My Old Cars

The first car here is my old Peugeot 309, which I owned for about three years and which had quite a tough time with me. In fact, I got rid of it at the point that it was just about starting to fall apart - for a start it wouldn't stay in gear and the exhaust was on the verge of falling off. Sure, all things that can be cured, but not worth it on a car worth about £100! It has a 1.6 petrol engine and because it was light, it had good acceleration. It had soft suspension and was very comfortable, but also quite good fun down twisty lanes. A car that I miss a bit even now.

The next car is my old Rover 420 SLi. It had a two-litre engine that produced about 135 BHP, and again, since the car was fairly light, it had good acceleration. It had a fairly classy interior and looked quite smart after a bit of polish, and was the first "nice" car that I ever owned. Perhaps the thing I remember most about this car was how rough the engine used to get if you really revved it hard - the gear stick used to vibrate over about 5500 RPM, but the car was very comfortable and served me well for about three years.

Finally we have a Ford Focus that I had for about 12 months, purchased before I sold my Toledo. The Focus was a very good car and I liked it, but it never quite made such a good impression on me as the other cars I owned. I think that was due mainly to two factors. First, compared with the Toledo, the Focus seemed to be built rather badly, and was rattling and creaking within months of buying it. I also think I made a mistake going for the two-litre engine, as the car was neither particularly quick nor economical. It gave about 33 MPG for 130 BHP, whereas my Vectra gives about 30 MPG for 208 BHP. It used to go around corners as though it was on rails, so it wasn't all bad!