Cars seem to provoke almost as much discussion here as any other subject so , dear reader, share with us if you will your automotive hall of fame or shame. For no reason, other than ridicule or jealous praise from your fellow posters!

I'll start:

A mighty 1.1L Ford Escort as a student.
A 1.6LX Ford Orion, an odd choice in hindsight, for the young about town professional.
My sisters crappy 950cc Fiesta when I bought my first house.
A Fiesta 1.8D of the crappiest trim level possible.
A Ford Sierra 2.9 4x4 when I became sick of the Fiesta.
Another Fiesta 1.4 Si when I became sick of the Sierra's fuel bill.
A raft of Mondeo's (new one every 9 months) when I got into company car territory at Ford.
A couple of Discovery's when I worked at LR.
Isuzu Trooper when I left and had to buy my own car. Best car I owned in retrospect. Towed the boat, Good on the motorways, lots of room.
A Volvo S60 2.4T when I sold the boat. Shoulda stuck with the Trooper.

then Canada...

Jeep Liberty Renegade with roof lights and wide wheels. Thirsty and poorly built so replaced it with
A Jeep Liberty Diesel, just as poorly built but economical and confusing to most Canadian's....'Buddy your engine sounds terrible'
A Nissan Frontier truck, which proved too small for family use so was replaced by my current ride.
A Suzuki XL7. Which is as close to a minivan as I'm ever going to allow myself to get.

In the UK

Owned:
Mark III Cortina - ended its life in the Grand Union Canal
Mini
2CV - OH loved it, I hated it.
VW Polo

Company cars:
Sierra
Carlton
3 Series
Another one
Audi A4

In Canada

All owned:
Honda CRV
Golf
Hyundai Sonata.

I moved to London aged 18 so didn't need one. I got my first car in my mid-20s. It was a terrific 1985 Fiat Uno 60S.

Since then in the UK:
1994 Mercedes C180 - brilliant car
1996 Citroen AX
2002 Landrover Freelander - thirsty

In Dubai
2003 Isuzu Trooper
2002 Toyota Hilux - great fun for a pickup truck
2005 Mitsubishi Outlander

In Korea
Daewoo Matiz of uncertain vintage.
LPG powered estate car of uncertain marque or specification

In Canada
2007 Dodge Grand Caravam
2005 Hyundai Tucson
1979 Cadillac Coupe De Ville. My favourite car out of all of them.


Plus numerous motorbikes over the years. Favourite - Kawasaki ZX-6R.

Vespa P50
Lambretta SX 200
Toyota Hiace van 1.8 petrol
Toyota Hiace van 2.5 diesel

In NA
VW Golf
Saab 900
Saab 900 conv.
Isuzu Trooper II
Yamaha 650 E
VW Jetta

Ha! My first ever vehicle was a Vespa PK50S. It's still in my cousin's shed in Scotland.

In pictures
88-94 (student daze)


94-96 (first car, regata twin cam fixer upper. Mine had 7 spoke alloys I seem to recall) Head gasket killed it


96-98 (1 liter, 4 speed manual! No amenities, nice pioneer stereo in it from my brothers written off Alfa. I expect its still running strong somewhere!)


98, arrived in Canada (rush of blood to head, brand new, 4 litre,stick shift, wheel spin in 3rd, fun but very trucky and poorly built, strangely reliable, but thirsty. Manual 4x4 selection))


2000-present (anyone want a winter beater? A great compromise car, bought a few years old, winter traction, summer fun, no more wondering if I should be in 4x4, although it was an Auto trany by her command)

Then the move out to the country required an extra vehicles, so we got a used protege in 2000 or 2001 (aneamic, automatic, no mod cons like A/C, ABS or airbags)
which later became this in 2008 (Bullet proof, economical, stick shift (cheaper to buy) fun to drive, my daily driver, would get another in a heartbeat)

Not to mention this sexy British Racing Green roadster, Fat tires at the back, skinny in the front,auto transmission
which we still have...

And this year we got this to replace the old red '97 that is rusting in my yard waiting for me to sell it...

Automatic, but at least its not a minivan. I do like my subarus

Some that that spring to mind:

3 MGBs, left on top of each other in a rented lock up garage when I emigrated. I later received a letter concerning the MGBs beginning "Dear Shit".

Minivan, destroyed by a truck signwritten "Eat More Fruit" before I even had a license. The driver was a roadie for Graham Parker.

Spitfire, the engine had a turn at overpowering a friend's Triumph Herald before being left in my parent's garage. They subsequently moved twice, with that engine.

MGC, eventually traded for an XJ6 with a mate who was an urban boxer and is now a dairy farmer in Southern Brazil.

Jensen-Healey, I still have the carburettors

Austin-Healey Frogeyed Sprite, went on a camping holiday in it. It had neither boot nor running boards.

Midgets, I like Midgets.

