Fleet update – all change!
Since my last contribution to these pages, it’s been all-change as far as the Simpson daily driver fleet is concerned, and there have been a few developments among the oldies, too.
First, my new car. My diesel Mondeo has gone to live a new life as a taxi in Wisbech. It was a mutual consent thing really; there wasn’t anything wrong with it; it was well-equipped, pretty good on fuel and 100% reliable. But somehow it just didn’t feel at all special or give the slightest bit of ownership pride. Try as I might, I just couldn’t get enthusiastic about it.
Its replacement, however, is a totally different kettle of fish. It’s a Volvo C70 D3 diesel convertible which some ‘friends’ have, unkindly, christened my mid-life crisis car. It’s not; I’m too old to have one of those! As usual with my cars it came from British Car Auctions, which as BCA no longer hold live auctions now meant unseen, with only photos and an auction description, plus in this case an ‘essentials’ mechanical check. Happily, though, when it arrived from BCA Newcastle it turned out to be as good as it sounded.
The paperwork included one pleasant surprise; a bill for the most recent service in April 2022 that came to over £800 and included a timing belt change!
But why a C70?
Well I wanted a convertible, and my love of Volvos is no secret so it just seemed kind-of logical. Yes, I know the C70 shares a Ford platform but it’s a good one so that really doesn’t matter; it’s Volvo-enough on top. I also fancied a convertible, and it needed genuine fourseat capacity to take the two not-now-sosmall Simpsons on those increasinglyrare occasions when they want to be seen with Mum and Dad. I also wanted something which, because it will be an everyday, all-year-round car rather than a summertime plaything, had decent weatherproofing with the roof up.
And the C70 seems to meet all those requirements; driving it in winter is no different to driving a hardtop saloon apart from a slightly irritating ‘they all do that sir’ rattle from the roof area. However, thanks to a mild late September/early October 2022 we were able to enjoy a few roof-down trips out before the cold weather arrived. The operation of the roof is truly awe-inspiring and the way in which one stage follows another is almost theatrical, but me being me that awe is tinged by a slight concern that a lot of operations could also mean a lot to go wrong. There is one job to do though; a slight vibration on braking which I will shortly be curing with a new set of febi bilstein front discs and pads.
We’ve also replaced the main family car. This one is used principally by
Sarah, though it’s also the car of choice for family trips, etc., Here, though, it was a case of more of the same, as the Kia Sorento we’d owned for 18 months has been absolutely superb and prettymuch perfect. However, having treated myself to an upgrade, it seemed only fair to do the same with Sarah’s car. So ‘old’ Sorento (black 2010 KX-2) has been replaced by ‘new’ Sorento (2014 KX-3 and dark blue). The KX-3 is a definite
move-up in terms of spec, and the extra kit includes a full-length see-through and opening sunroof which is, I think, Sarah’s favourite part, heated seats front and rear – and seat cooling at the front which Katie and Jim like, plus three different steering settings (normal, comfort and sport) which I quite enjoy playing with.
This one also came from BCA, and again it was spot-on to the description and mechanical report, with two exceptions that sort-of cancelled each other out. The good news was that the ‘noisy steering’ on the report turned out to be a consequence of the battery being down due to standing, and after a charge and a drive round the block it was totally as it should and has remained so. However, although the auction information said ‘two keys’, one was the non-electronic emergency access key which does nothing except gain you access if the battery is flat. On balance, I reckon I’m still slightly up; another key is likely to cost around £250, but I had factored in up to £500 to sort the steering.
‘Preserved Fleet’
The 1990 Volvo 240 estate has continued to be an exceptionally useful piece of kit; it doesn’t do a massive mileage, but always starts first time when called upon to take a load to the tip or collect something big. I’m also always impressed by how smooth and refined it is and, in winter, how quickly it warms up. One slightly irritating thing though; I’ve lost one of the wheeltrims somewhere, and so far, have failed to find a suitable replacement!
There’s little to report regarding the Rovers; the P6 hasn’t been used much this year, but the 827 Coupe was out and about a bit. As reported previously, its aircon is now fully functional which I reckon is pretty amazing for a car that’s just celebrated its 30th birthday.
However, the oldest car in the collection, my 1958 Hillman Minx, has been transformed over the past couple of years into Mint Minxy. It wasn’t cheap – in fact the total cost of the body and engine/engine bay restoration was totally uneconomic in terms of market value. That, though, wasn’t a consideration here; Minxy is a car that I’ve owned for slightly over half or my life so far and for getting on for half of its life, so it’s part of the family and not going anywhere!