My Cars

[boatman]

I thought that car was a astin mirtin DB4
chris b

[Mikerf]

Peter, quite right but I've changed to a TR4 fully rebuilt with 2.3 liners, fast road cam, unleaded, HS6 carbs, gas flowed, s/s manifold etc. etc. Your 4a looks very nice btw.

Chris - I wish.

Dan. Sorry. Didn't realise. I'll sort that out.

[Panzerwrecker]

I was never into cars as a teenager. Just never appealed. Having something large enough to lug a drum kit around was always a priority.

Humble beginnings with Commer's and Sherpa's. Both absolutely terrible vehicles, but they got the drums and me where they needed to be......eventually :smiling3:

My relationship with boxes on wheels ended when a Polish wagon driver crushed my beloved VW T5 outside my business unit. I had come a long way since those tragic 70's machines. The T5 was a 5 pot (Audi) 205bhp engined palace on wheels and I think it started my love affair with driving.



Just after the VW's demise I nearly went the same way in a freak accident. Thankfully I only suffered a bad leg injury. After almost a year of no driving, and now aged 46 I bought my first ever car. Trouble is, because of the injury it had to be an auto!

It was an Audi A6 avant. I could only stretch to a 2.0TDI and it was a lovely place to be sat in. Sadly, it was really unreliable. The dealership was useless and on top of that a few nasty winters living near the Pennines made it undriveable. I vowed I would not let snow get in the way again.

This led me to my foray into oriental AWD vehicles and particularly with the brand Subaru. Since 2008 our family have owned six of them.

My first experience was with a 2006 Forester XT and I loved it. 220 something BHP and incredibly quick for what was essentially a small SUV. It was about as far away from the Audi as was possible; i.e 100% reliable and a real blast to drive.



After selling it to a friend after 2 years I moved on to a 2006 Legacy Spec B Tourer. An all-weather, no drama, family wagon that would put a smile on my face every time I turned the key. It was far less utilitarian than the Forester but still could lug a load if need be. The 3ltr flat 6 is a thing of beauty and besides it's insatiable thirst was a pure joy to pilot. Over just shy of 100k miles it required just a headlight bulb and a battery.



I was now addicted to the brand and in 2013 I bought a true oriental JDM classic. Not the one you would expect, but one with the same underpinnings. This was a 330bhp AWD toaster on wheels with a 4.8 secs to 60mph, allegedly. What can I say but 'what a blast' Unfortunately the fun didn't last as long as I had hoped! After just two years I had to make a choice between the Legacy and the Forester STI when a home re-location meant one of them had to help with the finances.




So the Legacy stayed. It was far more practical, far more inconspicuous and would never have fetched as much as the FSTI.

Meanwhile my good wife updated the latest of a rook of trusty Volvo's, and now we had gone rural, moved over to the Subaru fold. Being miles from any dealerships meant it needed to be uber reliable too. Our first Subaru XV was a diesel and we have not long updated to a facelift petrol model. Neither have really been my cup of tea but they are essentialy her vehicle.

They still have that Subaru DNA but the sun has definately set on the glory days. It is however suitably narrow for the notoriously slender welsh lanes, has fantastic ground clearance and has yet to be beaten by a rough farm track or muddy field.



So, on to my current Scooby. After selling the Legacy in late 2017 after almost 10 years of ownership I went car-less again! This time I just couldn't find a suitable replacement.

The drum kit had got smaller and would now fit in the XV so I was free to buy pretty much anything, but the search continued. I was then introduced by a freind to our local race circuit. Being in close proximity meant free membership to all but private race testing events and monthly member circuit events meant you could bring anything to drive.

So after checking out what looked like cheap fun round the track I ended up with one of these. The Subaru BRZ.



OK, so it's a joint venture with Toyota and RWD, but it had that familiar flat four under the bonnet. It's not fast by any stretch of the imagination but that is not what it's all about. It's just a pure pleasure to chuck around and so much fun. The driving position is near perfect, the gear change slick and the steering is sublime. It's also bullet proof and will problem out live me!

By the way that Mclaren above was just about to lap me.....again!

[spanner570]

All this foreign car nonsense...

Here's a 'Proper' car. My 1980's 2.8i V6 powered, all aluminium boddied, British factory built Panther Kallista.

O-60 in a few seconds, but after that, it has the aerodynamics of a fence panel. I've owned it for some 30 years now, so I must love it!



Your servant.
Merling Stoss

[stillp]

A few of my TR4A:



The first 2 are from soon after I bought the car in August 1983, intending to get it on the road by the next spring, sell it at a profit, and buy another project. After 6 years of working on it most evenings/weekends/holidays, it was back on the road in '89, and I still have it.
My daily driver is a Focus, but you won't want to see pictures of that!
My first car was a pile of boxes of parts that assembled into an MGTC, bought for £25, sold, mostly assembled, for £125! A succession of Imps, one of which was modified for club rallying, went like a rocket but then I got married and gradually converted the car back to standard. Later an MGB Roadster, which burned nearly as much oil as petrol, replaced with an Escort estate, which I wore out, covering the UK as a sales engineer. Then a series of company cars (Cortina, Orions, Cavaliers, etc) until I retired in 2014.
Pete

[CarolsHusband]

"Loads and loads of stuff about Subarus"

I've always really fancied a second generation Legacy wagon. I went to look at a GT-B (?) at one point. Felt quick but also felt well used for the money. It was a toss up between that & a Legnum VR4 Wagon.

Too much faffing mean't none of either ! They're either rotten or moon-shot money now.

I do like the look of a slammed Forester but I am aware of the irony...

[Panzerwrecker]

I've always really fancied a second generation Legacy wagon. I went to look at a GT-B (?) at one point. Felt quick but also felt well used for the money. It was a toss up between that & a Legnum VR4 Wagon.

Too much faffing mean't none of either ! They're either rotten or moon-shot money now.

I do like the look of a slammed Forester but I am aware of the irony...

Third Gens are the one to go for these days unless you have deep pockets. Even these are being advertised for silly money since COVID kicked off. Legnum VR4' s are almost as FUGLY as the Forester but I wouldn't say no to one either:tongue-out3:

Slamming a Forester is the last thing you would want to do with them but unfortunately many do, and completely ruin them! The main issue is the OE dampers and springs are no longer available, so it is the simple alternative these days.

The OE set up is very 'bobbly' on motorway tarmac but show it a fast A Road and they are incredibly agile for what they are. Many long-term owners have refurbished the dampers and replace the springs with STI 'Pinks' but even these are out of production now. They were going for around £10-12K when I sold mine in 2015. Try and find a decent example for under £17k with less than 90K miles currently is nye on impossible.


Torque https://www.torque-gt.co.uk/ import some nice examples of both vehicles but they do like a healthy margin

[CarolsHusband]

Yeah, it's all gone mad. I'll just have to put up with the stupid old Skyline I s'pose.....

:upside: