I was recently left without a car as the old one died, so a few weeks shopping around and eventually got a great deal, however, two of the cars I viewed were: 1998 Rover 620 and 1995 Lexus LS400 - both of which were ready to die also. Always loved big luxury cars but could never quite afford these when they came out new (being 17/18 at the time) and no other current luxury car "does it for me". In other words, would rather spend £500 - £900 on one of these than £30k on a BMW, Audi, or Mercedes (not that I have £30k).
I keep having dreams about owning a car like one of these, constantly look for cheap deals on auction websites / car websites, watching similar cars being renovated on Wheeler Dealer, checking out parked cars, and going round second hand dealers.
Is this really strange that I'd fantasise about having one of these as a second car just for fun and the odd drive out in the country but not a permanent every day car? Can't help but think it is a stupid obsession, and don't know the first thing about the mechanical side.
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Perhaps you should look at the parallel Snobbery thread .. :-)
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It is not weird, perverted, or whatever else you want to call it.
If you can afford the insurance/fuel why not buy one of these luxo-barges for £500, and run it till something goes wrong with it.
It maybe expensive, or it could be relativley cheap if you follow bangernomic rules.
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Is this really strange that I'd fantasise about having one of these as a second car just for fun and the odd drive out in the country but not a permanent every day car?
Naw. Perfectly normal.
My fantasy is an RX300. Now that is weird.
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Its an itch that needs to be scratched.
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I'd like to find a Lada 1200/1500 for the same sort of reasons - nostalgia for the time I lived in the Soviet Union. I just can't bring myself to try to justify it to my good wife.
If you find one, and you can afford it, go for it.
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> I'd like to find a Lada 1200/1500 for the same sort of reasons
oh dear - thats not an itch to scratch, thats a skin disease ;/
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Lada 1200 was certainly the nastiest car I have ever owned, although not necessarily the most useless.
Perhaps they came into their own on the frozen steppe. The heater was very powerful, as good as a General Motors one.
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"justify it to my good wife"
Have you got more than one, then? :-)
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I'd like to find a Lada 1200/1500
I too have a Lada fascination, but I fancy a Niva Cossack.
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Plenty of bangernomics stuff on this site. The bigger Japanese cars have almost zero s/h value once they're over ten years old, and yet usually have plenty of life left in them. Lexuses (Lexi?) are a bit of an exception because of the badge, but old Toyotas, Nissans and Mazdas are usually as cheap as chips. Have a browse on Ebay for ideas...
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I noticed from the paper today that one of a pair of female twins has been named Lexus. Curious choice really. Far less understandable than the sudden popularity of the hitherto unknown boy's name 'Scud' in North Africa during the first Gulf War.
The girl's name Portia, out of fashion these days, is pronounced the same as Porsche.
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Not weird. But I would say the Lexus is the better bet. I had a 2000 Accord, which I understand is the equivalent to the Rover 620 (but in basic trim) and it was a great car, but the Rovers don't really attract me.
As long as you can afford to lose the money, and understand the risks, what's stopping you?
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"pronounced the same as Porsche"
Hence John Cleese's amusement in 'A fish called Wanda' where Kevin Kline's character thinks JC has called his daughter after a car...
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Have you seen the price of chips recently...now £1.30 a bag at my local chippy.
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My weird fantasy is owning the sharknose BMW 5-series, which is what I'm looking for now. ;-)
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Whatever lights your candle.
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