Inspired by Legacylad's thread re marques, I got to thinking about the cars I always thought I might have owned but so far at least never have. In most cases of course I never will now but thought it might be fun to compare notes with others on this.
I'm inclined to discount the obvious Euromillions/Lottery/Pools options and fantasies ( Aston Martins, Ferraris etc ) and stick to the realm of those I might once have chosen to have afforded if the wind had been blowing the right way on the right day.
First on my list would be a Fiat 124 Sport, a friend's father had one when we were at school and I thought it was wonderful.
Next comes a Volvo 145 / 245 estate. Always wanted one of those as a young guy for my skiing kit.
I never did have a Capri, and still think I should have. 2.8 or 3.0 of course.
A pagoda roofed Merc SL would have pleased me once.
Although I did long ago have both an MG Midget and a Spitfire, I never got around to an MGB or MGBGT or Triumph GT6 which seems remiss.
More recently, I've held a candle for an Alfa 159
And finally, I think I'd rather enjoy the E63 petrol version of my current E250 Mercedes diesel estate, although I imagine the 350d would be pretty good too.
And you? What haven't you had but still think you should have found a way to have on your drive at some point in your life?
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Thu 30 May 13 at 22:12
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Test drove an Alfa GTV 2.0. Thought it a wonderful piece of kit but wanted the 3.0, which I could not afford at the time so went for the FIAT Coupe which shared so much with the 3.0 Alfa at 2.0 prices.
Capri's looked wooden to me at the time and always remember racing away from a 2.0 on the M8 in a 1.3 FIAT 128 Coupe. That car took on a 728 in the borders and took the p.
Car I always wanted was an Alfa GTV 2.5 from the late 70's. The one from James Bond Octopussy.
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Never had a YagWaar, so there will be an XF sport brake on my drive before I cark it.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 30 May 13 at 22:21
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Nor have I Zeddo. Similar thoughts to you.
Actually never, ever owned a diesel car out of the 40 odd cars I must have had over the years. Probably never will now because I always buy at least three years old and DPF problems outside of warranty worry me, and, rightly or wrongly, I think diesels cost more to repair if something in the engine bay goes wrong. I stand to be corrected if that is utter tosh!
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I've had a Volvo D5 for the last 6+ years. Only item which is causing me pain is the drivers side rear caliper which is out tomorrow. The intercooler was replaced at 5,5 years otherwise fit as a butchers dog and still returning +40mpg with a dragging caliper.
I would happily go back to a modern DI petrol but my wife has run brand new tds with DPFs for the last 5 years over VERY short distances with 0 filter related problems.
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>> Never had a YagWaar, so there will be an XF sport brake on my drive before I cark it.
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A few years to wait for your derv motor ?
AT list 1x £28K and then £31K- £49K.
I enjoy my X type but it is much noisier than my 98 Mondeo. Tyres are part of the problem but it does not quietly waft.
Mondeo seat are much more comfortable.
I know the XF has a user friendly boot lid. I assume the sport brake is similar.
The X has an awful boot lid arrangement :-(
I would fancy an XF saloon or even an XFR
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>>I enjoy my X type but...
Strikes me there's a common thread to many of our car experiences in that we often seem ( quite reasonably of course ) much more pleased with the ones which under-promised and over-delivered than the ones which over-promised and under-delivered.
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The problem with cars is once you've experienced a 'real' bikes performance then four wheels is rubbish. I know my limits, I have a 750 with 150PS in a <190kgs chassis. Anything with four wheels is like comparing a 2CV with a mega-bucks lottery win.
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I have never owned anything with more than 4 cylinders, or with a longitudinal engine. I can live with the latter, but would like to own something with more than 4 cylinders (5, 6, 7, I don't mind) before I shuffle off. Not looking very likely at present though.
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I know where you're coming from, Alastair. There's something special about six cylinders, especially a straight-six.
