1998 MX-5 MKII 1.8
Found On a friend’s dad’s driveway. Bought for £200
Jobs done New radiator and hoses; brake pads and flexis, welding to front chassis and rear sills; timing belt kit fitted; new fuel pump; petrol tanks drained and cleaned; full service. Time taken Two months, on and off.
to getting it on the road and ready for a competitive test in the cold of deep mid-winter.
Well, we did it. Not together, as hoped, but each of us, in our own way, has individually created a winter classic test with the cars we bought and brought back from the dead. So, sit back and enjoy our trials and tribulations in the middle of the most extraordinary times any of us have lived through.
It lived quietly for eight years, festering on a cold driveway in Surrey, and now it is back doing its job again, as a working car. Not in the way I had hoped though. My 57,000-mile Mazda should have been showing the other modern classics here how to handle the B-roads of Snowdonia and take a corner like a sports car should. Instead I am picking up prescriptions and going to the cashpoint for my father-in-law, Tony, plus dropping off orders from the local shop to vulnerable people in my village and generally being ready to help.
I must admit that when I was spannering away at the workshop with Tomkins last summer, fitting the bootful of spares and new parts that came with the Mazda when I bought it, I thought we might be through the worst of the crisis by now. Wrong. Still, an MX-5 is a reliable, easy to use and surprisingly practical proposition even when it isn’t showing off its chassis capabilities to more leaden-footed motors.
I’m quite enjoying using my MX-5. More than three decades on from its launch in the UK, it is still pretty much perfect. Better than it’s contemporaries in almost every department, while possibly the most remarkable aspect of, particularly, the MKII’S status is how cheap it is. It’s the first time I have owned a MKII and, pop up headlights aside, it is definitely a step up from the MKI. It feels more capable, better thought out, it’s usefully bigger inside and out, and the 1.8 engine has more grunt. I think the MKII looks good as well… it has matured successfully.
So, despite missing out on the Welsh tarmac, I am still very happy with my choice. This a car that could
easily have been broken up and scrapped, a car that has cost me pennies and a car that will stick around for a bit as well. My wife, Oonagh, has decided to adopt it. She had a MKI in British Racing Green back in the Noughties and has always wanted another MX-5. This one has leather, air-con and power steering as well. American spec, but you don’t notice it. The superbly weighted power-steering, in particular, is almost unnoticeable until you need to park. Current use is as a daily and, as with all my favourite cars, every journey is enjoyable – even if it is just popping a pint of milk up the road to a neighbour. Next? A new hood and winter tyres. TECH SPEC Engine 1840cc/4-cyl/dohc Power 146bhp@7000rpm Torque 124lb ft@5000rpm O-60mph
7.7sec Gearbox 5-speed manual Top speed 129mph Fuel economy 31mpg
A shabby one-litre Citroën AX called Peggy with 210,000 miles for £25? Name me one other car magazine that would entertain the idea of such a thing and I’ll eat my beret. This scabby supermini was destined for the scrap yard so, in true PC tradition, the workshop doors were once again flung open to welcome another decrepit stray.
I cunningly concocted a brilliant ‘Winter Warmer’ strategy back in the spring but unfortunately,
I chose the very week before the country went into its first pandemic lockdown. A bewildering time and my plan for a Winter Warmers 2020 victory dance was short-lived.
What I had done, however, was stick to the traditional brief. My car was over 25 years-old and cost me less than £500. Furthermore, it’s a car of the Eighties – the AX having been launched in 1986 – so brings with it an extra dollop of classic status. Looking at what my colleagues have unearthed,
I am surely deserving of bonus points. Alas not, as it turns out – the rules having since been inexplicably changed. Damn you all!
This particular AX is well-known on the Citroën Car Club rally scene, having thrice before won ‘Shed of the Show’ at the annual National Rally. Peggy (as per the reg plate) was sadly approaching the end of her life, or so it was thought. The car had been passed around countless individuals, first as a loan car for the Bourne Citroën Centre and latterly as a general banger among friends. Poor Peggy was getting tired. The MOT ran out and word got out
‘This scruffy little supermini had been otherwise destined for the scrapper’
that she was to be broken for spares. Demand for parts isn’t high though, so to my delight, the joke offer of £25 was actually regarded as generous.
