What has been the "best" car you owned?

[Imurg]

I'm very jealous, they are worth ALOT now.

Hardly any left now..
Really sweet 16v Twin Cam engine similar to the one in the MR2.
Red line was about 7900rpm..

 

[Beezerk]

Had a 2005 Mini Cooper for about 3 or 4 years, the thing was essentially a go kart with big wheels and engine.
Had so much fun driving that thing, probably the only car I miss.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Good point from @MegaSteve , a different answer each time I think about it.

I'll go for a Skoda Yeti. Faultless in 2 horrible winters, ferried the family around with minimal effort, a doddle to drive and park and a lovely driving position. It also made me smile each time i got in it as at the time it was considered quirky.

 

[Blue in Munich]

Best was a Subaru Legacy estate which I had for nearly 10 years & murphthemog told me I shouldn't swap. A Ronseal car, did everything it said on the tin, no fuss, no bother and something about the way it sat on the road that I haven't experienced in anything else. If it wasn't for the CVT box I'd have upgraded to a newer one.

Most fun, Ford Escort Mk 1 1300E, great little car.

 

[Wildrover]

My Skoda Fabia VRS (the old 1.9 turbo diesel one). It went like stink, did 60mpg without even trying. Put about 60k miles on it in 3 years and only had to replace a headlight bulb.

 

[need_my_wedge]

Been driving for 40 years and had 23 motors that I can remember in that time, and more than one favourite. Had an xr3i cabriolet in the 80's, which isn't that good of a motor but I loved it at the time. Only had it a month before it was nicked, never to be seen again.

Saab 9-3 soft top was fun to drive on my commute in the summer.

Recently traded my GLA for a new A class (instead if going electric) only the second auto I've ever bought, and it is so much fun to drive, just love being out in it.

My other current motor is an XC60 and is a firm favourite, comfortable and just goes anywhere, but my all time favourite was my Toyota Hilux Surf. I bought when I was living in Tokyo back in 2001, had only been there a month. Was walking past the dealership one Sunday afternoon, they had a special edition golden anniversary land cruiser and we went in to have a nose, came out having ordered a new Hilux Surf Black Navigator. It came fully loaded with all mod cons including air on and satnav which was pretty new back then. We bought it back to the UK when we moved back, cost a whopping £600 to ship it back in 2003, kept it for 8 years and loved every minute spent in it. The only downside was the 2.7 litre petrol engine. Right at the time petrol prices began to spiral. It just became too expensive for me to run doing a 120 mile round trip to the office every day. Wish I still had it.

 

[Blue in Munich]

A titanium coloured Lotus Elise. Difficult to get in and out of but great fun to drive. Bought it secondhand, had it about 3 years, and got back pretty much what we paid for it .

With your hips? Or was that the cause...

 

[spongebob59]

Corolla. T sport, had it for the 5 years I had a lengthy commute to work.

Like driving i n a armchair but enough grunt to get round the M25 when needed.
Only changed tyres on it, ultra reliable.

 

[chrisd]

With your hips? Or was that the cause...

It was like getting in a Letter box . To be fair Mrsd drove it mostly and her main claim was that she could get a week shop in it ?

 

[rulefan]

MG Maestro. Perfect for a small family and a real wolf in sheep's clothing. Out dragged hot Golfs, Peugeots et al on Southport/Ainsdale beach. But the kids got bigger and had to up the size.

 

[cliveb]

Hardly any left now..
Really sweet 16v Twin Cam engine similar to the one in the MR2.
Red line was about 7900rpm..

Is that the 4AGE (1600cc)? That was a lovely engine.
I had a Mk1 MR2 with that in it. Fun to drive but could be a bit skittish.

 

[Ethan]

Most fun: Honda Civic VTi, 1.6 16v, 150 bhp, revved to 8000, amazing acceleration in upper rev band.

Best: Current car, Audi A6 3.0BiTdi, 309 bhp, comfortable, easy to drive, well equipped, very quick in Sport mode, very relaxed in Drive, good size boot, stable quattro handling.

 

[BubbaP]

Favourite was a 1985 Toyota Corolla GT
Little 3 door hatchback with all the skirts and spoilers.
More than enough performance, wide tyres, exhaust the size of a grapefruit and the associated noise.
Loved it.

My mate had this and I had the 3 door mazda 323 GT - so doing the jap thing.
It was the time where Fords (see post 26), Pugs and VW hatches were being nicked every minute and insurance was a 'mare. The maz was an 'insurance beater' and more than matched the mainstream options. I actually replaced it with the newer model ? Them were the days you could actually drive around a bit also...
Edit: and you could fit a driver/bag straight across the boot ?

 

[Imurg]

Is that the 4AGE (1600cc)? That was a lovely engine.
I had a Mk1 MR2 with that in it. Fun to drive but could be a bit skittish.

Sounds familiar.
I wanted the GT Coupe but that was RWD and, apparently, a bit of a Widowmaker......

 

[Lump]

Loved every minute of ownership. Should have kept it, prices are still on the up. Be worth more now than when I owned it

 

[USER1999]

I have had some cars I loved, that were just fantastic for different reasons, so hard to choose. Some fun (BMW E85 Z4 3.0 CSI -still got), some practical (Mercedes E300 Turbo diesel touring), some eccentric (Chrysler 300 touring), some that just fit like a glove (Audi coupe GT 2.2i).

Best?

Current drive. Mercedes CLS 63 AMGS Shooting brake. 5.5 lt V8, 577 bhp, 0 to 60 in 4.2s, comfortable, good handling, very well made, one of 72, so ticks the unusual box, and just love the noise it makes.

 

[Foxholer]

Without doubt my C Class Mercedes. It was a 250TD automatic sport. Fantastic drive, so smooth with the auto gearbox. Great all round vision and very comfortable.
Everything about it put a smile on my face in addition to the pointed star on the bonnet.

Certainly tough to beat German cars for reliability/build quality and comfortable touring if, perhaps, not cost to run!
I had a BMW 280 for 300kmiles and a (film star - last Morse episode) Audi a6/200 for 150-ish followed by an A6 2.8 quattro that I 'chipped' for a bit/even more get-up-and-go. All thouroughly reliable. all Autos and pretty much simple maintenance. The BM 280 was 'interesting' in that the 'inovative' service indicator became dodgy just when BM were pushing its 'benefits'. And the (I believe) BM invention/feature/innovation of a mechanism on the fan meant that in slow moving/stationary traffic, the radiator temp got up+ to 140* - even when 'stalled' because of the snow on the road - coming home on the M25 from Essex one year! That was, I understand, the reason the Police stopped using that model - as they often had 'similar/equivalent conditions'!

 

[Blue in Munich]

I have had some cars I loved, that were just fantastic for different reasons, so hard to choose. Some fun (BMW E85 Z4 3.0 CSI -still got), some practical (Mercedes E300 Turbo diesel touring), some eccentric (Chrysler 300 touring), some that just fit like a glove (Audi coupe GT 2.2i).

Best?

Current drive. Mercedes CLS 63 AMGS Shooting brake. 5.5 lt V8, 577 bhp, 0 to 60 in 4.2s, comfortable, good handling, very well made, one of 72, so ticks the unusual box, and just love the noise it makes.

It does make a nice noise ?

 

[Deleted member 16999]

My “best” car purely for sentimental reasons would be my first, an old Austin Maxi, had it for 2 years and got me from Andover to Liverpool nearly every weekend for that period, never let me down and was only sold because I was posted to Germany.

 

[Hobbit]

Triumph Dolomite Sprint. Well capable of biting you in the bum if you got it wrong.