What would you buy & why?

[JPB]

I'd happily buzz around in that, provided the real life toy car comes with a real life toy lady to chauffeur me!

[rich.]

john, something even rarer than your plastic mini or vw thing.. actually worth cutting off your legs to fit in too

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-RX2-cou ... 3641.l6368

[JPB]

Hmm, very nice, but rarity don't (sic) impress me much, as Shania Twain once warbled. The mini was probably Venezuela's most common car, just as the steel bodied version used to be pretty common here, before eBay destroyed the car's credibility (in my mind they did..) by sanctioning the selling of late MK5 shells with 1959 MK1 identities and for people who stayed in Germany or Switzerland in the mid sixties to the mid seventies, the Fridolin was literally as common there as the good old Minor commercial was in its similar rôles in most parts of the UK. OK, so there are only a few dozen of these vehicles here, but on a global scale they're really common.

Rare, to my way of thinking, means something like the Salamander, a car built on the Reliant kitten chassis, but supplied with the 1100cc version of Ford's 'Kent' OHV IL4 engine and aimed at folk who would previously have opted for Invacars and AC Petites. The Salamander has the high seat and all that, but I don't feel the urge to own one of those. The Stephens Cypher, Kitten based again, had a similar look to the Mazda MX5. One is currently being restored, and if I have this right, there are a couple of others that may be around somewhere, those are extremely rare too but again, don't float my boat in the way that Reliant's best ever car (Metrocab) does and Metrocabs are very common, in fact there were several in any taxi rank in the UK at one time, before that balloon-looking new cab came along.

I like Toyotas even though they've built more cars than anyone else in the world, unless we believe VW's claim to have taken back the lead, but do we? After all, they told porkies about emissions. Hmm, was that so bad? We've all lied about emissions at some time or other, usually in a crowded lift, when the fart is always the property of the other person.

Rarity ~ schmarity!

[Grumpy Northener]

JPB said: I'm having a T147 if it takes me to Christmas to find one!

Just got the calendar off the back of the office door and found a thick black marker to knock the days off for you

[JPB]

I reserve the right not to specify which Christmas!

So if I should happen to buy a Metrocab that's done only 538,772 miles and has just had new springs, dampers, torque converter, fuel tank, radiator and a complete a/c overhaul, comes with 11 months MOT and is said to drive as well as any plastic Transit ever did, then assume that it's a temporary measure, something to try out for a few weeks/months/years while I find that elusive VW.
A retired Metrocab might keep me going and the one I'm off to view & drive out later this week is an ex-Dundee one, which had served there since it left Glasgow in 2006. Can anyone guess (no looking at completed eBay listings to find out mind..) what colour the Metrocab is?

[rich.]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/METROCAB-METR ... SwPCVX8OQS

[GHT]

Can you say: "Yes M'Lady?" Like Parker. You might need to knock one end of the garage out though.
Yes M'Lady.

[JPB]

Rich, that's not a Reliant one, and Buckinghamshire's a hell of a way from Dundee, but the one I'm going to see is an even less predictable colour than that rather fetching shade of Icelandic Racing Blue. I like that, it's very low mileage for a Hack but it's also a year too new to get me onto the field at the local club shows, not that I renewed my subs yet, so that's another thing added to the to do list...

GHT, that's nice, but not my thing really, so I'll step aside in gentlemanly fashion and let you acquire the beast unchallenged. I assume you're interested, it's so MoneySupermarket.com.

[GHT]

American Limos, so chavvy.

[rich.]

it would really suit you!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1973-WOLSELEY ... 2664085126

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1960-wolseley ... 2664085126

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/22250700 ... rmvSB=true