As classic car enthusiasts, should we just accept that passion and fun is relegated to the odd summertime Sunday drive? Or should we instead strive to make it part of our everyday life? In fact, is that even feasible in the real world?
Back in November, I asked our ViaRETRO readers for advice in the article Bring the Fun Back into the Commute. I had a burning desire to use a classic car of some sort as my daily wheels. I missed the analogue and involving driving experience during my daily commute. I’m embarrassed to admit that since then I have managed to do absolutely nothing about it.
So what’s my pathetic excuse for dragging my feet? Well, it’s a constant battle between head and heart, and it’s leaving me in a thoroughly confused state of mind. I no longer know what to think of it. What is right and what is wrong? Is driving a modern car on the daily commute the only sensible thing to do? Or have I just become an old luxury-obsessed couch potato who has lulled himself into the easy-life based around comfortable and supportive seats, automated climate control, modern hi-fi, servo-assisted steering, ABS brakes, traction control, high reliability and low maintenance? I’m no longer sure which of the above is the truth, so please help me towards a bit of clarity…
Since that article back in November, I have dreamt of – and on a few occasions even gone to inspect – quite a few viable options for a classic daily. Or at the very least a youngtimer daily. Essentially, just something which would put a wider grin on my face during that otherwise boring daily commute. A Reliant Scimitar SE6 is still high on my list for this application. I’ve looked at several, but would it be reliable enough? Heh, come on… it’s a seventies low-volume British fibreglass car – who am I kidding? Would the same apply to a Rover Vitesse SD1? Possibly. Then there was the fabulous mid-eighties Ford Capri 2.8i which I just couldn’t afford? Or a couple of manual Jaguar XJ-S 3.6’s which I could in fact afford, but which were thus in a state where they might very well be MOT’ed and drivable, but would they offer my reliable motoring on a daily basis? A Porsche 944 would probably be the perfect candidate, but the rear seat is simply a tad on the small side considering I have two children. That equally rules out the first-generation Mazda RX-7 Elford Turbo which I now co-own with Claus Ebberfeld. Besides, is a force-fed early-eighties rotary truly going to be highly reliable on a year-round daily commute? Well, maybe. But maybe not. Sticking with Nippon metal, an early narrow-body Mitsubishi Starion 2.0 EX Turbo had me awfully tempted, but sourcing spares for them is a challenge at best, and that is perhaps not ideal for a daily runner. Sadly, prices of the BMW 325i E30’s which I have previously so enjoyed as daily drivers, have gone the same way as the Ford Capri’s. Oh, and then I started considering a few GTI’s from the heyday of the pocket-rocket. Peugeot 309 GTi, Toyota Corolla GTi-16, Honda Civic 1.6i-16 or maybe even a Fiat Uno Turbo i.e. