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

Visiting the States (and watching Animal Kingdom on the plan) has made me want a chop top truck.

Ah! Photos won't imbed. Link: http://www.2040-cars.com/Ford/Bronco/high-quality-1970-ford-bronco-classic-fully-restored-302-4wd-4-speed-show-and-go-904721/

Sometimes u just have to take a leap ;)
The feeling is not so much sportscar as performance yacht.

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wabi-sabi game

Had to google it but yeah, I agree!

Awesome!

Did the car hire thing yesterday and upgraded to Mercedes Benz c200d 2017.. with a choice of engine performances, manual or auto and too many knobs and buttons..

all very bewildering for day/night trip to Birmingham, via M40 / M42.

Not very pleasurable to be honest. Stock image. I'm obvs not a diesel head

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I drove down to Cornwall to the Eden Project, in the 911, it was much fun.

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Looks great Bjorn.

^^Averaged 25 mpg (or, as my car only speaks Km for these things, 11.4 litres/km).

Cheers Neil and Russm

@user67596 nope i dont have deep pockets at all. Im hoping this is the one that never brakes down. Its got 51000 kms on the odometer. Looks legit from as far as anyone can tell and the swedish registery over the years looks to say the same. Planning on doing less than 5000 km/year and hopefully it wont cost me a fortune to keep it running good while doing so. With a bit of luck i figure its worth the same or a bit more in a couple of years. Regardless i really have wanted one for a long time and this pops up for sale 10km away from me. It was destiny!!?? :)

The only confirmed issue with this one is the electric windows are acting up. Apparently a common problems on all biturbos even in to the ghiblis. Will attend to that once i had a mechanic look it over generally to determine what else if anything needs to be adressed. Car feels solid tho, knock on wood.

Guy on my street has a black one with some reasonable rapid motor but still looks like that on the outside. This nice. If I ever did I'd defo be an evo > sti guy

^Washed around 2 million insects off the front.

Nice motors @Dammit and @badboybjorn.

Not sure I'll ever own a car, had a couple of VWcamper vans.. I know camping thread >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

This Ghibli is great. Hope it works well for you! Even if it does give you the occasional head ache I'm sure you'll love it.

I'm loving the Ghibli. Well done for eating the brave pills!
The interior is proper.

I'd budget 1 or 2 grand a year for servicing and maintenance and then it shouldn't give you any nasty surprises.

Just as a data point, the chap I bought my Porsche from was selling it to fund the maintenance on his Maserati - a 3200 GT.

Is there an online chart of boot space sizing that incorporates older cars?
I got 5 people and 5 bikes in a volvo 240 this weekend, what can compete with that but be a little more economical?
i don't want a newish car, they all look the same.

volvo 240

what can compete with that

Very good question. Fwiw the latest/last v70 iteration is very spacious. Better than the previous model up until 2007 was. But not like the 240 I don't think.

Edit: a volvo 745 can, according to a thread on a swedish forum, swallow a 200x120 cm IKEA bed (with the rear seats down obvs). An option perhaps, no idea if they're common in the UK.

I don't think the mpg will be any better, I think it's probably the same engine and less (if thats possible!) aerodynamic.

Good mpg and aerodynamics are non negligible, you say? I guess you need to go semi-modern-ish in that case. I've seen a few nissan estates that look fairly huge. LMGTFY.

I doubt you'll find much that beats a 240.

I'm equating mpg and aerodynamics I guess...
I think another volvo will be just as thirsty.

and me, but I'd hoped a friendly nerd would have made a chart to prove it - isn't that what the internet was designed for!

Now that's an interior!

Great purchase, and good luck!

Should have taken the scenic route, looks like a lot of motorway!

I was down in North Devon - Barnstaple - and driving back at night on Sunday in the wagon has sealed the deal for me, I want the same car but with a manual V8, so I'm on the hunt. Those big hills with the car loaded up, it'd settle into 4th gear, 3k RPM and just chug chug up the hill. It was hovering below 70mph but had no more oomph to make it past. Annoyingly the gears are too far apart, it can't drop to 3rd because the revs will be too high, but it's not yet into the power band in 4th.

On the flipside, now I've got a fun car again, I'm much less inclined to drive like a twat in the wagon. This has resulted in 45mpg at 75mph on the motorway, which is pretty sweet.