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Another stroll down memory lane, this one. What is the best car you ever owned ? The one that got away. The one that you wish you still had and would like to own again ? What was so good about it and why did it leave you ? Mine is my Mercedes 450SEL 6.9 which departed last year. A very rare car and ever since I heard that there was a car that had a 6.9 litre engine when I was 13, I knew I had to have one. Mine was silver with blue velour upholstery (an option which cost more than leather in its day !) It went like stink and was a true surprise to Nova-boy who only saw the 6.9 badge when it came storming past his peach-fuzz-mustachioed face. Sadly, the hydropneumatic suspension defeated me. It failed its MOT necessitating replacement. Given the rarity of the parts, I was soon parted with £5,000 and had to face reality that with 3 kids this was not a sensible place to pour money. It left and I wish I still had it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_450SEL_6.9

Simple: the one I currently own, a Rover 75 CDTI Tourer. Love the fact that its different to anything else. Love the ambience of the interior which feels distinctly armchair like. Love the fact that it always feels special when I climb back into it after driving something else. I know its not perfect, it could do with more power to offset the weight, and the rear could do with more room. But its knocking on the door of 100,000 miles, and managed to be our car when we moved abroad, (you dont see too many right hand drive Rover 75's in Austria I can tell you!!!!) Its also very comfortable for two children, and it has a load more character than a lot of other compact execs have. Its the only car I am happy to keep until it falls apart. Indeed I will have to do that to offset the fact that as a resale proposition its value is very poor. Indeed I rather fancy a respray, as thats the only part of the car not wearing its age so well. Question is who would do it, and for how much?!!!!! Oh that, and do I keep it Copperleaf red, or X Power Grey...............

A  1999 Rover 75 2.5 V6, called HG after 'HG Wells', the noted Victorian Journalist and author of numerous books.

The odometer dials reminded me of the 1960 version of 'The Time Machine'. The car was very smooth, comfortable and beautiful to look at.

A 93 Suzuki Cappuccino. It was de-restricted and would do over the ton without thinking. That was fun due to the fact my backside could not have been more than 6 inches for Mr Tarmac. I also discovered why rear wheel drive is the proper way to drive a vehicle.

The old tin worm scared me into selling it....

DAMN!

Fairly easy for me too.

I love my Legacy.  A great combination of handling, grip and pace plus the way it does it makes you smile and the sound from the flat six is awesome.

The interior is not up to the standard of Audi but will last the distance without serious wear and 18k miles without a single problem or niggle is not to be sniffed at.

Four adults can travel in comfort as the suspension is firm without being harsh and the boot is huge.

I used to have a Daihatsu Fourtrak for towing once and that was another car I really loved.

I've enjoyed all of my cars (except may be for an Ebay purchased Westfield!) for different reasons.  The one car I would have back in a heart beat though was a 306 XSi.

This was one of the original shaped 2.0 8v cars.  Probably the best built 306 I've bought (I've had four - so far!), and by far the sweetest all rounder.

Since then I've had a GTi-6 and an XS 16v, both the newer shape, and neither of which were a patch on that one.

I currently own a mk3 golf 1.4 and love it, its got 150k on the clock n still starts every day. It looks good n feels solidly built the only thing thats gone wrong is the glovebox handle keeps breaking off! but still before my golf i had a brand new citroen c2 and after 20k i was that fed up of being a regular at the dealer i got rid!

Depends on what I was buying it for at the time. for all round appeal the 159 I have now is the best, but this lacks boot space and is down on performance against my Octavia vRS which was also extremely good.

Out of all the cars I've owned the one I miss the most has to be my proton. (Stop laughing at the back!)

It was a 1.5 12v Hatchback, on a K plate. I loved it, It started every time first time, did 40+ Mpg, After some home made performance bodges it'd do 0-60 in under 10secs. The steering had absolutely no feel whatsoever, wich made country lanes a scream and it had a strange tendency to oversteer wildly if you even thought about lifting off round a bend.

The Brown interior was lovely..well no it wasn't but it does make a change from grey :)

OH..........MY............GOD

 

Despite currently having an RS4 Avant and previously an S4 Avant, they can still not beat a W124 Merc 230E estate I had. My biggest regret is ever selling it and it would be perfect to own as a workhorse now along with the RS4. In terms of comfort, build quality and practicality it is impossible to beat. In fact does anyone know of any good ones for sale ??!!.