My dream cars

There are some lovely motors out there. I must confess if I had a little more money the only other realistic car that I'd swap my ST for would be the new Golf GTi. What a lovely looking car. Meaty, aggressive but also practical and classy.  I love the red trim grill and the red brake calipers. It would have to be black and  the three door.

If money were no object and a lottery win had happened then the Ferraris are nice but it would probably be down to the Aston and the Lamborghini. The V8 Vantage is a lovely looking car with the right mix of grunt and refinement.  Although not owned by us it also feels very British, which I like. I think taking it though would have to be the Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder.  This is such a truly beautiful, exquistite looking car that it really is in another league.  The shape blew me away the first time I saw the hard top which must have been about three or so years ago and nothing else has come that close to setting my heart on fire.

Stunning looks with a powerhouse engine, wonderous speed, grip and guile and the reliability and solid build of Audi. Italian flair and passion married to a strong German hand is a hell of a combination. The only real difficulty would be the colour. Black always looks classy but the Gallardo needs to be seen and black can hide beautiful lines so maybe it would have to be the yellow.  Red might give the impression it was trying to be a Ferrari, green is all wrong and blue or silver a little too cold. Colour's aside I think this would be the daddy if I won the lottery and much time would be spent swanning around scenic parts of Europe.

Ok the colour has been resolved. After seeing Mission Impossible III it would have to be an orange. It's such a great colour that is still very evocative and eye catching but isn't either red or yellow. The matching orange stitching and/or seat panels just adds the final coup de grace.

The thing is that they have now released the Gallardo Spyder. They have made manjor improvements the engine and technical side of things which make it harder, faster and even more involving to drive. This is now my number one car. It is an automotive orgasm, pure vehicular sex. What a sensationally beautiful, wonderful car.

 

 

My current car. Ford Fiesta ST

First day

It was the first brand new car that I ever bought and by the time it arrived I was very excited. I had been expecting it to be delivered to work but due to my error it was delivered to my home. I was coming in on the train and thank god was running about 25 minutes late. As I headed down the road and spied the ST, I groaned aloud. I’ve never seen a black one in the flesh and I thought ‘Sweet Jesus, the day I’m supposed to take delivery and someone gets another one in the same road!' I looked again at the number plate and thought ‘Hang on, that’s my car’ I was a little shocked and deflated to begin with. I had been looking forward to sharing the arrival with my work colleagues (small company) and hence wasn’t prepared for it.

I looked round the car trying to be methodical but finding it hard to get excited. The guy had driven it down from Barnsley (put 214 miles on the clock, hell I got it for 11,200 so I can’t complain) at 4am and it had been raining so it was unclean with an assortment of flies stuck to the front. I signed for it, waved him off and got in.

I started my drive to work, conscious that I couldn’t ‘blat it’ and still I think a little dumbstruck. I pulled into the garage to get some petrol and whilst paying for it looked back at it on the forecourt. Even when a little dirty I couldn’t help the smile that broke across my face. It looked great. Aggressive, lithe and ready to rock. It felt good realizing it was mine and walking back to it I almost wanted to say to everyone in the garage ‘Look at that car, isn’t it fantastic’.

I drove to work keeping it sedate and below 3,000 rpm but even with this it is a pleasure to drive. The gearbox is lovely. I was always impressed with the one on the focus and this was even better. The short change and solidity of it is great, as is the clutch. The steering is precise and although thinking that the steering wheel was a little thin I really like that I can get my hand right round it to get a good grip when I start to give it some welly. The seats are really supportive and the engine really quiet. Whilst waiting at some lights I couldn’t hear a thing which I thought was great. It seems to have a presence and doesn’t seem to drive down the road but rather ‘proceed’ if you know what I mean. Blipped the accelerator and the car was eager to go faster, like a dog that’s being restrained after a stick has been thrown. Got to work and then took it over to the hand car wash. The guys washing it liked it a lot and took a lot more care with it. As they washed it I couldn’t stop smiling and chuckling to myself. The cleaner it got the more fantastic it became to the extent I was asking to borrow the cloth to wipe little bits. Took it back to work and then allowed my colleagues to inspect.

God it’s a lovely car. The boot is a good size. The doors have a wonderful, solid thunk when you close them. The engine looks good (although I’m not very techie so not sure what to comment on). It’s funny but it also seems a bigger car when looking at, it almost seems the same size as my old focus. The ST details in the car are subtle and not in your face but are all the better because of this, the seats are really comfy and supportive (although I haven’t gone round a corner at max speed yet) and don’t think I needed to go full leather. There is still a fair smattering of it around the cabin and it looks grand. The mats that came with it are carpeted with the red piping and the cloth on the seat panels is a lot better in the flesh. Its lack of vulgar flashiness with too much chrome etc makes it look almost elegant and at the moment I need to keep popping out just to keep looking at it. I’m going to read through the manual and on the way to bluewater later tonight ‘drop’ my first track on the CD player.

Not spent any real time in it yet but in my short spell of ownership based on looks, build quality and drivability it is fantastic. I’m totally chuffed with it and am so glad I got it and didn’t settle for the Zetec S.

So far, so brilliant!!

 

Two days later

Right now that I’ve had a chance to give it a bit more of a proper drive can I say what a wonderful car this is and list some of the other things I like so much.

I love the illumination of the dials at night. The colour of the red on the needles and the yellow/green on the numbers is great and the way it casts a red glow on the rim of the dials at night is brilliant. When you accelerate the glows moves round the dial looking even better and looking like a cross between KITT’s bonnet light and a Cylon's visor. What’s also great is the way that when driving at night all you can see is the two dials and nothing else with no superfluous lights to distract your eye. I like the way it looks like a big car, yet feels like a small one.

