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OK the answer depends greatly on whether you commute by car, need a reliable one, drive motorways vs. B-roads etc.
But for my money (I don't fit into the above) a car that gets exciting before you hit 70 is more smiles per £.
My (mum's ex) '89 1.1 Polo taught me how to keep speed in corners, my mk1 MX5 gets me smiling every time I drive it with the hood down, I'd love a mk2 Escort or Elan M100. (My Amazon and P1800 looked great but were not great driving experiences, though I know the former could have been)
Am I alone on here?
I've got a Mk1 Mx5 which is amazing and a 1974 Elan +2 that is not so amazing because its rather broken 🙁
I love my VW High Up! (75 bhp), took a few weeks to get used to, but now 6 months on and I am still loving it. For most of my driving a super-mini is perfectly adequate (just don't brake sharply at 85 mph).
Not sure I would go for the cabrio version if and when it is launched.
My Audi Quattro (200bhp) sits in the garage all week and all but scares the shit out of me now when I drive it. Plus the suspension now seems super firm. I do favour its brakes mind 😆
I had a Suzuki Cappuccino until it was nicked and written off.
65 BHP, limited to 85mph, but boy never driven anything since that drove so well or as much fun.
Anything that costs about £100, not too worried about stepping beyond its limits on a quiet road. Ring a scrappy and ask for a lift home if it won't drive again.
Old Skoda rapide a mate had fitted this well, rear engine, rear drive, £65, ended up on its roof outside Tesco after much drifting fun.
Outright speed does get a bit dull; acceleration, handling and pushing the cars limits are more fun. More capable cars have to be pushed at silly speeds to become interesting, pushing the limit in my old 106 1.1 was so much more involving than driving the same speed in more capable cars. Since I got rid of my land rover 'toys' I keep promising myself I'll get a caterham or other 7-esque toy, but need more garage space and can't bring myself to part with the quad bike.
Was thinking about this earlier, and if you've got the money, you can have both. Pick up a ropey old classic, then put some decent running gear in gear in it, get the bodywork up to scratch and you've got a good, fun everyday car. One of the lads at work has a Cappuchino, unfortunately he had a halfwit white van driver run into the back of it, only had it a month! Written off, but he's bought it back and is going to get the damage sorted privately. Great little car, they go even better with a 400bhp 1500 Hyabusa motor in... (There's one racing in a GT Championship). There's a Q-car for you!
Ok, it's not really a Q-car, but listen to that engine!
+1 for cheap and chearful.
James Hunt's favourite wheels were an Austin A35 van.
Like Al, my first car was underpowered but had excellent handling. A 998cc Mini pick up. Driving it flat out and conserving every ounce of speed through corners you could nip on without fear.
I had a go of a Porche Boxter last night on our back roads and it terrified me.
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Classic Mini if you can get into one 😉
Driven loads of so called sports cars, but the old Mini had me parking up with the biggest grin factor and all at licence friendly speeds.