Saturday, October 14, 2006

My obsession...With Cars!

A chronological list of every car I've owned since passing my driving test way back in October 1998(along with a random smattering of pictures of my favourites along the way)...



  1. K447 AKG - 1993 Nissan Micra 1.2 Chic(Red)
    My first car, shared with my Mum and a hand-me-down from my sister. Also owned this again later when my parents gave it to me, and sold for £450.
  2. A732 OCJ - 1983 VW Golf 1.3 Driver(White)
    This was an ex girlfriend's car, but we sold it in order to buy a newer car. Sold for £700
  3. N499 WGM - 1996 Rover 214 Si(Grey)
    Not a good choice... Bought this as a shared car with an ex for £4000, but after 6 months part-ex'd it for £2500 against the new Civic.
  4. VO02 TGZ - 2002 Honda Civic Edition R(Red)
    My first "new" car, which was actually a pre-registered car with 600 miles on it. One of my favourites, (pictured) I almost crashed it - which prompted the sale for £5750, 3 years later.
  5. H811 EUD - 1991 Seat Ibiza 1.5 SXi(Red)
    My cheapest car acquisition - £35! I went to Chippenham for this, quite rare as it was the 100bhp model, but this one had obviously seen better days. I sold for scrap (£50!) to a farm as it had a head gasket failure.
  6. A787 MVX - 1983 VW Golf 1.3 Driver(Blue)
    A tribute to my first experience of mk1 Golfs, this had been a mothballed example owned by an enthusiast, I bought for £900 and kept it for 2 years, although I must have only driven about 200 miles. Engine inevitably seized up and I sold it in 2008 for £700. Not a bad return for a car with no MOT and no working engine!
  7. H812 BWV - 1991 Mitsubishi Spacewagon 1.8 GLXi(Beige)
    A dream of using this people carrier to ferry me and the lads on a road trip adventure... bought for £250, from a guy thru work in Zurich Fareham, drove it the 90 miles back home, where it sat in our car park outside the flat until the council "stole" it (crushed it), as it was untaxed!
  8. S924 DFC - 1998 Daihatsu Cuore Avanzato TR-XX R4(Silver)
    One of the most amazing cars I've ever seen, let alone been fortunate enough to own! (pictured) A tiny little 650cc twin cam turbo-charged engine, coupled to a LSD system to send power to the rear wheels. It even had a turbo timer fitted to allow it to cool off properly. Had to sell due to an oil leak from the gearbox (Sourcing spare parts was a nightmare!)
  9. G472 UHV - 1990 BMW 520i AUTO(Red)
    A big old proper lazy automatic BMW... I loved the look of this (pictured), and picked it up for just £300. Kept it for almost a year, never skipped a beat, not a penny spent on it, and sold with almost no MOT left for £550.
  10. R668 EEC - 1998 BMW 318is Coupe (Red)
    My second BMW, an attractive 1.9 engined Coupe (pictured). A great engine, very quick car, but problems engaging 2nd gear.
  11. J994 PUD - 1992 Peugeot 205 Turbo Diesel(Red)
    Looked like a 205 GTI with the same style wheels... not the best purchase I've made - the engine wasn't bad, but leaked oil and sold without MOT at a loss.
  12. M745 HPD - 1994 Audi 80 1.9TDi Avant(Black)
    A true legend of a car - Fondly nicknamed the "Superfortress", we used it as our Euro Road Trip car for the World Cup in 2006 to Germany. Covered the 1500 mile journey perfectly, although suffered power delivery "hiccups" at speed? Sold on to the folks, and they kept it for a year too. Sold for £700 after that too.
  13. E900 NNH - 1988 Honda CRX 1.6 Si(Silver)
    A classic Honda, this had done 160k miles when I bought it but engine was sweet. It was in great condition, (pictured) and I'd intended on keeping it long term... spent £400 on a stainless exhaust for it, then it failed its MOT needing over £1000 spent! So I sold it for a loss!
  14. M111 AAA - 1995 VW Golf Estate 1.9TDi(White)
    Couldn't remember the actual reg number here, but I bought this as a cheap diesel runabout. Nice drive, but the estate size wasn't necessary... sold it to a mate in work who I took his Skoda in part-ex for.
  15. S980 RNP - 1998 Skoda Felicia 1.6 GLXi(Silver)
    As per the Golf estate, took this in part ex - a real shed, but handy for lugging a load of rubbish to the tip and handled a house move quite nicely. Sold for scrap on ebay to some Polish guy.