I've been lucky enough to have one of these - a BMW Z3 which I flogged recently (on the grounds that after five trouble-free years a 12-year-old BMW was bound to get expensive any time now). I'd love a 330i or 335i convertible....no good as a sole retirement car as SWMBO has a Mini Roadster and we need one car that's a hatch or estate. Some day perhaps....
Last edited by: Avant on Thu 30 May 13 at 23:27
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I've never owned an Alfa. I think a classic GTV or a Brera might just suit me when I don't need an MPV.
I've never owned a Ford; I'm sure I could learn to love a current Mustang.
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During my time with a Triumph Vitesse I hankered after a Datsun 240Z, but could never afford it.
I fancied a new Vauxhall Chevette when they were first released, but I couldn't get a sensible price. I didn't like the look of the angle of those rear shockers either.
I then went for a new VW Beetle GT. The older, shorter wheel base job with the new 1600cc (1301 or 1302) engine. Found I couldn't get 3rd gear with my foot on the clutch because my knee was jammed between the steering wheel and gear knob.
Always fancied a Reliant Scimitar (the early 2.5 saloons particularly), but family got in the way.....................
Fiat Panda ('70s) and Kia Pride probably gave me the most fun!
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Tsk. Honestly Humph.
The answer, obviously, is all the cars not mentioned in the list in yr other thread. An embarras de richesses... or should that be de pauvreté? Yes, it should.
Literally thousands of tasty motors just longing to be owned by me, and nearly all of them doomed to disappointment.
I can't resist the damn things, ugly ducklings included. It's a sort of illness.
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Never had a convertible, nor a 5/6 cylinder. Drove a V6 Ford Granada for a couple of weeks, and also hired a V6 Chevrolet whilst in New England. Neither very inspiring due to lack of feel: barges. Have a strange desire to get a Mazda MX5 soft-top. A Morgan might fit the bill: there is a v8 but I don't know about a straight 6. However, it's too late, been too late for years.....
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When a student I refused - for financial reasons - to buy the following:
RR 25 £100
Bentley 1935 - £75
MG PA £125.
(Just as well - all were heaps.)
Cars I wanted to own but could not afford when more mature :
Porsche 911 2.7RS was c£9k when I wanted one. Now £30k++
Porsche 911 Turbo 3.0 was £12k....now lots more
Porsche 944 Turbo.. was £5k - still cheapish but rising.
(now sadly all are impractical - getting in and out - my back:-)
Still would like:
Bentley 41/4 litre Park Ward mid 1930s - the looks and style epitomise an era
1999-2005 Mercedes S class AMGV12 + - brute power and brutish looks. tinyurl.com/n8qren7
Audi A2 1.4 petrol. Small aluminium car
Audi A8 S - large aluminium car.
Last edited by: madf on Fri 31 May 13 at 07:02
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Out of all the cars I've owned, I've never had an Italian car.
French, German, British, Swedish, Japanese, yes, but no Ities.
I very nearly bought a Rosso Red Alfa Romeo Giulietta GT Junior in the early 70's, but bought a Capri 1600 instead :(
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Porsche 968 CS would be a nice wee classic now:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porsche_968#968_Clubsport
Would rather have one of them than one of the myriad 911 models.
Classic front engine, rear drive, with a big 3 litre 4-pot providing the tunes.
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I was lucky enough to have some great company cars (Peugeot 3.0 v6, Saab 9-5 Aero, BMW 330d etc). My main regret is that when we got taken over I went with the sensible option of a mondeo. There was nothing wrong with it, but it didn't stir the soul.
I was fortunate enough to own a few motorbikes which partially plugged the hole.
Since opting out, I drive a Toyota Landcruiser and a Mazda MX-5.
Cars I was tempted by and should have bought along the way include...
Vauxhall VX220
Jensen Intercepter
Triumph Stag
BMW 540
Morgan 3-wheeler (the new one)
Landrover 101
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I forgot a couple of cars I've looked at a few times and would love to own:
Citroen Traction Avant
Austin 7
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There have been a few over the years that I have come close to but not done anything about it. However, there are two which I regret not buying at the time, both of which were taken in trade by a Nissan dealership and which were available at sensible prices.
