What's the best car you've ever owned?

[BenzBoy]

Lots of RR'ers get through plenty of retro cars. Some good, some bad, some just random - I know I do! So, what's the best car you've ever had? Include photos / backstory / reasons.

I still own my "best" car, although it's looking sorry for itself these days.

Here it is in its "heyday"...



Why is it my best car? It never, ever broke down (OK it did once, due to a stuck thermostat). I would trust that car on any length of journey. It turned heads wherever it went, and just seemed to really suit me.

Things weren't all that peachy though - it scraped through its MOT year after year, with the "I really need to sort that out" list growing ever longer. I had to bite the bullet and take it off the road to sort the bodywork and other things. It will come back better than ever, but it's a long-term project (a bit longer term than I initially thought... )

So, what's yours?

[dave21478]

Depends on what you mean by "best".
The "best" car I probably owned was this 2 litre 16v Cavalier, although an M-reg cav is far from retro IMO.....

Bought for £100 from auction, it was completely, 100% mint inside and out, not a single mark on it anywhere, not a spot of rust. It needed a lambda sensor when I bought it, and once I fitted that it ran perfectly, requiring nothing but oil changes and tyres in all the miles I did in it, and I did a hell of a lot - several trips from Aberdeen to south of France and back were soaked up with comfort and ease. The closest it came to letting me down was when the speedo cable snapped on a French autoroute. Tragically, this meant the cruise control would not work for the rest of the trip.

As for a retro car, probably the mini van. Its the most "retro" car I have owned, and this one is the best out of several minis I have had previously simply because I built it completely from the ground up.

[MK2VR6]

Benzboy, you're lucky to still have the car that many people "wish they had never sold".
Not sure how you definite 'best car'.....
My favourite car in 18 years of driving has to be my old Cavalier Gsi. It was almost wrecked before I bought it. The owner was a tit, left it in his front garden, and proceeded to strip half of the car to bits and then smashed the screen when 'things weren't going his way'.
My brother, his mate and myself rescued it after lots of persuasion and proceeded to put it back together, replaced the screen and got it back on the road.

I then got 12 fantastic months of motoring out of it, enjoying every single mile. I then had to sell it when it failed the mot on rotten rear chassis legs and I didn't have the funds to get the work done.
Despite owning Celicas, Imprezas and various other 'performance' cars, my retro Gsi was the one I regret selling.
That's why after waiting and waiting, there is a now a new Gsi in the stable, going on the road next year! (sneak preview....)

[akku]

So many honourable mentions.

1. My V8 Victor which I didn't buy back in the end. "possibly the best FD Victor shell left". Should be. Awesome car.

2. My Rover 3.5 P5B. Made me feel like chairman of the board.

3. My purple Lexus LS400. Probably the most "complete" car I ever owned.

4. Trans Am. Mrs Ku loves it. What can I say?

5. V6 3.1 100E Prefect. Mad as a box of frogs and tried to kill me a bunch of times. Never a dull moment.

6. Morris Minor convertible. It was just "right" you know. Wish I still had it.

[jabbo]

Like many on here I've owned a whole host of cars and it's difficult to single one out. My 61 Ghia was the car that made me the happiest. My 68 Fastback was probably my nicest retro to drive (bar my current one). My 64 squareback was the biggest headturner. However, I'm going to have to opt for this;



A 1989 Polo Coupe S. The cheapest decent car I've ever brought. Cost me about £400 and I never had to spend a penny on it. Never let me down in the 2 years I owned it, sailed through MOTs no problem. Great fun to drive, I really couldn't fault it. It was also the first watercooled car I ever owned after years of only having aircooled cars, so it seemed positively luxurious to me.

[keithyboy]

I paid £700 for this and it gave me a year of pretty much trouble free motoring. It was quick and handled well too.

[akku]

Nov 28, 2010 18:20:42 GMT jabbo said:

I never had to spend a penny on it.

I also like when you don't have to curse word on your car.