  16. R862 BDW - 1997 VW Golf GTi (White)
    My first Golf GTi, with the asthmatic 8-valve engine. Not in bad condition, and looked good in white, (pictured). Had a pretty serious problem when I bought it - flywheel sensor replaced for £300. Sold 6 months later for about the same cost.
  17. L568 GHW - 1994 BMW 320 SE AUTO (Silver)
    My third BMW, another automatic with a good spec - climate control, on-board comp. Nice cruiser, I kept this for a year, and sold to a guy in work.
  18. M531 SKE - 1995 VW Golf CL TD (Blue)
    A good condition Golf TD... Engine was spotless and body was very tidy, had such low mileage for the year, so I kept this for a while before selling to a family member.
  19. M398 HPM - 1994 Toyota Celica GT (Blue)
    A proper jap sports car, 170bhp, probably the quickest car I'd owned. Very nice car and low mileage at about 75k. Clutch starting to slip, so I sold it.
  20. R40 DRY - 1998 Audi A3 TDi Sport (Silver)
    This was a smart looking A3, with high mileage(165k), but had a good service history. Had a bit of a power loss occasionally (air mass filter?) hence my reason for selling. Sold it with my personalised plate.
  21. F123 UHV - 1989 BMW 735i Auto (Grey)
    BMW #4! A gangster style shark-nosed BMW with big alloys! Looked nice, and well-specced with cruise control and leather seats, but had evidence of overheating, so I sold it.
  22. WA53 WMM - 2004 Ford Ka (Black)
    A bargain little Ka with just 21000 miles on it. I covered 1000 miles in 2 months, and only really sold it as it wasn't macho enough! Made £500 profit on this one.
  23. N116 RAD - 1996 Nissan Micra (Grey)
    First return to the Micra since my first car. Great DOHC 16v engine in these.
  24. J418 LLU - 1992 Honda Civic LSi (Red)
    Simply the worst car I've bought... local guy in Chelt sold me this Civic, which on paper looked good, but had a problem with a major misfire and the gearbox not engaging properly. Barely made it home and then failed to start since.  Sold for scrap.
  25. M708 UTW - 1995 VW Golf Ecomatic Diesel (Red)
    Satisfied my curiosity with this rare model - one of the first cars to utilise stop-start engine technology, and also had a clutch-less manual gear stick. It was quite an experience to drive and quite weird when the engine shut off cruising down hill! I had to sell as it needed a big spend for MOT. Some american enthusiasts bought it for parts.
  26. K23 LMK - 1993 Audi Coupe 2.3 E (Grey)
    Another poor purchase off ebay! Took a blind gamble on it, and had to get a train to Cambridge to meet the guy. It wasn't terrible, but worrying tapping sound from engine at low speeds. Sold for a loss.
  27. N514 ACF - 1996 Nissan Almera SRi (Red)
    Nickname Alan - One of the best/easiest cars I've ever owned - Bought blind on ebay, for just £400, but cleaned up very nicely. Typical jap reliability, was an absolute breeze to live with. Hardly had to spend any money on it (aside some alloy wheels) and even serviced it myself. Sold it after almost 2 years due to boredom for £700.
  28. Y991 MTM - 2001 Vauxhall Vectra 2.2 SRi (Nocturno Blue)
    Nice looking car, but hiding a few issues when I bought it. Another blind ebay purchase. Puncture on way home and a rounded locking wheel nut meant a costly trip to Strensham Auto Services to remove the wheel. Sold on ebay 6 months later after passing an MOT.
  29. P198 ETV - 1997 VW Golf GTi (Black)
    My second mk3 Golf GTi from Ebay. I bought it for £500. Changed the oil and used for 6 months. Remarkably good on fuel for a 2ltr GTI, I could regularly managed 45-50 mpg on a long run with a light-foot.  Sold with a short MOT for £300.
  30. WX52 KYA - 2002 Audi A4 SE TDI Avant (Silver)
    This was the folks' car, which I acquired after they bought a new car.  Superb balance of power and economy, with the 130bhp engine.  This was a comfortable cruiser, but more car than we needed, so I sold via eBay for £2150.
  31. R823 ULD - 1998 VW Golf SE 1.6 (Green)
    Bought for £300 from a guy in work to tide me over until I found something I wanted.  It had done almost 160k miles, which is impressive for a petrol engine of this time.  I had to replace the battery after it was stood for a few weeks, but ran fairly well.

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