The first was a MkII Jag. They wanted 1600 quid for it. A little shabby, but no serious rot and all the mechanical bits worked. I was put off by the dreadful aftermarket glass sunroof and the cost of fitting a proper webasto roof to replace it.
Every time I've seen the price tag on a MkII Jag since I have kicked myself.
The second was a very tidy Lotus Eclat. Green and up for about 3,500 quid. I had a look underneath and I swear you could have eaten your dinner off the suspension!
I was put off by the facts that it was both "Loads Of Trouble, Usually Serious" and also an Eclat at that. But heck, I could have had a Lotus!!
In both cases, if I'd really pulled all the stops out I could just have scraped together the cash.
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1904 Star!
One appeared for sale about a week after I'd bought the Morgan 4/4. If I'd not bought the Morgan I'd have been very tempted. Both were about the same price then, but the Star would now sell for a lot more than the Morgan.
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Twenty odd years ago (when I couldn't afford it) I used to want a Merc. Now, when I could have one, I'm not so sure. I think it's a combination of 'you always want what you can't have' and recent Mercs not seeming to be what they once were!
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Well, they do say you should never meet your heroes. I had the chance to drive a Porsche Panamera recently. A while back I also got the opportunity to drive a current Bentley Continental GT. A few years ago I drove a Rolls Royce and around the same time a TWR XJS. They were all nice, very nice in fact, but would I pay with my own money for any of them? No, I wouldn't, even if it was the equivalent of loose change to me ( which it most definitely isn't )
Ultimately they are all just cars and the exponential difference in their price and desirability versus "normal" cars just isn't evident, in my opinion anyway, in the reality of the experience of driving them on public roads. Race tracks may of course provide a different take on some of them.
As I touched on elsewhere, I'm far more taken with cars which surprise and delight with their capabilities when you're not really expecting them to be anything special.
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I quite fancy the Panamera partly because it's ugly, but it must actually go extremely well when pushed. However it is very dear and too wide really. Cars should be fairly compact for all-round utility (notably in big cities). A nice shabby Audi RS something debadged would suit for ordinary use. V8 and auto perhaps. If one had the bread of course.
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Now y'see I'm totally with you there AC. An Audi A4/6 RS Avant or a Merc C/E63 Estate debadged to look unremarkable and left a bit grubby. Muddy bike racks casually left on the roof too...
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And on the roof is where they'd have to be, Humph, because for some strange reason - not that I've looked into this or anything, you understand - the AMG estates are not type-approved for a towbar as their - presumably - structurally identical C and E sisters are.
Phew, that was quite a sentence! I've also, quite incidentally and unintentionally, discovered that the E63 wears the same sizes of tyre as Humph's four-cylinder Sport model, so is one over-tyred or the other under?
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Oh ok, so given that mine has all the AMG body kit guff too I could take the "250" and "CDI" badges off and kid on it was the real deal? It would be a bit of a faff to have to lean out of the window making "vroom vroom" noises at the lights all the time though I suppose. Maybe I'll bin that idea !
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You used to be able to get a bit of kit that plugged into fag lighter, picked up the engine speed from the alternator output and broadcast a selectable 4, 6, 8 or 12 cylinder engine sound through the stereo speakers.
All you need is a damn great speaker mounted externally...................
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Probably better still if constructed in the shape of a phallus? Perhaps I'll just leave things as they are.
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As for what I've never had but thought hard about, well...
- Saab 9-5 estate, as much discussed here. Didn't like the old diesel engine or the new nose, so it would have been a 55 2.3 (little)t, and probably too heavy on fuel for the mileage I was doing at the time.
- Renault 19 16v This goes back to 1991 or so, when I was single, reasonably affluent and keen to try something sexier than my Escort 1.3. The 16v in dark blue with black leather interior was certainly that. Unaccountably, I passed, waited two more years and bought an Astra.
