Owning

In my last Carrera RS update, I voiced my distress at seeing most of the front end of the car in a rust-riddled and singed heap on the workshop floor. The situation rapidly improved as new panels were welded into place and front wings and doors temporarily attached to ensure that everything was aligned properly. With the Porsche once again looking like a more-or-less intact car, I was lulled into imagining that the job was almost there. Hmm. How foolish of me.

I’ve always wondered if the caveman that invented the wheel ever imagined we’d all be sitting in endless traffic jams. The romanticism of the journey is quickly dispelled by the sound of bass-driven rap music from the car next to me. I must admit, though, that the Audi has been pulling its weight in hauling me and my photo gear effortlessly from adventure to adventure - and I’m always looking for opportunities to place my car wherever I happen to be.

It’s been a busy few weeks for Paul’s 2000 Jaguar XK8 4.0 X100 having been compared to not one or two but three rivals. Although the 18th century French philosopher and mathematician, the Marquis de Condorcet, once advised to, “Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of another,” I still find pitching my XK8 against rivals from the same era to be a fascinating experience.

With warpaint inspired by the legendary Green Hell, this Mercedes-AMG GT R is a serious track monster. WORDS DAN BEVIS IMAGES JASON DODD HellbeastIt may seem like an obvious thing to say, but the Mercedes-AMG GT is a special car.

Let me introduce you to Doris the Daimler. More precisely, a 1954 Daimler Conquest. Gloss black, with gold, hand-painted coachlines added to relieve the boredom. We met via a nearby dealer's website in the spring of 2019, dated, and have been going out together ever since. Social climberLegend has it that the Conquest, fitted as standard with a six-cylinder engine and pre-selector gearbox, was so-named because of its £1066 ex-factory price tag.

Richard tell us that his M635CSi was manufactured at BMW’s Dingolfing plant on 18 May 1987 – number 421 of 524 right-hand drive M635 models. Reader’s Rides Interestingly, it was the penultimate pre-facelift UK-spec car to roll off the production line. Painted in Royal Blue Metallic with a Pearl Beige leather interior, it boasts factory-fitted air-conditioning, an electric sunroof, headlight washer system, electric seats, rear headrests, and a rear sunblind.

Chromium is a chemical element occurring naturally in many forms, but in hexavalent form it’s toxic and carcinogenic. And it covers significant parts of an old car, including bumpers, doorhandles and windscreen surrounds. Funny thing though, as Nigel Hayward, production manager at S&T Electroplating, points out: ‘We don’t use a lot. In fact, the chromium is really just a thin lacquer to seal in the nickel-plate underneath.

‘A summer of excuses’, I predicted. And sure enough, at every opportunity I’ve enjoyed a blast in the Boxster – when I haven’t been using my BMW Convertible, that is.

Introduced to Mercedes-Benz and the first generation SLK at a young age, it was only natural for William Duke to purchase his own roadster two decades later The R170 still looks striking today — a mixture of neat detailing and clean sides.

Recent weather incidents have made the Sovereign an obvious choice for a seaside getaway. Of course it had to happen. My Range Rover’s air conditioning had to fail just before the most intense heat wave on record in Britain. And so once again I found myself using my Sovereign as daily transport. After all, you need aircon in weather like that. And that meant that when I needed a car for date night with my good lady, the Jaguar was at the front of the queue.

After a 30-year career in the police in Scotland, the last 20 as a traffic cop, in 2010 I bought my dream car, a manual Ferrari F355 GTS. As soon as I had joined the police I knew I wanted to be in the traffic department, but I did ten years on the beat in Rosyth first. I joined Traffic in 1991, achieved a class one advanced pass in training and was named driver of the year. We drove SD1 Vitesses, Senator 24V 3.0-litres and Granada 2.9 Injection 4x4s – proper rear-wheel-drive power machines.

I don’t know a soul who isn’t enamoured by the thought of owning a large Citroën, even though most are usually rather inhibited to take the plunge. The CX, released in 1974 and replacing the seemingly irreplaceable DS, is one such machine. Styled by the incomparable Robert Opron for a company on the verge of bankruptcy with monumental illusions of grandeur, Citroën created the car for sale worldwide and in doing so, brought all the political ravages of the day crashing down upon its dreams.

In the same family since new, this Volvo is about to embark on its next journey – to the third country it’s called home Words SAM DAWSON Photos JORDAN BUTTERS LIFE STORY OF A 1958 Volvo PV444Life Cycle 1958 – The Olsen family buys a Volvo PV444  On 13 February 1958, brothers Gunnar and Olaf Olsen set off on a perilous and tragic snowbound two-hour bus journey from their hometown of Vest Agder, southern Norway, to the Volvo dealership in Kristiansand, to pick up a new PV444.

Adam and his father Gordon are huge supporters of the E21. Adam bought his 1980 US-specification 320i in early 2019 – before he passed his driving test – and it proved the incentive he needed to grab his licence. Now 26 and 62 respectively, the father and son team are enjoying everything the classic BMW scene has to offer. Reader’s Rides“Scotland does have a classic car scene, it’s not easy to find what you’re looking for but this E21 turned up on eBay in storage 15- minutes from where we live.

After nine years and 20,000 miles of relatively trouble-free motoring, I parted with my much-loved 1979 Citroën GS. My goal was an affordable entry into the Italian classic car market; the Lancia Beta range fitted the bill. There's nothing like a restricted budget to focus your attentions, equivalent Alfas were comparatively expensive. I've a soft spot for an Alfasud, but if anything, they're even thinner on the ground. The Beta coupé turned into the sole contender.