I am in the fortunate position of having 2 cars due to necessity with SWMBO going in one direction and me in another.
I am doubly fortunate that one of these is a brand new Scenic with all the toys. The other is a Citroen Saxo 1.5d 1997 P Reg with 66,000 miles on the clock.
The Scenic is great to drive, comfy, quiet, great engine etc.
However, and this is the point of this thread (eventually) there is something raw and basic about the Saxo that makes it so enjoyable to drive. It is difficult to put into words but it is such an involved driving experience.
Going along the motorway at 70mph you are aware that your car doesnt have ABS like all the big boys about you and you take that into account, in a city centre you can nip into gaps and park where others can't, being 7 years old with its fair share of dents and dings you don't need to be that careful about parking scrapes etc. When overtaking you need to make sure you have time for your manoeuvre.
But then you get back into the Scenic and, apart from trying to release the non-existent handbrake, the driving experience is almost boring!
Don't get me wrong, this is not about a Scenic being a poor car, this is about the enjoyment you can get when you go back to basics.
Anyone else got similar contrast of cars?
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Know what you mean. I've just driven my daughter's Cinquecento (not even a Sport version) from Leicester to Sunderland, had to fetch her home because not well (daughter, not Fiat).
Not much power, no power steering and dwarfed, and bullied, by everything else. However the car sat solidly on the road at 70mph and the steering has lots of feel. Never felt bored at any time.
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Going back a long way in time, I had an NSU 1000C in the 70s. This car had wonderful basic handling and a very free revving (albeit, noisy) engine. Being rear wheel drive, it was a bit twitchy in cross winds, but on country roads it was great, once I had got some decent radial tyres on it (the original Continental crossply tyres where awful, with no grip at all). It was also a super car for town/city driving, being very easy to park and manoeuvre.
Since that time, I have had two Peugeot 309s, which were lovely cars to drive, with great handling, and two Citroens, a ZX and a Xantia, which also had lovely handling. We still have the Xantia, which has now passed its 10th birthday.
None of the above cars had any gizmos at all, unless you count electric windows and sunroof on the Xantia, but that didn't detract from the driving pleasure.
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In 1986 I bought a Fiat Uno 70SX with 1.3 litre engine. It was lovely but leaked water into the car from the boot lid. So I was given a courtesy Uno with 1.0 litre engine and 45bhp. Wow! It was so good. It handled better, seemed faster to eccelerate and it was just as if the car and me were surgically joined. If it wasnlt for the huge loss of money and only three doors I would have swapped the cars over.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I have the same memory of a Fiat Uno 45 that I had as a courtesy car, at about the same time. Mind you, the build quality was awful.
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I finally got rid of Uno 70 after 18 months and sued the supplying delaer for the loss of value as they couldn't find the leak and other faults developed. Bought a 1988 Golf MkII facelift which was fine, but not as good as Stuartli will insist upon!
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Talking of Unos, and in the same vein, I remember hiring an Uno in Tenerife 10 years ago and drove it, with 4 adults on board, to the top of Mount Teide and back. It was a great drive.
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Why is it that cars we have temporarily, are so much better than those we drive permanently.
Most of you will know I drive a Volvo S80 2.9. A big comfortable barge to waft around Manchester between surveys. But on holiday I hire Kangoos and Doblos and Serenas etc. I have great fun and get to thinking '.... why, I'l sell the Volvo when I get home and buy a cheap diesel passenger van and advertise my firm on the side..' Somehow, it doesn't happen............!
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I think there's definitely a place in the family for an old car. In our case it's a 1994 Cavalier 1.8. It's great not to worry about where you drive in it, where you park it, who drives it, what you put in it! Someone is always taking something to the tip in it and regularly it's got straw bales in the back going up a rough farm track. Last weekend it was used to transport an old greenhouse (in bits)and it's moved all sorts of furniture over the years.
However the imminent arrival of a new Micra on order and an agreement to let someone else have the Cavalier means these duties will now fall to a 2000 Mondeo we have, which is still a smart car, so I'm thinking perhaps we could do with something else too!
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in a city centre you can nip into gaps and park where others can't, being 7 years old with its fair share of dents and dings you don't need to be that careful about parking scrapes etc.
I'm sure you're perfectly careful anyway, since the thing you're scraping against might not have as unconcerned an owner? ;)
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Bobby you are voicing the reason a lot of us have a classic vehicle of some sort. It's a whole different driving experience, just as pleasant but in different ways, great as long as you have something modern for the long commutes and cold winter mornings. Maybe not everyone's taste but each to their own.
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I have a Vectra 2.0dl,with power steering,air con,abs etc etc.But the wife has a 1997 Micra 1.3sr,with nothing except electric windows,and belive it or not,the damn thing is quicker off the mark than the Vectra,accelerates better than the Vectra,and,surprisingly,has a faster top speed than the Vectra,and when I drive it I LOVE IT.
I suppose that I'm used to raw power,because I also have a Citoen AX Class 4 autograss car,with a welded diff,and boy,is that a handful when you are moving slowly,but under full thrash,it feels better than sex.
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Yes, our daughters first car was a Suzuki SC 100 purchased by SWMBO, which daughter had for ten years still in very good nick until unlawfully rammed amidships by a person from overseas and written off by the insurers, bless 'em.
Every time I got a shot at it was fun, whether belting round the back roads or winding up to the ton with a good breeze behind, on a happy solo run from Malvern to Scotland; neither of my ladies was told about these things until later!
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PS Aforesaid daughter has recently acquired an Ignis Sport reviving the tradition, but I'm not sure I'm going to get at it (there did not seem to be all this fuss about insurance in the old days, for one thing).
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My V70 2.4T
Solid
Refined
Effortless
SWMBO's 306 1.8 SR Sedan
Simply 'alive' :-)
Truly the best way to describe it.
You hear and feel everything going on with this honest motor that has no pretentions or aspirations to be something it isn't.
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Someone put something in your Iron Bru BobbyG? Ok yes its fun to thrash the wifes clio to within an inch of its life, and it does make a satisfying Tick, tick, tick noise as it cools down and takes its breath after some strenuous exercise, but its still a civilised modern car. Get me in an old car and I think "yes its an old car"
If I want feel, fun, connectivity, the man and machine type bonding I will do it in a sports car thank you or the original mini!!!! a Mk1 Golf GTI or the original 205 GTI.
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1997 Mercedes C class auto, and a 1986 Renault 4, very manual. It's interesting trying to drive one after the other...
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2003 Picasso HDi Exclusive, 15,000 miles from new. Comfy, economical, toys - cruise, aircon, s/roof, computer, folding mirrors. Seats out for the Calais wine run, roof box on for holidays. Suits us well. Enjoy driving it? Not really. Too remote an experience. You sit too high for a start, quite a bit underpowered, pitches and rolls too much and the gear change is sloppy.
1997 Mondeo 2.0, 125,000 miles, bought at auction 7 months and 18,000 miles ago for one tenth the price of the Picasso. Mechanically excellent, bodywork and trim far less so! I often find myself coming off the motorway a couple of junctions early to take the longer B road route home. Excellent engine/chassis combo reminds me of the last car I owned and enjoyed driving so much, a MKII Golf GTI, more than 20 years ago.
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