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Alfa GTV6 - I used to go to Alfa track days in my Alfasud (only a spectator) and loved those things. The engines sound good at idle, let alone revved. Lovely interiors, lovely shape. A mid 80's one please.
Volvo 850 T5 - I've been close to owning one, but never close enough before something else turns up and diverts me. I wonder if it would be a disappointment though.
Porsche 911 - Always out of my reach, but an early one, no spoilers, just that classic shape in metallic purple and yowling air cooled flat six. Been driven in one, and adored it. It felt so alive, raw, and with a hint of danger.
Audi ur Quattro - Like my old 90 Quattro, but faster, meaner, and better looking in a Darth Vader sort of way. Glorious things.
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In my yoof I always wanted a Vauxhall Magnum 2300, not really sure why though now ! Jag XJ and an early Austin 7 are on my wish list, but am unlikely to own either.
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I was taught to drive a Chevette Ecosse 2300 around the skid pan circuit at Snetterton in about 1978. The car had normal front tyres and over-inflated slicks on the back, RWD of course and the surface was kept wet.
It was a brainwave of someone at my employers that before issuing eager young bucks with company cars they had to pass this course. It was actually really good training. You sat with an instructor and they talked you through it all until you could reliably lap the circuit in under a given time without chucking the car off the track.
At the time, my personal car was an MG Midget which weren't best known for their rear lateral grip and I lived in Scotland and so was no stranger to slippery roads but the course taught me that you can actually continue to make really quite rapid progress provided you're smooth with the controls and prepared to "feel" what the car is doing through the steering wheel and indeed the seat of your pants. I think the most surprising thing to the attendees was that at the start of the session, we were all losing the cars at 30mph on the bends due to inept input whereas by the end we could take the same corners at 60mph albeit with armfuls of opposite lock.
No traction control or abs in those days of course. Just a light-ish weight, powerful-ish rwd car with shiny tyres on the back and a slippery surface.
I still say that taught me a lot which I still value and use to this day.
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Jaguar XK 120
Daimler Dart
1930s Rolls Royce sports tourer
Jensen CV8
But seriously, cars I might just buy some day:
Volvo Amazon
Triumph TR4/5/6.
It would be nice to have a straight-eight - I've had two V-eights.
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>> It would be nice to have a straight-eight - I've had two V-eights.
I've actually bought many of my cars to try out different engine configurations.
So I have had flat 4, straight 4, straight 5, straight 6, V6, V8.
Never had a V4 and I don't fancy a Ford Corsair :)
Or a flat six.
Or a V twin. I think this is my favourite configuration on a motorbike for sound. Something like a Ducati on the overrun, that bass thrum. Unfortunately I don't have a bike license.
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Never had a V4 and I don't fancy a Ford Corsair.
Would a Saab 96 do instead?
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>> Never had a V4 and I don't fancy a Ford Corsair.
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>> Would a Saab 96 do instead?
Or a Lancia Fulvia. But I've never really got excited over a V4.
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The Ford V4 was a bit of a dog to be honest, but the Lancia was another matter altogether. The Lancia had a very narrow angle and was zippy, smooth and high-revving. The Ford had an audible beat, didn't like very high revs and was short-lived as a rule.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Fri 31 May 13 at 20:55
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>>The Ford V4 was a bit of a dog to be honest
Unless it was the Ford Taunus V4.
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>> Unless it was the Ford Taunus V4.
Was that different from the Essex engine? Perhaps it had some improvements, balancer shafts different or something... I drove two Essex ones at least, in a Saab 96 and a Transit. They both felt a bit rough. And it didn't last well, weak bottom end.
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>>Was that different from the Essex engine?
Much better built, stronger, I could live with a Taunus V4, but not the Essex lump.
The Saab 96 used the Taunus lump too.
