Quick posts

My dad had an F-reg Sapphire and briefly had a Cavalier as a company car but didn’t like the gearbox. I helped him to replace the Sapphire’s CVH when I was about 11. It rusted away and was replaced with a K-reg Sapphire. Fine cars! I loved my old MG Montego, It only ever let me down once, blowing the radiator in Bristol at 3am. A friend had a Sierra, and it always surprised me how small its glass area was compared to the Montego – it was almost like looking out of a tank slot. My dad had a Passat 1.8 GT with the Golf GTI engine, full factory bodykit, spoiler and alloys. It went like a scalded cat! People may not know that that shape of Passat had passive rear-wheel steering. Looking at them now, I can’t believe the Sierra Sapphire was so popular, it’s not much of a looker and is pretty dated under the surface compared with the others here. No wonder the Cavalier and Peugeot became the reps’ choices. The Sierra Sapphire was tail-happy in the wet, the Cavalier had a quality interior but was a dull drive. The Passat GT was underrated – you could feel the rear axle steering at 70mph on motorway sliproads. The Montego was roomy but dull. I had a BX 16TRS. It was my first ‘modern’ car after a couple of 2CVS. It was comfortable and reliable but I never really bonded with it – unlike the 2CVS and AXGT I replaced it with.