A weekend Car

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Tue 21 Jun 2005 14:20
A weekend Car - daveyjp
A colleague has moved in to a flat which is in the next block to the office. He currently has a 1995 Escort which is approaching 'retirement'. He used to do 60 miles per day to work and back, he now does 50 yards by foot during the week and a few miles at weekends.

His Escort is dying so he has had the idea of getting a weekend car for less than £10k. He initially thought about an American muscle car such as a Mustang as he likes the noise of a a V8 (!) but budget and other factors may prohibit.

We then went on to discuss other vehicles which may offer him something different and covered all angles - V8 Rovers, Supras, Skylines, Jaguars, Bentley, Westfield, Porsche etc.

Any other ideas of a car which would offer some weekend fun?

The other factors are:

His mechanical knowledge is limited to checking tyre pressures and the dipstick. He doesn't want to spend hours a week getting his hands dirty.

He doesn't have a garage.

All ideas will be considered!
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Tue 21 Jun 2005 14:33
A weekend Car - bazza
Not having a garage must be a very limiting factor if the weekend car isn't going to attract the wrong kind of interest. Depends where he lives I guess. I was going to suggest something overtly sporty like an Elise or Caterham 7, but I wouldn't want to leave anything like that outside during the week. So what about something modern, with good security and perhaps not too different to mainstream? Impreza, EVO, Seat Cupra possibly? Depends on his taste.
Baz
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Tue 21 Jun 2005 14:42
A weekend Car - daveyjp
The car will be left in a secure car park as he lives in a mill conversion with a car park in the mill yard.
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Tue 21 Jun 2005 14:46
A weekend Car - Chad.R
Yep, not having a garage is going to limit the choice severely IMO. It may be worthwhile trying to find a lockup to rent locally - even if it's only somewhere to store the car Mon-Fri.

All depends on the area of course - if you've got Porsches, Mercs, Jags, BMWs etc. littering the place at night, I wouldn't be too bothered about parking my Impreza/Evo along with them.

With your mate's criteria and assuming he can rent a garage, I'd say go for a MX5.
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Tue 21 Jun 2005 14:48
A weekend Car - Chad.R
Ooops, just saw your post!

In that case, I'd definitely go with the MX5 and perhaps with the optional hardtop for the winter months.
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Tue 21 Jun 2005 23:20
A weekend Car - Kevin
>MX5 and perhaps with the optional hardtop...

A hairdresser's car with a hardtop that is a two-man job to fit and nowhere to store it?

Nahh, a Corvette, Camaro Z28 with T-tops or a Mustang GT ragtop if he's prepared to spend the time keeping the canvas algae-free.

All of them have bullet-proof mechanicals and endless torque, 22mpg combined and cheap insurance. My Z28 costs about £320pa fully comp. plus business, less than 6K per year. Fully comp. plus business unlimited mileage is about £380.

Kevin...
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Wed 22 Jun 2005 10:23
A weekend Car - Garethj
Mustang would be a hoot, with the www parts are available from the US in a week and they're not exactly complicated to repair so most garages should be able to do it if only because the mechanics will love to blip the throttle during tune-ups!

Alternatively, a second hand track car? One that's already built will be much cheaper than building it yourself so that's £5k for a car, money left for a blown engine or body repairs and lots of fun on weekends.
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