The cars you never had

[Yugguy1970]

All this reminiscing has made me think of the cars you always wanted, could have had, but never got.  So not the bedroom poster Countach, but for me, a battleship gray Saab 900 turbo.  Had a chance to buy one and didn't and always wished I had.

 

[Gerg]

Back in the  80s and 90s, there were some delightful Japanese grey-import 'Kei' cars that weren't that expensive.  I thought they were almost all quite fantastic.

Top of that pile for me was the mid-engined Mazda AZ1, which had the 660cc turbo three-pot DOHC, 9,000 rpm Suzuki Capuccino engine.  And gull-wing doors.

The closest I got to ownership was just sitting in one.

Maybe it's just as well, I drove a Cappucino (which was an impressively-specced 3/4 size Maxda MX5), but, on the day, it didn't grab me as much as I wanted it to.

Autozam-AZ-1-special.avif

 

[Hybrid21]

I always fancied an MX-5 and to try open top motoring, but things were never right to buy one, until I reached the ripe old age of 60 😃

Bought it brand new and used it as a second car for about 6 years.

Loved it and now after about 3 years wish I still had it ! 

[Mojo1010]

Ditto mx5 and also Merc slk convertible which were within my price range.  Always wanted a 2 seater convertible but circumstances didn't really allow it, and it still doesn't! 

[Big_D]

I don't know why, but I've always wanted a Mercedes 230SLK convertible. Another one is a Porsche Boxster

[Eddie G]

Porsche Cayman in Red but the thought of the parts and servicing along with the price put me off.

[Cyker]

Same sort of thing here; Always liked the idea of having an Impreza but not the the reality... Thirsty as heck, and expensive to maintain - Had a friend who owned one and it seemed like every time he needed to work on the car for even the most trivial thing the engine had to come out  

 

[RUToyota]

A classic Rover P6 3.5 V8 litre..in Brigade red with boot mounted spare.!

I had the P6 2000TC but always lusted after the 3.5 V8

[flash22]

TBH, i have never aspired to want a particular car, the head always overrules

[Mojo1010]

22 hours ago, Mojo1010 said:

Ditto mx5 and also Merc slk convertible which were within my price range.  Always wanted a 2 seater convertible but circumstances didn't really allow it, and it still doesn't! 

Forgot to add Audi TT convertible, that is nice also. 

[Puglet]

Agree, never really yearned for a specific car, although saying that I did go down the Ford dealership for some parts and ended up buying my Mondeo V6, cos it was an amazing price and right colour. Other than that another one who fancied an Impreza or a BMW M5. Always enjoyed modding cars I've owned and then you get attached so tend to keep a long time.

Would of liked the top spec Ford Orion Ghia 1.6i, but had to settle for 1.6L instead cos of price and insurance, but thinking of money I spent on mods over the years the Ghia 1.6i was probably better value for money!

 

[Billyboy81]

When I was a young lad in 1977 I saw a Rover P5b coupe in Old English White for sale at a dealers for £1995. It was mint with leather seats. I went home and thought about it all night and decided to buy it. Went to the dealers only to find it had already gone. Regretted it ever since.

[DerekHa]

8 hours ago, Billyboy81 said:

When I was a young lad in 1977 I saw a Rover P5b coupe in Old English White for sale at a dealers for £1995. It was mint with leather seats. I went home and thought about it all night and decided to buy it. Went to the dealers only to find it had already gone. Regretted it ever since.

Think that Rover was by far the best looking car Rover ever turned out, always had a yen to buy one but could never afford it or the insurance. Still looks great to my eyes even now. Rover 2000TC was nice too but after that they were never real head turners! Then again the Rover 75 had lots of stylish lines.

[FROSTYBALLS]

When I was young, always wanted a hearse, and had the opportunity to buy a Princess hearse conversion - but another buyer beat me to it. Not quite as classy as the Daimler DS420 though.

Again quite fancied a Rover P5B coupe, or an original 3 door Range Rover.

Also had a leaning towards ex-military vehicles  - Austin Champ or Alvis Stalwart (great for shopping at Tesco):

[Yugguy1970]

My dad had a V8 P6 for a while when I was quite young.  There's photos of me sat in the driver's seat grinning.  Great looking car and sounded superb.

For its time it was a luxury car.  Also for its time it rusted like a shipwreck.

[RUToyota]

18 hours ago, Billyboy81 said:

When I was a young lad in 1977 I saw a Rover P5b coupe in Old English White for sale at a dealers for £1995. It was mint with leather seats. I went home and thought about it all night and decided to buy it. Went to the dealers only to find it had already gone. Regretted it ever since.

I did have the "Ministerial" saloon for a while but would have loved the coupe too.

[Yugguy1970]

Another one for me was the original Mondeo Mk1 ST24.  2.5V6, from the time when mainstream cars still had characterful engines.

I went to see one, must be nearly 20 years ago now, and it was mint, drove really well, but was missing part of the door handle, and this put me off.  

Realised the error of my ways, went back a few days later but it had gone.

Similar to this it was, black leather inside.

http://www.carcavescotland.co.uk/classic-cars-stock/ford-mondeo-st24-19500-miles

 

 

[davidif]

Always wanted a 911 of some sort. 996/997 variants are now at a price point I could stomach, just not sure I could stomach the bork potential!

[Yugguy1970]

Drooling over some these now 🤣

http://www.carcavescotland.co.uk/classic-cars-stock/ford-sierra-30-xr6-0

If I had the time and space...

[Jimota]

My dad had an Austin Cambridge in the early 60s.  I always thought it was a plain looking car but I loved sitting in the big leather seats.  It was like sitting in an oversized armchair.

[Jimota]

Had an unusual experience in the 80s when I got to “drive” a Sinclair C5.  Well, it wasn’t really driving as the Hoover motor was broke and I had to resort to using pedal power.  I’m perplexed as to how this wonderful vehicle never caught on with the great British driving community!

 

[Rhymes with Paris]

Did they replace the hoover motor with an electrolux?

[Jimota]

Strangest vehicle I have ever driven.  Having the steering handlebar positioned under your thighs took a bit of getting used to.

[Rhymes with Paris]

 

28 minutes ago, Jimota said:

Strangest vehicle I have ever driven.  Having the steering handlebar positioned under your thighs took a bit of getting used to.

Yeah,Clive Sinclair was a brilliant man and inventor in his day.

But on the day he thought of that thing, it's possible he had been to a rave the night before in a field somewhere, and was coming down from an overdose of funny little pills with smiley faces stamped on them.

Still, they say that the man who never made a mistake, never did anything.

And I agree with that,Sir Clive had a brilliant mind, and worked very hard to bring his ideas to fruition.

I remember some of the first ones trundling around the Sonning area in 1985, not quite the menace that today's e scooters are, but close, most of them at least stuck to the road, where you could see them just below the bumper of the tiny Talbot samba, yes the gf had a new one.

 

[Cyker]

They have one at the Brooklands museum, as well as one of those old kids chopper bikes (The one that added that extra element of danger by having the gear shift right in front of your crotch...)

We asked them if we could race them down the hill climb but they said no