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Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2025 10:33 am
by KungFooBob
Nobby wrote: Mon Feb 17, 2025 10:30 am
KungFooBob wrote: Sun Feb 16, 2025 8:44 pm
Nobby wrote: Sun Feb 16, 2025 8:41 pm
Most fun car.... Citroen Dyane. Used, abused. Engine transplant of the Citroen GS1220 which went straight onto the gearbox once the flywheel was modified. Left a trail of carnage across northern France the summer of 87, four up with camping kit to Le Mans.
Blimey. That’s it. Have I posted the story of the journey ?
Yeah, because you're incapable of working a computer you sent them to me a few years ago to add to a thread.
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2025 10:36 am
by Nobby
KungFooBob wrote: Mon Feb 17, 2025 10:33 am
Nobby wrote: Mon Feb 17, 2025 10:30 am
Blimey. That’s it. Have I posted the story of the journey ?
Yeah, because you're incapable of working a computer you sent them to me a few years ago to add to a thread.
I still can’t use a computa. I have a tablet and phone. I can now post pictures on my phone if there’s not too many bits.
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2025 3:07 pm
by v8-powered
Hard to define best....
Best workhorse and likely most comfortable was a Peugeot 406 Tdi in GLX spec. Not the quickest but ran on fumes and was so comfortable on a run - I sold it at around 175000 miles to a cab driver
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 10:53 am
by roadster
I like trying different cars so I've had more than a few! As a mental exercise I decided to apply the strict criterion of only mentioning a couple that were most enjoyable when actually behind the wheel. This produced a quirky answer namely
MG Metro Turbo
MG Maestro 2 litre.
Basically dull cars that had engines dropped in that were more powerful than they could easily cope with. No fancy suspension or tyres, so they could start to misbehave even when driven at almost legal speeds. I've owned much faster sports cars such as the Toyota MX5 but the fact is that to find the limit in those means driving at a speed that constantly challenges other traffic, so it is only enjoyable on deserted roads or on the track.
Good old British Leyland, every journey an adventure!
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 11:24 am
by KungFooBob
I had a Toyota MX-5, but sold it to buy a Mazda GT-86.
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 11:28 am
by Rockburner
roadster wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2025 10:53 am
I like trying different cars so I've had more than a few! As a mental exercise I decided to apply the strict criterion of only mentioning a couple that were most enjoyable when actually behind the wheel. This produced a quirky answer namely
MG Metro Turbo
MG Maestro 2 litre.
Basically dull cars that had engines dropped in that were more powerful than they could easily cope with. No fancy suspension or tyres, so they could start to misbehave even when driven at almost legal speeds. I've owned much faster sports cars such as the Toyota MX5 but the fact is that to find the limit in those means driving at a speed that constantly challenges other traffic, so it is only enjoyable on deserted roads or on the track.
Good old British Leyland, every journey an adventure!
When I did my skid-training course at Silverstone, the John Watson Driving School

, (after A-levels soo.. 1991?) the car on the trolley was an MG Maestro (iirc)
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 11:45 am
by gremlin
I have a soft spot for my old MR2. It was just nice to drive. Prices are a bit mental these days, but I do hanker for those pop-up lights.
(I also remember my first car fondly. It was a shit Fiat Panda. Bits would fall off, it was full of filler, the engine would or wouldn't start for no reason, but I fucking loved it as it represented freedom and I could go and see the lovely Mrs. G (or Miss P. as she was then) more often)
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 4:06 pm
by roadster
roadster wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2025 10:53 am
I like trying different cars so I've had more than a few! As a mental exercise I decided to apply the strict criterion of only mentioning a couple that were most enjoyable when actually behind the wheel. This produced a quirky answer namely
MG Metro Turbo
MG Maestro 2 litre.
Basically dull cars that had engines dropped in that were more powerful than they could easily cope with. No fancy suspension or tyres, so they could start to misbehave even when driven at almost legal speeds. I've owned much faster sports cars such as the
Mazda MX5 but the fact is that to find the limit in those means driving at a speed that constantly challenges other traffic, so it is only enjoyable on deserted roads or on the track.
Good old British Leyland, every journey an adventure!
Got my Toyotas and Mazdas muddled there! never had a Toyota MR2.
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 6:39 pm
by Wossname
First “enjoyable” car was a Fiat 131 Sport (OIA7187, became PRL192Y when I moved to Cornwall) but it literally disintegrated at 4 years old due to living near the sea, and being a Fiat. Then my first Golf GTi, Mk1 1600(TIA122>>ORL98X), then 3 Mk2 GTi’s (8- valves, B475CRL, D675MAF, G920CRL) then a VR6 (K768ORL) which was the best of those after I chipped it and modified the suspension. They were all enjoyable but not as good for vet work as my Forester turbos, of which I had 6 between 1999 and retirement in 2020. They were brilliant fun.
Can’t really choose “best”.
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 6:39 pm
by Taipan
A stand out car in the history of owneing or driving just about eveyrthing the motor trade offered during the 80s, and beyond that, is a Citroen Xantia!

