wanted to insure it, how would they do that?

Context - the car is left in France and the owners will periodically use it when they visit.

I'm single already and my mum's dead. CBT ahoy

As in you’ve not yet done your CBT? If so don’t worry that you feel terrified and bored on a 125. It all makes sense once they put you on a 600.

Not yet, no. Still trying to decide whether to do the CBT and then potter around for a while, being both terrified and bored, on a 125 or whether to do the rolled-up licence process and go straight for something larger. Although probably not straight to the Matchless Model X or Vincent Rapide.

Do the whole thing.

There’s no joy in a 125, you get blown around above 40mph (esp in the fens), they’re not quick enough to feel safe on 60mph roads, you feel really vulnerable as you’re at the top of what they’ll do. It’s enough to put you off riding.

A big bike (100bhp is perfect) makes you feel much more comfortable as you can very easily keep up with traffic without pushing its limits and nip away when you sense a driver isn’t being careful. On dual carriageways you need to be able to add 10mph instantly and move forward into a space to overtake. 125s on dual carriageways are horrid.

ETA: Do it!

If it's not registered to you it's effectively impossible. A non French resident isn't allowed to own a car in France. You can't access the ANTS site to register it for one thing, and without proof of residence you can't pay someone else to either.
Back in the days when you could register a car just by popping along to the prefecture a few holiday home owners managed to, but those times are gone.

You're supposed to register it in UK if that's where you're officially resident.

If it is already registered to you, then I guess try Fab French Insurance who may be able to generate a French insurance record given enough English documents.
Some lying will probably be necessary.

For a counterpoint, I had a lot of friends who did direct access, bought a 700 or 1000cc sportsbike and almost immediately had huge crashes. Goodbye new bike, hello hospital.

I did my test on a 125, which was scary enough at first, then bought a 33bhp 400cc bike which scared me even more, and was a bit of a tractor, and after 2 years traded it for a 900cc Triumph (which still scared me shitless almost every time I rode it in the following 5 or 6 years. Way too much power for the available grip)

Progressing gradually made me acquire the necessary skills at a speed I could handle.
Bigger bikes are heavier and, ignoring the speed, worse to ride. Litre bikes are too big and heavy.

All bikes are horrible on dual carriageways, even mobile sofas like the Triumph Sprint 1050.

this is the way.

Seconding. Safest and most fun way.

Sure. Fair.

Restraint is required on any bike, you don’t have to ride a fast bike fast, I know Brommers to be a sensible sausage but certainly wouldn’t advocate jumping straight on one of them supercharged Kwaks or a Panigale.

I've a 2018 Swift mild hybrid. The extra battery is under the front seat. Helps it to 60mpg though. Just coming up to 30k miles. Nothing but consumables. A little harsh ride and noisy tyres, it's on cross climates. Would recommend, its wholly made in Japan with no bits from other makers.

I've received quite a lot of conflicting advice about whether to do CBT and potter around on a 125 for a while or do direct access and go straight for a larger bike. Geoff Northcott (remember him?) says go straight for a 600 (a cruiser not a sportsbike) while another friend who's an experienced biker says I should go for a 125 just to get used to the controls on a bike which will forgive the occasional fuckup when it comes to gears, clutch and brakes etc.

At the moment it's all hypothetical as until Cycliste removes both the Minor and the Ginetta I've got nowhere to put the Poxy Fury and so nowhere to keep a bike other than outside.

I know Brommers to be a sensible sausage

You sure you're not confusing me with someone else?

I reckon that as a highly experienced alpine descender, race car helmsman and man of a certain age and cleverness you’ll master the controls on your first go no bother.

There are people who really can’t, as you’ll probably see when you do your CBT, but I don’t think that’ll be you.

After that see how you feel, I just wasn’t comfy on a 125 and was instantly happier on the 600.