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

And in another part of NW6, back from a nice little cruise round London.

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Excuse my lack of Aston knowledge, is that a DB9 or V8 Vantage? Looks lovely! And it has turned into a perfect afternoon for it.

Do you rent a garage around these parts per chance?

It's a DB9. I own a tiny mews house with a nice big garage underneath. The garage was the thing that made me want the house :-D

Nw6 gang

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Got some work this week which is real good and all but I'm gonna need to commute on motorways so I kinda need to pick up something in the next couple of days don't wanna spend more than about 800 quid. Need to lug a fair bit of kit around with me so 4 doors are preferable.

https://www.pistonheads.com/regulars/ph-features-sheds/shed-of-the-week-alfa-156-sportwagon/36206

Part of the condition of sale was that it was serviced and inspected at an Aston approved service centre, as it was about due. So you'll be waiting a year :-)

I have also paid for the unlimited bumper-to-bumper extended warranty to avoid Dammit-style bills as it's only done 14000 miles in 8 years, so I reckon there's scope for a) teething troubles that need miles to expose, and b) things that go wrong if you don't drive a car enough.

Hopefully you can triple that mileage trouble free. Still boggles the mind how so many cars do so few miles.

What car question...
I'm looking for a fun to drive and cheap to run thing. Don't need epic speed. Rwd would be nice but not essential. Problem is all the cars I like have gone up in value. 205 gti, now $15k+ e30 318 will even cost 7-8k (aus). Even a NA mx5 is over 5k. So I'm looking at things I know, pug 306, 405 mi16 etc. What else could I look at?
Must be manual, fun and good handling and cheap. Anything else is bonus.

A Classic Mini?
An Alfa 156?
Fiat 500, new or classic?

Fiat marrea? Same as 156 but without the £££ to buy. Had the 2.4 5 cylinder diesel for a while and they were miles ahead of everyone else in diesel land. Questionable styling and it's no m3, but does alright.

That's that question answered then.

Anyone want/need a 2,500 mile from new set of 17", N rated Michelin Pilot Sports?

Mondeo estate?2l diesel?

Erm. Actually maybe.

What sizes?

I could do with a pair of 205/50 17s, but I fear the 996 wears wider than that?

Fronts are indeed 205/50, rears are 255/40.

Alfa 156, not bad. Cheap as chips

PMd

Southern hemisphere, fiat of that era non existant. You can find cromas here though... And lancia betas for not much.
Definitely after something lighter than a modern 4 door.

Scooby envy

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Porsche 924's tick all of your boxes.

Fukinn around in Rhino...

Commisions taken. :oP

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What was the last Merc-Benz family car that was bulletproof? People say the quality fell off a cliff after a certain year, when was it?

W124, 1994 being the last good year iirc. After that they're shit for a good while, but then better again.

Mainly due to waterbased paint that makes the cars dissolve the wet. I've spoken to a mechanic who replaced every single panel bar the roof on an 1997ish s-class 2 years after purchase.

Cheers boss!