Lots of people imagine car journalists only ever drive shiny, brand-new cars they don't own. And, yes, we do get to do quite a lot of that. But if you were to take a look at our garages and driveways, you'd find a wide assortment of cars on which our writers have shelled out their own cash. In no particular order you'll find everything from a BMW X5 to a Lancia Fulvia and a Volkswagen Lupo. After the demise of Shed 7 and then nine months with Shed 5, I decided to give up on the idea of having a mile-munching motor. I just wanted to mooch. It had to be more comfy than my Land Rover Series III and less frantically fun than my Mini Cooper. I spotted this 3 Series beauty in the online classified ads back in the summer of 2016, when I was too busy to get involved.
It was £4999. I tried to forget about it and did that very successfully until last December, when it popped up on my classic car radar: same ad, pictures and price. I think what had put buyers off was the three-speed auto and quite possibly the fantastically 1970s colour that is Kaschmir. The factory air conditioning and Alpina alloy wheels were two more reasons for me to make this my own car. And, yes, it was compact enough to slide easily into my 1970s double garage. The price dropped to £4500, and then, after I’d seen it, to £3700. However, when I went to collect the car, there was a catch: no UK registration documents. I did get a bit angry. The car had spent time in Italy. It took the best part of five months to sort out the paperwork, but it has been worth the wait. When was the last time you saw a first-generation 3 Series? I just pop outside.
The upside is that I get to drive it whenever I want. Starting from cold remains something of a challenge because the Solex carburettor does its best to stop it firing up. Eventually, it splutters into life and we are off. The automatic gearbox suits it perfectly and pulls it along with 21st century traffic while the air-con wheezes at me - but at least it actually expels cool air. That’s right: this is a really cool car. I feel about 1% responsible for Jesse's BMW being at Santa Pod for this shoot because I told him to buy an X5 as a tug a few years back. I love the fact that it’s so insanely pretty. I also love the way that Jesse, being Jesse, has cleverly rigged a reversing camera into the onboard telly. There’ll be some premium SUV action soon. Mrs R wants to change her reliable BMW X5.
We’ve rejected a Mercedes M-Class. She’s not keen on a column gear shift. Now a Porsche Cayenne is on the cards. I have a strange affliction: I prefer well-used middle-aged cars to their gleaming modern equivalents. Many factors are at play, with one undoubtedly being the urgings of my Scottish genes to save money. I’ve owned the A6 for just over three years. It was bought for £6000 - a valuation delivered by We Buy Any Car - from a friend anxious to get rid. It had some minor faults and a galaxy of white stone chips peeking through the black paint thanks to its 145,000 miles. But the fundamentals were backed up by a solid two inches of main dealer service history. The mileage has recently passed 180,000 and there have been some fairly substantial bills during that period. Routine servicing isn’t cheap and the failure of the crankshaft pulley that drives ancillaries cost £750 to put right. Low-profile rubber and poor-quality British Tarmac have also caused me to fork out for four replacement tyres, and a convincing kangaroo impression on rough roads suggests I’ll need to budget for a new set of dampers soon.
