[James]

ie. Not what you'd buy if your numbers come up on the lottery, more the kind of car you'd have if you didn't have to worry about practicalities of family life or had, say, a spare 10 to 15 grand kicking about.

Me? Well since I grew up in Essex close to the main UK Ford plants (Dagenham, Dunton and I even had an uncle who worked at the legendary AVO plant) it's got to be a Ford. Specifically the original 3 door Sierra Cosworth, in "Moonstone blue". Sure, it's long been eclipsed by modern produciton machinery, but 25 years ago it was pretty much God on wheels. The first turbocharged production car to exceed 100bhp per litre from it's engine, 0-60 in 6.2seconds and a top speed of 143mph were seriously impressive in 1985. Hell, that's pretty good now!

As a child I dreamed of big wings (the infamous "whale tail") and even bigger boost, with the racers pumping out over 500bhp. The fact that it's possibly the most stolen car of all time shows just how desireable the Cossie was and is. A rough one can be had for £3000-ish up to £10,000 for a minter. The limited edition RS500 can get as high as £20,000, but a nice "regular" Cosworth for about £8,000, with about 350bhp would do my nicely. I'd have to change the ultra-80's wheels mind...

 

[James]

F.O.R.D failure or repairs daily

I loved that car btw, was at least four of them locally. Or two real ones and a couple of wannabe cosworths.

Get it right, it's Four Old Rusty Doors :lol:

Given where I live, you can understand I've seen too many Cosworths on the roads to count, including a couple of genuine Works Escort Cosworth rally cars.

 

[James]

I wouldn't turn my nose up at an M3 or M5 either, though right now I have Ford lust. My 528 has gained some alarming warning lights, which are telling me it's time to change. I really, really want a Mondeo ST200 now, and actually drove this one at the weekend.

 

[James]

and the 8 is also bad ass :metal:

Mmm... 850CSi V12 on 18" M Parallels.....

[action=James]is a car nerd[/action]

 

[James]

Mart, seriously. A Streetwise, a fucking Streetwise? The regular 25 was a shit knock off of a Honda Civic with dodgey lights, but the Streetwise is utter cack. It's the motoring equivalent of giving a pipe & carpet slippers racing stripes to appeal to the "kids" :lol:

At least the MR2 redeems you. Especially if it's a turbo.

 

[James]

Reliant Scimitar:

Nice choice in the Scimitar GTE :yesway: I wouldn't mind one myself, though the old Essex V6 would be pulled for a Cosworth V6 pretty sharpish. I've seen one fitted with a BMW 2.5 straight 6 diesel too, giving quick pace and 40+ mpg.

 

[James]

An old work colleague had a first generation R32 and took me for a run in it. Holy fucking shit, it just grips and goes! We were going round corners at speeds that no sane person would attempt and it didn't even drift a millimeter. Even with my belt on I got slammed against the side window, but the car just stuck to the it's line like it was literally on rails.

 

[James]

My aunt has a '96 993 Turbo. Haven't seen it for a couple of years, but back then it only had 19,000 on the clock. Doubt it's hit 25,000 yet