My previous cars

From my youth, the 2CV has always been a winner. Fine handling, left-foot-braking, punchy boxer engine, amusing dynamics, loads of load space, great engineering - the list goes on. As I grew more in need of something that would cruise, cars such as a Fiat 500 (firstly rear engined with a Honda CX500, then mid engined with a Kawasaki GPZ900R), Beetle [VW Bug], Rover V8, Caterham 7, Golf [Rabbit] and Peugeot 205 1.9 came and went. Upset with the horrendousness of powerful front wheel drive there came a time where I needed a another cheap rear wheel drive car. After looking at a few ropy Esprits and TVR's I was in despair. Then someone suggested a 924. He refuted my suggestion that it was a van-engined slug and suggested a Turbo. Four grand later I took possession. After a totally trouble free year I sold the 924, for four grand, knowing I would miss the fabulous neutral slides and great build quality. For a brief moment I was back into another 205 1.9 (though I didn't add a nitrous oxide system to this one…) and then I took the plunge into a new 968 Club Sport. A tremendous minimalist and focused car with great torque and power (especially after chipping from 240 bhp up to 260 bhp), loads of grip but best of all hugely entertaining handling. Big four wheel drifts, long power slides, wet or dry, they were all easy for an ordinary (but enthusiastic) road driver to perform in safety. It had volumes of information coming back through the steering and suspension, and had a natural affinity to going at about 30 degrees to the direction of travel, but never any more. The 968 was a great car, especially in CS form (though I've also very much enjoyed a couple of Sports), a triumph of the wonderful 4 cylinder cars that ultimately in my opinion at least, made a car better in most aspects than the 911 (964 and previous, though the 993 puts up a better fight). The only area of major disappointment in the comparison was that the 968 engine, while producing all the power and torque required in a smooth and efficient fashion, was as dull sounding as they come.

In the last few years I have been in the fortunate position of having a very close business relationship with a local Mercedes and Porsche dealer, so I have taken advantage of many extended "product tests", including nearly every regular model Porsche have made in the last 6 or 7 years. All the cars I've ever owned have been manual. If you want an auto, surely you're better off in a car that does that job well, like a Lexus, instead of a sports car.

After 3 years and 58,000 miles the 968 went and the 986 arrived.

Following is a gallery of some of the cars I've owned (except the racing 2CV, which I was just involved with the team...)