Her sills were falling apart and a hole in the inner wing threatened to scupper chances of an MOT but a day of welding meant Peggy was structurally sound again and four new Falken tyres to replace her deflated, cracked rubber boots, rewarded her with a much more dignified stance.
The cabin was something of a health hazard. Years of abuse meant multiple layers of grime and unspeakable clumps of mould in the carpets and despite a weekend of scrubbing, the interior would never truly gleam again. However, as with the shabbiness of the car’s exterior, the faint whiff of mouldy Mcdonalds fries under the seats was now very much part of Peggy’s character.
On the upside, she’d recently had a head gasket and was running like new. OK, so she’s a little baggy in places – the gearbox only occasionally corresponds with what you ask of the gearstick – but Peggy starts on the button, is hilarious fun in the bends and has since provided me with reliable transportation to the shops while she clutters up the car parks of local beauty spots, where fellow walkers probably mistake her for the result of some particularly brave automotive fly tipping. TECH SPEC Engine 954cc/4-cyl/ohc Power 48bhp@6000rpm Torque 54lb ft@3600rpm 0-60mph 14.6sec Gearbox 4-speed manual Top speed 93mph
Fuel economy 57mpg
I didn’t even have to go looking for my winter chariot for this year – it came looking for me. PC reader, Mark Tester, enjoys reading about our Winter Warmers trips in PC each year and got in touch via email to offer up a potential candidate. His explanation went as follows: ‘My parents are in the process of changing cars, so I naturally thought of you good folks. The car looking to be rehomed is a 1999 Volvo S70. There isn’t anything wrong with it, it’s perfectly reliable, regularly serviced and has a current MOT. The only issues I can think of are that the air-con doesn’t work and there are a few areas of thin paint (but no rust) on the wing tops and rear spoiler due to over enthusiastic removal of bird poo! We do realise that, unfortunately, it is a low value car and therefore my mum isn’t expecting more than a few hundred pounds for it.’
My interest piqued, I immediately got back to
Mark and, after a few more emails had bounced back and forth, agreed to buy the car ‘blind’ for £200. At that price, and with a current MOT, I didn’t really see any risk in going ahead without being able
to give the Volvo the usual once-over beforehand. The following weekend, my wife Abby and I headed down to Horley to see what I’d signed up for. On first impressions, the car was exactly as described and seemed perfect for our planned winter jaunt.
By the time I’d pulled onto the M25 on the homeward journey, I’d already realised that the S70 can offer possibly the most comfortable seating position of any car I’ve owned, while the 2.4-litre five-banger under the bonnet allows for effortless cruising in the outside lane of the motorway.
Once home, I booked the car in for an MOT test, which it failed – on two blown bulbs and play in a worn trackrod end. Both easily rectified, so with a fresh 12-month ticket in hand, I then treated the car to an oil and filter change to celebrate.
During the current lockdown period, it has been doing excellent service on supermarket runs and trips to the local nature reserve to take our dog, Pippa, for walkies. 2020 marked 25 years of the MGF, so when I saw this early example advertised for just £400, I just had to have a look. N21 FLP was first registered on the September 25, 1995 and wears the chassis number XXXX319, meaning it’s just the 69th production model to roll off the line. Three month’s MOT, fresh, golden oil, new brake pads all round and a recent bill of £400 for a replacement clutch were enough to allow me to look past the tasteless stickers, self-adhesive chrome lettering and the two-tone respray. A deal was quickly done for £350 and I drove the car home.
Within the hour the stickers were removed, one of which revealed a large patch of primer. Bugger! In the boot of the car, however, was a tin of the correct BRG for that half of the car, so I fired up the compressor, broke out the DA sander and blew the area in that same evening. A few more touch ups here and there, and a machine polish all over had the car looking much better externally and removal of baggy seat covers and returning poorly re-covered door cards to their standard trim brought the interior up to scratch.
On the ramp at the PC workshop, a corroded NSF lower wishbone was cause for concern so that was swapped out for a new item purchased from MGOC TECH SPEC Engine 2435cc/5-cyl/dohc Power 142bhp@5400rpm Torque 152lb ft@3600rpm 0-60mph 8.5sec Gearbox 5-speed manual Top speed 127mph Fuel economy 28.2mpg
‘The S70 offers effortless cruising in the outside lane of the motorway’
Spares before I treated the whole underside of the car to a clean and a coat of Rustbuster’s Techshield black underbody wax, then finally injected the box sections with Corrolan Active.