Lotus 7, I commuted to Slough in it, it had no weather equipment at all. Being damp in Slough is not fun.

TR6, I broke the ignition so I could drive away without having to wake a, er, poor choice of overnight companion, to ask her where the keys ended up. One of my children is embittered that I sold that car rather than keeping it until she grew up. I shall never hear the end of it.

SVT Mustang, the current Fairy Ferry, also some hardtops.

After about three months I whacked in a P90 engine so it went much faster. Never had a crash so never had to deal with the invalid insurance aspect.

UK
Mini Cooper (Racing green of course)
MR2 (old shape)
Peugeot 106 xsi (killed it)
MR2 (new shape)
TVR S3
Nissan Maxima (killed it)
TVR Griffith 500
VW Golf
Kawasaki ZX6
Suzuki GSXR750 (killed it and nearly myself)
Suzuki GSXR600 SRAD (killed it)
Suzuki GSXR 600 K2
Honda CBRR 600
Mercedes C class Avandgarde

Canada
Porsche 911 (to be purchased)

Out of the above, my favourite is still the Mini Cooper

This is going to be a long list...and I think I now why I am broke. Average of more than 1 car/year since 18....

UK:
Hillman Avenger (hand painted in bus red paint)
Mini 850
Austin Metro (1)
Austin Metro (2)
Austin Metro (3)
Toyota Corolla
Mitsubishi Colt GTi
Mini Cooper (old type) [ it is around here the trouble started ]
Alfa Romeo Sprint

Canada (1st time):
Mazda MX-3

UK (again):
Alfa Romeo 33
Alfa Romeo Sprint
Alfa Romeo Sud
Alfa Romeo 75
Alfa Romeo 145

Canada (again):
Jaguar XJ12
Hyundai Accent
1969 MGB
Alfa Romeo Milano
Peugeot 505 (really sensible buy in Vancouver in 2001!)
VW Golf

UK (again):
Alfa Romeo 146
Nissan Micra
VW Polo
Alfa Romeo 155
Alfa Romeo 33
Audi A2

Canada (again):
Honda Del Sol (wife won't let me buy anything else...)

I am aiming for another V12 Jag or perhaps a Maserati. She thinks I am talking about one of the cool, new ones. I am of course thinking about a 1980's Bi-Turbo:

http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...AdIdZ193755566

I tried to convince her that this would be a good buy:

http://granturismoauto.com/400i_forSale.asp

Didn't succeed there either. I should add I have no mechanical skills whatsoever.

I barely use my car these days so I've just kept the Jetta to run around in as I'm holding out in the deluded hope that VW will start to sell their camper vans in NA again.

Mini 1.0 (yellow)
Mini 1.0 (green with white roof)
Fiesta 1.1 - that's the law to have one of those isn't it?
Fiesta 1.6 Si at University (my lovely hubby financed it for me while I was studying and he had a real job).
Seat Ibiza 1.8 GTi or something like that (kind of golf GTi crammed into a Polo sized car) fantastic fun.

Company cars:
Rover 620 - hideous heap of green crap
Citroen Xantia 1.8LX, hideous heap of black crap (but perfect for Calais booze runs with the self adjusting suspension ).
VW Passat 130hp diesel. Absolutely fantastic. Used to cruise at 90mph and make the miles fly by.

Leased in UK:
320d SE BMW. Fantastic, comfortable, used no fuel, could fling it about and it handled great.

Canada:
Nissan Murano. Thirsty and heavy. Not keen.
Nissan Altima 3.5. Great for eating the miles, and not bad on gas.
Land Rover LR2. Nearly at the end of a 3 year lease. Love this, comfortable, bomb proof in all weather except a hill covered in freezing rain (even my winter tires couldn't save me), been off roading and it did great.

Going back to the UK at the end of the year, probably going to get another Beemer diesel (wagon this time for crap needed to support toddler!)

Learned to drive in a Mini in 1982.
Drove my dad's Allegro a few times after that.
Didn't get behind the wheel again until 2000, after I'd moved to Canada.
Once was enough. Haven't driven since.

My chaffeuse had a Pontiac Skidmark from 2000 until last fall, when it was given to the Boy. I saw it at Easter. It now sports Mag wheels, a probably illegal set of modifications under the hood and a sound system that precludes luggage storage or or rear-seat passengers and makes internal organs explode. All he can do with it at the moment is look at it. Pillock.

Current Souvmobile is a 2009 Tuscon V6. Nice enough but not all that big. It's basically a box on an Elantra platform and the wheelbase is no bigger than the Arsewipe's. It passes the 8-foot test, though, which is the main thing.

Coincidence? I think not!

My brother has a diesel BMW wagon in the UK, I believe it has two turbos but I was dozing off by then. I do recall that it was GBP5000 to have the wood removed from the dashboard and the badges taken off the outside. That didn't sound like exceptional value for money.