I love these threads... brings back so many memories - not all of them happy!
I started off in 2005 with a little MG ZR Rallye II edition. Wasn't fast but it handled like it was on rails
Then upgraded that late 2007 for the car I wanted when I bought the ZR but couldn't afford - a V6 MG ZS 180. Being an ex-longbridge staff car it had almost every option on it. I spent an absolute fortune on this car with Janspeed manifolds, de-cat, custom made duplex system and the carbon fibre air intake off one of the old MG / JUDD MGX concept cars. When it only made 7bhp more than standard on the dyno I fell out with it a bit...
... and bought the Dark Lord, Prodrive RB320 number 316 - known as "Darth", because if he needed a company car it would be one of these!
Built by Prodrive for Subaru in 2007 in memory of Richard Burns and limited to only 320 examples world wide. I'll probably never sell this one.
From here the time line splits slightly. Just before I sold the MG ZS I bought another car to use as a bit of a weekend toy - here starts the story of the "daily driver"
First one was a 1994 Defender 90. Again silly amounts of money was spent - but due to being young and dumb I abused it a bit. Eventually it went wrong more often than it was worth so was sold off.
That was swapped for something a bit more practical in the form of a 1.9 Astra Estate. We really wanted a VXR but needed an estate for my partners Day Care job - so I built one
I liked it so much, I built myself a van to match
But unfortunately the van had to be sacrificed to pay the first house deposit. I do miss it
Here the time line splits again, but this time a bit more extreme - track cars!
First one was my first love, the MG ZR - but this time with a 300bhp 2.0 turbo
That was swapped for something a little mad - MG BTCC Chassis EX259. it has it's own Facebook page (
www.facebook.com/ex259) for those who want to see the full crazy journey
Then came another Defender project - this time a 1994 88" hybrid. I bought it as an unfinished project - but in reality it actually needed stripped back and started again! I was happy with the results though
That was swapped for something a little newer and rarer - my 2001 Tomb Raider 110. One of only 200 ever made
She's an expensive monster in need of some restoration... but I love her!
Next up was a change of daily driver. The Astra estate started to really show it's age, so the second brand new car came along - a 2011 Volvo C30 Polestar Edition
And that's the only decent picture I have of it. It was in the dealers more than it was on the drive. Went through 2 starter motors and a timing belt before it was a year old, doors constantly froze shut because the door seals were terrible and it sounded like a tractor when cold after it made a very strange noise on starting one morning. Volvo were a nightmare to deal with and eventually it just had to go
Replaced by a 2010 Freelander 2
And that's the car traded in for the Avant... so up to date!