I'll get me coat

[ChasR]

Quite a few. If I had to narrow it down, it would probably go down to these (some Retro, some not). Whilst I had a few reliable and unreliable cars, these stood out :

1) Peugeot 306 GTi-6 - A nice compromise between practicality and genuine performance:



2) Porsche 944 S2 - Not mega quick by sportscar standards but it certainly felt quick and 'right' in how it handled etc.. And it had a few 80s niceties too!:



3)Peugeot 205 GTi - Undiluted fun. More raw than the 306, probably a little less road friendly with the mods I have done (noise from the solid engine mounts and R888 tyres) but still a joy to drive whenever .

[markgenesis]

Bought this 70 Mach1 as a rolling shell, built it up over three years, wanted one as a kid but that slowly changed to wanting a Dodge Charger, by the time i got the Mustang on the road i really wanted a Charger.



Did'nt have the Mustang done long till i sold it to buy this 68 Charger



The Charger was a great car but ended up wishing i'd kept the Mustang , it had reliability issues for a while, did'nt so much take it out for a drive more like drive around looking for somewhere nice to break down, had hassle with the steering box and had to wait six months on a new one, by the time i got it sorted i was sick of it

Best cheap runner is my current 94 Polo, had to fit a fuel tank and an engine last year but done nothing to it since, flew through it's MOT a month or so ago

[composimmonite]

I've had so many cars it's difficult to pick a best but the mint A reg black 1.6LS Capri bought off the first, elderly, owner stands out. He'd stopped driving when the car was just over a year old, stored it for 9 years and had it's 1st MOT at 10 years old / 10,000 miles
Loved the car but my duff leg plus wife loosing use of one hand meant we needed auto with PAS so it sat outside for years until I decided to scrap as deteriated with standing. Still regret getting rid but at the time it was just another "banger".

Paul H

[jabbo]

Nov 28, 2010 18:28:25 GMT akku said:

Nov 28, 2010 18:20:42 GMT jabbo said:

I never had to spend a penny on it.

I also like when you don't have to pee on your car.

I'll get me coat

;D

[Deleted]

i would have to say this one :



closely followed by this one:

[pauldaf44]

Easy its GLADYS

She showed me the light and got me into retros. She never fails to start and just has tonnes and tonnes of character. I intend to keep this car going at least for as long as its been going already cause its just awesome end off.




Oh and as my sig says I'm saving the enviroment as I drive a green car ;D

[Seth]

Best in terms of condition and lots of other things was probably the Sun-tor though it was possibly less "me" than most of my other cars. Was nice to "save" it from a decade or so in storage and get it out and useable again.





Best car in terms of its original quality and market will be the Borgward.

[Blue850]

My faithful old 94 Vectra 1.7TD, 10 years of fantastic service, one breakdown when it burst a tiny L-shaped hose on the thermostat housing, didn't stop the car though, it was hauling a transporter with a Fiat 850 on the back up a hill a Landrover would baulk at ;D, them Isuzu engines are tough.
Its rot free bar the inside of the bonnet over the battery.
It needs a starter motor, battery, tyres and a handbrake cable to get back on the road.

[christian1981]

my cav



and my mv6

[Fennec]

Definately a lot of Vauxhall love going on.
My best car was ...


Just a good car, and quite cool. Spent a lot of time and money on it and stupidly sold it on. Been regretting it since!

[bm0p700f]

This one, bought with 121600 miles, three years ago. It now has 185372 miles and that climbs daily.

However the Pt Cruiser I once owned was very dependable. I did 80000 miles in it and it just ran. No pics bit it was a 2001 y plate touring spec in darl metaliic blue.

[langers]

i have 2 best cars lol, my mk2 gti 16v, was an awesome car, never broke down, run this low for nearly 2 years and 18000miles, upset all the scene people cos i ran 17s and not bbs splits, realy miss it





and its replacement, mk2 golf cl td, bought off ebay for £600, did 16000 miles in this in under a year, did nothing at all to it never even changed the oil, only had to replace the starter motor thats it!!! averaged 50mpg and was awesome!!! ebay coilovers, £50 set of rims and some super stretched tyres (165 45 16 0n a 7.5j rim) created a head turning daily, would have it back now lol









doorbell horn ftw!!!!!

[markbognor]

It was lovely, but alas too thirsty.