Lunchmoney
The Torque Meister
... and any interesting stories about them?
Here's mine, as far as I can remember....
1984 Metro - it was black. I think it had a one litre engine and that's about all I can remember of it.
1985 Nova - 1.2 in beige. Looking back now it was horrible. I did have an entertaining moment when I had locked my keys in it (yes, the driver's door could be locked whilst it was open - stupid move). I then used an unwound coat hanger to pop the lock and get in, tossed the wire on the back seat and went into town. A random stop by a copper (3 young lads in a hatchback, cruising around town, attracted attention) led to him asking what the wire was for as it could be construed as "going equipped". I had to demonstrate that I could break into my own car! Very tense moment for me but in hindsight it would appear to just a prick test by the officer (IE if you're a prick they will nick you for something, otherwise be on your way).
1986 Golf 1.3. First of many golfs. This one saw my first foray into ICE installs. 2 ten inch subs, soaking up 150rms watts each in the boot, plus supporting 4 speakers around the cabin with their own amp and snazzy blaupunkt head unit - my first CD player.
1979 Golf 1.6 GTI. The first GTI
The bodywork was lovely. The engine wasn't. Unfortunately I didn't see the engine problems until too late and after it exploded and left bits of itself on A338 in Hampshire I was left carless. This was 2 weeks into owning it. The dealership I bought it from had disappeared and local news revealed several distraught customers with fubar cars. Nothing was able to be done about the dealer as he could not be found. An expensive lesson.
1984 Golf 1.6 GTI.
1986 Golf 1.8 GTI. Kept both of these going for as long as I could, but when yearly maintenance crept up towards £1k I moved on.
1990 Volvo 480 turbo - very heavy car. Lasted 6 months before I got annoyed and sold it.
1990 Vauxhall Vectra SRI - nothing special.
1988 Golf standard - this was a work car. I had a second job as a wedding DJ and this hauled my gear around well enough.
1988 Golf 1.8 GTI. The last Golf I owned. Again maintenance got too high. Though I have seen it around town since I sold it 5-6 years ago.
1994 Impreza WRX STI JDM. My first Impreza (and my wifelet's first car). I was stunned by the power and delivery. I had the map looked at and put on rolling road and it achieved 290BHP. I entered into discussions with my garage and mapper about mods, both for power and handling, but all that ended when another driver decided to use my car, instead of their own brakes, to stop. Write off.
1998 Impreza WRX STI JDM. I knew a lot more about Imprezas now. The previous owner claimed that they had remapped it but the power delivery came in spurts. Loads of power from 3-4k revs, then flat until 6k then gear change. I loved the car from the first test drive but knew something was wrong in the map. So first job was to take it to my mapper. A couple of hours later and the engine pulled smoothly through the rev range and the car is a joy to drive. This is my current daily drive and I have no plans to sell it. Ever.
Future plans include bigger brakes, suspension replacement, and ICE.
I'm pretty sure I've owned more than that; I'm kind of gutted I don't have photos of all the cars I've owned. I would be great if we could get a list from the DVLA.
What's your list?
Here's mine, as far as I can remember....
1984 Metro - it was black. I think it had a one litre engine and that's about all I can remember of it.
1985 Nova - 1.2 in beige. Looking back now it was horrible. I did have an entertaining moment when I had locked my keys in it (yes, the driver's door could be locked whilst it was open - stupid move). I then used an unwound coat hanger to pop the lock and get in, tossed the wire on the back seat and went into town. A random stop by a copper (3 young lads in a hatchback, cruising around town, attracted attention) led to him asking what the wire was for as it could be construed as "going equipped". I had to demonstrate that I could break into my own car! Very tense moment for me but in hindsight it would appear to just a prick test by the officer (IE if you're a prick they will nick you for something, otherwise be on your way).
1986 Golf 1.3. First of many golfs. This one saw my first foray into ICE installs. 2 ten inch subs, soaking up 150rms watts each in the boot, plus supporting 4 speakers around the cabin with their own amp and snazzy blaupunkt head unit - my first CD player.
1979 Golf 1.6 GTI. The first GTI
The bodywork was lovely. The engine wasn't. Unfortunately I didn't see the engine problems until too late and after it exploded and left bits of itself on A338 in Hampshire I was left carless. This was 2 weeks into owning it. The dealership I bought it from had disappeared and local news revealed several distraught customers with fubar cars. Nothing was able to be done about the dealer as he could not be found. An expensive lesson.1984 Golf 1.6 GTI.
1986 Golf 1.8 GTI. Kept both of these going for as long as I could, but when yearly maintenance crept up towards £1k I moved on.
1990 Volvo 480 turbo - very heavy car. Lasted 6 months before I got annoyed and sold it.
1990 Vauxhall Vectra SRI - nothing special.
1988 Golf standard - this was a work car. I had a second job as a wedding DJ and this hauled my gear around well enough.
1988 Golf 1.8 GTI. The last Golf I owned. Again maintenance got too high. Though I have seen it around town since I sold it 5-6 years ago.
1994 Impreza WRX STI JDM. My first Impreza (and my wifelet's first car). I was stunned by the power and delivery. I had the map looked at and put on rolling road and it achieved 290BHP. I entered into discussions with my garage and mapper about mods, both for power and handling, but all that ended when another driver decided to use my car, instead of their own brakes, to stop. Write off.
1998 Impreza WRX STI JDM. I knew a lot more about Imprezas now. The previous owner claimed that they had remapped it but the power delivery came in spurts. Loads of power from 3-4k revs, then flat until 6k then gear change. I loved the car from the first test drive but knew something was wrong in the map. So first job was to take it to my mapper. A couple of hours later and the engine pulled smoothly through the rev range and the car is a joy to drive. This is my current daily drive and I have no plans to sell it. Ever.
Future plans include bigger brakes, suspension replacement, and ICE.
I'm pretty sure I've owned more than that; I'm kind of gutted I don't have photos of all the cars I've owned. I would be great if we could get a list from the DVLA.
What's your list?
