I’ve owned a few cars in my time. The ones that I have owned I’ve taken good care of and loved each of them in their own special way… except for Burt… but more about that later.
Each of my cars tend to get given a pet name (“call sign” is far more manly though, right?) named lovingly by myself and/or better half, Sarah so you’ll see those names featured along with a selection of photo’s I’ve taken at one point or another and managed to dig out of the Life of Man archives!
Finally worth noting is that this is a series of blog posts presenting a compilation of the cars which I’ve owned over the years to date and what I’ve loved about each of them.
So, without further ado, take a look at cars I’ve loved and lost.
My first car: Ford Fiesta
Call Sign: “Fester”
My first car was a cracking little number; a wholly reliable S-reg Ford Fiesta. Bought for me and my sister by my parents there were certainly no complaints about being given a car for free, in fact it was one the best days of my younger years, along with passing my driving test.
For many years I graced the streets of Aylesbury and the Grammar School with this fine little motor, taxiing friends around and engaging in plenty of ‘sensible’ first time driver cruises.
For the full story about the happy 6 years I owned her for, take a look at my dedicated post on owning the Ford Fiesta here.
2nd car: Honda Civic Type-R
Call Sign: “Beetle”, “Panther”
Having landed my first job out of university it was only a few months before I upgraded my Fiesta to one which I’d wanted to own since 16 years of age – a 3 door, black metallic paint, air conditioned, 2005 (55 plate) edition, Honda Civic 2.0 i-VTEC Type-R (yes, that required the full name to be stated)…
The Type-R was an incredible car that screamed about it’s racing pedigree but the cost of keeping and maintaining the car got the better of me. Looks and performance aside it was simply far too expensive.
Read my full post about owning a Honda Civic Type-R here.
3rd car: Seat Leon Sport
Call Sign: “Burt”, “Slug”
My Seat Leon was a really reluctant purchase which came about from selling the Civic to buy a house. I never really got on with the Leon and would do nothing but whinge and moan about it in any and every way.
Read about my ownership of the Seat Leon here.
4th car: Seat Ibiza SC FR
Call Sign: “Pearl”
Having lived with the Seat Leon for what seemed like an eternity and with some cash back in the bank following buying a house I returned to owning a performance car. I chose an Seat Ibiza which was has a small engine, high performance and low maintenance and running costs.
The car is fantastic and I love driving it whenever I get the opportunity. Read about my experience owning the Seat Ibiza FR here.
My current car: Audi A3 Sportback S-Line
With a baby on the way the Ibiza simply wasn’t big enough nor was it practical enough with it being a 3 door to accommodate a new member of the family. So I headed down to the local Audi dealer and put down an order for a brand new Audi A3 Sportback S-Line, a car I have always wanted to own!
Take a look at my review of the Audi A3 Sportback S-Line here.
The future
Of all the cars I’ve owned to date, the Civic Type-R is by far the fastest and most stable on the roads offering the most confidence when driving. The cost of the car was however a serious downside which for me means that my current A3 is my best car as it combines economy with performance.
I imagine my next car will likely be something larger than the A3, most likely moving into the Audi Quattro territory. If I win the lottery or come into money however I’ve always dreamed of owning an Aston Martin so top of my list will be the new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante (2014), here’s to dreaming!
