What was your previous ride??

[zei20t]

lucas, I think we have met

youre friends with jess (S15) right? before she moved to Sydney.

code618: turbo WILL die on the turbo models. around the 100k mark. check for rust in the seams under the car. don't touch if there is any under there.

panels are common now, i know people with wrecks that don't charge wrecker prices. castor arm bushes die, only a few hundred for poly replacements. gearbox needs a valve body upgrade as changes are sloppy as!

[Lucas_R]

lucas, I think we have met, youre friends with jess (S15) right? before she moved to Sydney.

Hmmm im not sure. I have the worst memory in the world with peoples names. I remember faces and cars, but im useless with names.

[zei20t]

blonde girl, silver S15 with vertex kit. ummm I think she has sold it now!

[bobski]

'77 Datsun 180B
'86 Corolla Twin Cam
'02 Nissan X-Trail Ti
'04 Mazda 3 SP23
'04 Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo
'06 Ford Fiesta Zetec
'08 Toyota Aurion

[code618]

Thanks zei20t
Had read the turbos pack it in. The axis autech versions look awesome though. Pretty plush interior, loads of space. Never driven one though...

Interesting to see plenty of s14 and s15 fans here too.

[Damo105]

THEN:

1970 HG Holden Kingswood - first car. Poo brown with a white roof. No idea why I loved it. The engine fell out, literally.
1978 XC Ford Falcon. Horrible car.
1984 Holden VK Commodore wagon - company car, pretty ordinary.
1988 Holden VL Commodore wagon - company car. Thought it was the duck's guts back then. Very capable bush-basher, and would tow my camper trailer at 140kph! (I was an idiot back then).
1982 VW Rabbit (Golf) diesel - bought it for $1200 from a dodgy car yard in Rhode Island USA. Did a lap of Canada/USA in it, and it never missed a beat. Slow as hell but frugal! A mate crashed it into a tree in Boston, but it didn't stop it. Left it in the VIP parking at JFK airport in New York in 1991. If it's still there, the keys are in the glovebox!
1987 Vauxhall Cavalier (think Holden Camira) diesel. My mini-cab that I drove in London for a year. Served me well, but ordinary car!
1974 Datsun 120Y - freebie hand-me-down from my brother when I was skint after travelling. Made the Vauxhall seem good.
1982 Toyota Celica - bought from a granny with ultra low kms. Reliable but boring, a 2-door Corona basically.
1988 Honda Integra - not a bad little unit.
1994 Ford Telstar TX5 V6. Quite a good car, but the tranny exploded at 90,000kms.
1994 Peugeot 306 S16 - awesome little unit. best handling car I've driven. It scared me with its corner speeds.
1999 Seat Cordoba SXE - surprised me with how good a little unit it was.
2008 Peugeot 207GT - not as good as the 306.
2011 Skoda Octavia RS TSI manual wagon - best car I've owned. Hard to fault it.

NOW:

2008 Skoda Octavia RS TSI hatch manual - tuned to 185kw. Goes like stink and handles better than the wagon.
1974 Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 - no car has ever made me smile like this does.
1970 Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina - project car. Gonna be a beast if I can ever get it finished!

[The Speedfighter]

Now that's what you call p*rn on wheels. What a stunning car!!!!!

[zei20t]

that alfa looks fantastic!

my father in law has a 1750 of similar age. great looking car.

[Damo105]

Thanks for the compliments guys. I do love my Alfa. Have had it for 7 years, and much time, effort and money (sigh) has gone into it. Had the engine rebuilt including some mild performance mods, so it's now about 150HP at the flywheel (dyno'd at 110HP at the wheels). The suspension was developed by a UK company run by crazy Alfa nuts who test all their stuff on the Nurburgring.

By modern standards it's not that fast, but it has enough poke to have shedloads of fun. And for a 40yo car the handling is sensational. In the twisty stuff you can just point the front in and steer with the throttle. For me, these old rear wheel drive Italian cars are what driving is all about. You can feel everything the car is doing, and you drive by the seat of your pants. Can only imagine how much fun the V12 Ferraris of the same vintage are!

Alfa is tentatively for sale btw!

[The Speedfighter]

Alfa is tentatively for sale btw!

sorry to see that

how much did you want to sell it for if you don't mind me asking?

[Damo105]

sorry to see that

how much did you want to sell it for if you don't mind me asking?

It's worth about $30k.

[k_rider]

Now that's what you call p*rn on wheels. What a stunning car!!!!!

+1

That pic so reminds me of my 124 (I'll need to try and find a (pre-digital age) pic of it), very similar lines. Probably the same Pininfarina influence. The Alfa is a little prettier than the Fiat though...

[Damo105]

+1

That pic so reminds me of my 124 (I'll need to try and find a (pre-digital age) pic of it), very similar lines. Probably the same Pininfarina influence. The Alfa is a little prettier than the Fiat though...

There are some similarities, although the Alfa was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro when he first worked at Bertone. He penned the design of the first 105 series coupe (Giulia Sprint GT) in 1960 when he was 22 years old! Can you believe that? From memory it was only the second car he'd designed. He also designed the first Golf, Passat and Scirocco.

The auto industry named him Car Designer of the Century in 1999. No surprise!

[Weekend-Warrior]

Sticking with a theme...



Only ever sold one car which was an 86 Nissan Pulsar ET Turbo. Still have the others which are a 92 Subaru Liberty RS Turbo (heavily modified, new engine should have almost 500hp at the flywheel) and a 07 Audi RS4.

[dagget]

Pre Skoda we have had as daily drivers:

1998 Honda CRV (still with us for dirty jobs ))
1995 Renault Laguna
1993 Renault 19RT
1975 Mercedes 280
1972 Mercedes 280SE 3.5
1973 Jaguar XJ6

Recently gone to a new home or the classic car show in the sky

1970 Triumph 2.5PI
1965 Triumph Spitfire
1974 Triumph Stag
1969 Triumph 2000Mk1
1973 Triumph 2000Mk2
1963 1200 Beetle Ruby Red
1965 1200 Beetle Polar White