I bought a 1.8i version for buttons at the time and found it to be one o fthe most comfortable cars i've ever owned. Went to northern Spain in it over teh course of 2 days and it was super comfortable and was returning around 40mpg. Cracking car that!

Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 7:23 pm
by ChrisW
Taipan wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 6:39 pm
A stand out car .... is a Citroen Xantia!

one of the most comfortable cars i've ever owned.
I can well believe that - I had a Citroen BX GTi for half a year or so in the early nineties & the seats and suspension were outstandingly comfy.
Not sure I'd have liked it quite as much when it was a few years old though !
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 7:41 pm
by Mr Moofo
ChrisW wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 7:23 pm
Taipan wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 6:39 pm
A stand out car .... is a Citroen Xantia!

one of the most comfortable cars i've ever owned.
I can well believe that - I had a Citroen BX GTi for half a year or so in the early nineties & the seats and suspension were outstandingly comfy.
Not sure I'd have liked it quite as much when it was a few years old though !
I had a Citroen BX GTI 16v for two years - It spend 25 weeks being repaired, it had intermittant electical faults that said it was over heating. The sensors lied so much that I ignored them whne it shed all its hydraulic fluid in the centre of Birmingham.
It was awful - so noisy that you couldn't hear the radio. Solved by opening the sunroof and moving the sonic boom backwards.
It even made the SAAB 9.3t i had look good ...
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:02 pm
by ChrisW
Mr Moofo wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 7:41 pm
ChrisW wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 7:23 pm
Taipan wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 6:39 pm
A stand out car .... is a Citroen Xantia!

one of the most comfortable cars i've ever owned.
I can well believe that - I had a Citroen BX GTi for half a year or so in the early nineties & the seats and suspension were outstandingly comfy.
Not sure I'd have liked it quite as much when it was a few years old though !
I had a Citroen BX GTI 16v for two years - It spend 25 weeks being repaired, it had intermittant electical faults that said it was over heating. The sensors lied so much that I ignored them whne it shed all its hydraulic fluid in the centre of Birmingham.
It was awful - so noisy that you couldn't hear the radio. Solved by opening the sunroof and moving the sonic boom backwards.
It even made the SAAB 9.3t i had look good ...
I must have been lucky! Plus, company car and only had it for a short while.
I refer you to my closing point in the earlier comment. I bet the seat bolsters turned to dust on its third birthday, too.
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:12 pm
by KungFooBob
I had a first gen 406 GLX, was the thirsty 2l petrol rather than the more common HDI.
It was probably the most comfortable car I've ever had, it handled like a boat tho'. Was quite quick in a straight line, if you could get the power down without the front end topping out and the wheels spinning.
The remote fob only ever worked once... which locked me in the car. You had to unlock it with the key, then enter an immobiliser code using a pop-out keypad under the dash near the steering wheel.
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:43 pm
by Mr. Dazzle
Most comfy car I ever had was a Saab 900 (the Vauxhal Cavalier one). My colleague had a Saab 9-3 at the time which was also supremely comfy.
My mate had a Volvo 850 with super comfy arm chairs too.
Must be a Swedish thing.
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:49 pm
by KungFooBob
Mr. Dazzle wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:43 pm
Most comfy car I ever had was a Saab 900 (the Vauxhal Cavalier one). My colleague had a Saab 9-3 at the time which was also supremely comfy.
My mate had a Volvo 850 with super comfy arm chairs too.
Must be a Swedish thing.
The seats in my S90 aren't quite as comfortable as the ones in the old V40, the S90 seats do have Swedish* flag tags on them which makes up for it tho.
* Despite it being made in China.
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:55 pm
by Mr. Dazzle
t'old 850 was made in Gothenberg and had the Volvo home brew straight 5 engine

Safest car ever, if you crashed it you had ample time to just get out of the car before the impact reached you.
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2025 9:12 pm
by Count Steer
Mr. Dazzle wrote: Wed Feb 19, 2025 8:43 pm
Most comfy car I ever had was a Saab 900 (the Vauxhal Cavalier one). My colleague had a Saab 9-3 at the time which was also supremely comfy.
My mate had a Volvo 850 with super comfy arm chairs too.
Must be a Swedish thing.
The seats in my V70 were

too. TBH the seats are one of the things I pay particular attention to when evaluating cars as potential purchases. Some German cars aren't bad at all. Lots of small cars have v short seat squabs (? - the bit you sit on) and they're only fit for a quick trip to the shops.
Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2025 1:03 pm
by Couchy
Best hmmmmm
1987 Corolla GT coupe
1990 Peugeot 309 gti
1989 Mazda MX5
2006 MG ZT260
2005 Porsche 997S
Nissan Elgrand E52
Have good memories of all of them, current transporter will prob be on the list soon too

Re: Best car owned?
Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2025 1:54 pm
by Nordboy
My best car is usually the one I'm running around in at the moment.
Purely because I've bought it as I got bored or wanted something different to my last 'best car'.