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Saab got me thinking again: one my 25-year-old self could not afford but which I would still have loved to have - or would love to have had.
cars.uk.msn.com/features/last-of-the-line-the-best-final-edition-cars-in-pictures?page=13#image=13
It's a ruby-red 3-door 900 Turbo. Wouldn't have to be the last-150 Ruby edition but that would do very nicely. Odd how the 900 kept the same basic shape for 15 years but went from gawky ugly duckling to sveltely shark-like predator by gradually honing the details - whereas the 'facelifting' process usually has the opposite effect of diluting the purity of the original shape.
Actually, I'd still like to have one today. The 900 was the car that made me an automotive Swedophile - well, the car and the nice ladies in red skirts who first showed me one at the 1992 Birmingham show - so it would be only right and proper, wouldn't it?
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>>Twenty odd years ago (when I couldn't afford it) I used to want a Merc.
For me it was about 30 years ago and a BMW.
For some reason or other I had to run an errand at work and I was loaned a BMW to do it in (in retrospect it was a 316 or 318 with a rubbish interior).
I was more impressed than I can express. And at about 26 I doubted that I would ever have such a car myself. I actually remember those thoughts, and the junction I was at when I was thinking them.
As it happens, I've since had much better cars, but nothing has meant more to me than the first time I owned a BMW (a 318is) and first drove up the road looking at the logo in the middle of the steering wheel. I owned the brand I aspired to, and I cannot even begin to tell you how chuffed I was.
And it was all about the badge and my aspirations, so don't bother telling me it was a rubbish car - it doesn't matter and I don't care.
It took me 10 years though.
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>> first drove up
>> the road looking at the logo in the middle of the steering wheel.
I bought a BMW for the straight six engine, and despite it not being the best of the breed, I was not disappointed. Smooth, and revs that just keep going and going.
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You can't beat that six - had a twenty mile commute to one of the smaller offices the other day - classically designed roads, the Beemer felt as agile as my old Golf GTi - absolute consummate performer on these Welsh A classes....there is little that comes close to perfection.....
Edit...
Makes any diesel sound and feel like a bag of spanners....
Last edited by: R.P. on Fri 31 May 13 at 21:38
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When I first learnt to drive, there were quite a few Peugeots in our family. I used to lust after the 205 GTI and when I was made redundant at one point and had £10k to spend, I very nearly did buy one but opted for a Fabia vrs instead.
I have never had the urge to want a Ferrari or Porsche, was always more wanting things like Capri Brooklands, a Vauxhall Royale (one of the neighbours had one) or a Lotus Carlton before their prices rocketed!
Have never owned a BMW but about 15 years ago was offered a 750 for pennies. Childminders husband was a car dealer and had taken one in p/x but said it was the only car that you could see the petrol gauge moving in!
Don't know why, but I still hanker after an original Toyota MR2 with the T-bar roof.
Maybe one day....
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I fancied a 750iL not too sure why. It was going cheap on PH, £3k maybe, always regretted having a stab at owning it.
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I know its not the original model but sub £2k could buy some fun
tinyurl.com/kdhtdw4
For some reason the MX5 just never did it for me.
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Bobby, middle aged men who wear Clarks shoes just can't drive those. Trust me. People would point and snigger behind their hands. You might not care, but think of your kids. They'd deny all knowledge of you.
:-)
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look good to me, thought about buying one of those as well. Test drove an mx5, listening to all the hype I was expecting big things. After the test drive, the overall feeling was, meh......
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But with all that wind blasting through the car with roof down, it would blast the smell away from the shoes. No??
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I was very seriously considering this but circumstances put me out of circulation for a while.
Anyway, I'd need to clear a lot of stuff or it'd have to live outside under a cover...not ideal for such a nice car.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jowett-1934-7hp-sixlite-Kestrel-/300881525663?clk_rvr_id=462784099114&nma=true&si=2FVy0%252BespCVKl7ykG%252BQna7j1sOo%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
Maybe another in that condition will come up.....I can wait !
Ted
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Cars you've never owned - ....
