After 6 years at Coventry University, with a final year project on electric cars, not a day goes by where I don't kick myself for not getting on with building an electric car myself.
A few people have started to pull their fingers out since I finished my degree.
Over the years I've owned a few interesting cars from both ends of the handling scale. From a Ford Capri to Fiat X1/9, they've all provided the necessary dose of fun in their own way.
The first car I bought was my Black 1983 Fiat X1/9.
This car soon turned into a restoration project which became bigger as time went on and money disappeared due to becoming a student instead of enjoying my car. I will always have memories associated with this car, so whether it will become an Abarth replica, or an Alfa V6 LPG powered stormer, only time will tell.
The Capri is 1981 2.8 injection. Purchased from a friend who had restored it to quite a high level, it was a great deal of fun until an incident involving a broken wheel bearing and a hedge. The wheel bearing gave no warning of its imminent demise, but simply collapsed while travelling at speed. Thankfully Holly hedges, while expensive, give a softer gentler stop than the average tree.
1st October 2006 I had promised to keep a running report on what was going on with the Capri... Work and moving house got in the way a bit, but I now have a workshop (filled with cars) so the project begins again.
A quick rundown of what actually happened...
Bought the house in April 2004. It's got a superb workshop, so I'm going to fix and sell my existing projects. Painted the floor and made it look nice in there, but didn't do much fixing. Rewired the bronze X1/9 and never did find an injection manifold for it, so it sits unfinished as ever! Bought and sold a superb Manta GT/E with only 50K miles on the clock. Thankfully it went to my friend Col, who's giving it the treatment it needs on the roads around Somerset.
Stupidly replaced the Manta (instead of reducing the collection) with a Nissan 300ZX Z31. I was expecting something like my old Toyota Celica Supra 2.8i wide track, but the auto gearbox in the Z31 means it's just not the same, as good as it it.