After our planned November road trip was cancelled, I rolled up my sleeves once more and readied the ’F for a fresh MOT. After replacing a faulty fog lamp switch and de-gunging the windscreen washer reservoir, it absolutely aced the test. On the way back up the A1, I called in to ‘F specialist Trophy Cars and treated the hydragas suspension to a pump-up. This meagre £30 spend had a transformative effect on the ride and handling, which meant that the ‘F became my main means of transport during lockdown.
When restrictions permitted, it took my better half and I on short road trips to find new walks, and has been on duty as shopping car for both us and our elderly neighbours, providing decent fuel economy and a superb heater, which allows for top-down motoring on cold, crisp mornings. No, it might not have been on a great adventure as planned, but with travel so limited at the moment, it makes each trip out an enjoyable event. I’m blessed to live in a small village with great driving roads between me and any essential shops that I might need to visit, and the ’F has brought a smile to my face each time that I’ve taken it out. And right now, when times seem so bleak, what more can you ask for? TECH SPEC Engine 1589cc/4-cyl/ohc Power 110bhp@6250rpm Torque 102lb ft@4500rpm Gearbox 5-speed manual 0-60mph 9.3sec Top speed 116mph Fuel economy 40mpg
It was once Britain’s cheapest car, and it has no right to be as entertaining as it is. I’d always been intrigued by the Perodua Nippa, ever since it made its debut back in 1997 and you could pick one up for four grand brand-new.
It was basically the Tesco Value car of its day, so it’s kind of ironic that instead of barreling through the Welsh hills and valleys, I’ve been using it to go to Tesco, and not to do my essential shopping either. I’ve spent the past few months working part time for the supermarket as a home delivery driver, partly because I wanted to do something to help the national effort, but also because it gave me an excuse to go out for a drive at times where nonessential driving is rightly pooh-poohed.
And the Nippa is actually the perfect car for the job. My commute to and from the delivery depot is 17 miles each way, across rural A- and B-roads, and
‘The ’F has put a smile on my face every time that I’ve taken it out’
the little Perodua gets to use all of its 42bhp and 49 lb ft of torque on the cross-country blast.
In all honesty, though, the Nippa is a far better car than I expected it to be. Yes, the interior looks like it was put together by Fisher-price, the panels are comically flimsy and it’s hardly a thing of beauty. What it is, though, is honest. It does all the things you need a car to do, and the little 847cc Daihatsu engine is a belter. It sounds brilliant and loves to be thrashed. After a winter’s evening trying to squeeze a 22ft long Mercedes-benz Sprinter between gateposts and down farm tracks, it’s the perfect tonic to jump into something that’s not much bigger than my shoes and give it a damn good thrashing.
TECH SPEC Engine 847cc/3-cyl/ohc Power 42bhp@6750rpm Torque 49lb ft@5500rpm 0-60mph 15.9sec Gearbox 5-speed manual Top speed 84mph Fuel economy 44mpg
2020 when I took delivery, twixt lockdowns. Steve’s stepfather, a wine-importer, loved this car, driving it on long trips to Europe to collect wine, so it enjoyed romping across continents, devouring miles and kilometers on an intergalactic scale.
The plan was to give the Benz a quick tickle-up and pop it in for a socially-distanced MOT, but after running the engine for ages, the temperature gauge needle remained flaccid, the top radiator hose was getting warm from the get-go, so I fitted a new thermostat and gave it a light service prior to the test. Which is where it disgraced itself. First, it covered Matt, the tester, in clods of filth as he probed its scabby bottom, where he was able to inspect the carpets through the rot holes. And then it burst a brake pipe on the roller brake tester, so I had to walk three miles home and pay £40 to have the Benz recovered.
So, there you are. I’ll be using the welding set and the brake-pipe flaring tool in the near future. In fitting the car roller, I’ve noticed knackered rear discs and one below limits at the front, and it also seems to be prudent to change all the pipes to copper. It’s is going to be a great car when it’s done, but for now, given there will be no driving or camaraderie, I might replicate other aspects of our annual jaunts by standing in the rain with the bonnet up. Oh, and there were full English breakfasts, too. Now there’s a thought… n TECH SPEC Engine 2151cc/4-cyl/dohc Gearbox 5-speed manual Power 125bhp@4200rpm Torque 221lb ft@18002600rpm 0-60mph 10sec Top speed 123mph Fuel economy 46mpg