I love its poise and handling on the road, it’s so steady that it gives you the confidence to literally throw in into corners and roundabouts faster than you would normally consider. I like the way with that even when breaking it in and keeping it under 3,000 ish rpm you can still have fun and that the engine is constantly egging you on to push it more. It’s like a lovely, dirty girl that wants you to pull her hair and fuck her harder or like one of those kinder, beuno chocolate bars that demands you to ‘bite me, bite me’. You can feel that there is more power under your foot and you know that the car just wants you to unleash it. I love parking it somewhere and then look forward to returning to it so I can see it again from a host of different angles and lighting conditions. I love the way it smells new (at the moment), the way the chairs snugly hold me, the way it can happily potter round a town yet be always ready to be set free on a country road. I love the CD player, the way it neatly swallows 6 CD’s and then belts them out, the way it’s still practical with a good boot and plenty of cubby holes but most of all I love the way it makes me feel that it is worth every hard earned penny that I spent on it.

One of the standout moments that I’ll never forget with it was going to collect my brother from Bluewater, where he worked, on the first night. I hadn’t told him I was getting it then although he knew I should be getting it soon. I calmly met him outside the shop that he worked and we slowly walked to the car park like we had done on so many occasions. As we got closer I tried to push slightly in front to block the angle of his view until the last minute. I saw him clock it, he looked at me quizzically, I beamed back at him and he literally jumped in the air with laughter. It was so cool, I wished I could have filmed it. He clapped a hand on my shoulder and seemed to jump again while uttering expletives. I love people getting excited and being able to share that excitement with the most important person in my life felt good. He gushed all the right kind of compliments and it re-affirmed my reasons for buying it and how doing so also gave him pleasure which was an added bonus.

 

Six months on

The first two descriptions were written in the first few days of getting the car but even now, six months on the car still pleases me. Having it washed after it’s got dirty for a week or two is great at reminding what a cracking little car it is and I will still drop people off home and then take it for a late night spin. Throwing it around a corner, whilst the car grips the road like a hungry dog with a bone and one hands rests on the gear stick still delivers a smile. Best of all though is when the revs climb up to 4,000 rpm in either 2nd, 3rd or 4th gear. It's like having a little turbo. It's chugging up nicely, then you hit 4,000 and wallop! It just screams to go faster and hits 5,000 rpm in next to no time with a smooth delivery of power through the wheels to make you want to laugh out loud at what a cool and wicked little machine it is.

 

Prior to this I had Silver Focus Collection

Great car that I bought when I set up the estate agents in Sevenoaks. It offered me everything I wanted and more. It sat five in comfort, looked great with additional spoilers that were subtle in a non-rude boy way but made it look that little bit more special and was incredibly reliable. I got it when it had done 2,000 miles and I sold it 4 – 4½ years later with around 86,000 on the clock. It never once didn’t start and only broke down when I stupidly had taken any action over a knocking coming from the engine. The water heater had shot a bearing and had been grinding (I think, I’m still not too good with cars and engines etc) away until it sheared off. Called the AA, we took it to the garage, who promptly fixed it and I had it back a day later with no further problems. I did a lot of miles in it and it was a really good car. I liked that fresh Focus shape when it came out and the collection version took that and made it just that little bit better. Its workhorse attitude and reliability is what truly hooked me with Fords and this had a huge bearing on me choosing the ST.

No longer being in the estate agency business meant that I didn’t need the four doors and also without a family, or the foreseeable likelihood of one, could get something smaller and maybe a little more indulgent. I don’t like Vauxhall thinking their interiors cheap and tacky and aren’t a huge fan of the French or their cars (though my trip to Paris did calm my attitude to the French!). The new focus shape isn’t as radical and I really liked the compactness of the new fiesta. You could see it had roots in the old focus design which I liked but the ST styling added that extra level of aggression and class in my book. I ummed and aahed a lot about the colour but black meant that at least it looked different to the silver focus and I also thought that it might hide the shape and ‘steal ability’ when parked in the street. Arranged a loan through the Post Office who offered an excellent rate and insurance through, er oh Christ I can’t remember. Oh well, it worked out well. I ordered it then fretted about the timescale of privately selling the Focus as the garages had offered me a piss poor figure. Put the Focus in the exchange and mart and literally on the day it came out a woman called, drove up in the morning to test drive it and put down a deposit there and then. She collected it a week later and a friend lent me the use of his car for a weekend. It couldn’t have run smoother and for that I thank, once again, the great guys that I work with for their support and advice.

 

My first car

Before this I had an assortment of company cars starting with an old shape red clio, then a new shape red clio and finally a black Golf GTi turbo, which I thoroughly enjoyed for six months. 

Before it all though and my very first car was a silver truimph acclaim hls.  We called it the Silver Hornet and it was a great car.  I think you always form a special bond with your first car and with this I did.  I bought it for £600 and had it for about 3/4 years.  I had to change the clutch twice but that may have been more down to my driving style rather than a fault with the car.  It didn't have a great deal of features but the bonnet did have the outline of shallow turbo bulge (not that it was turbo'd) and the headlamps had a manual levelling system that I joked allowed me to look up and down female pedestrians. 

That used to be the people wagon when we went out with three in the back and two up front.  On one or two occasions we did manage to get six in with either someone in the boot or lying across the legs of another.  At christmas I used to decorate it with tinsel etc in a reallty cheesey fashion.  What a great car.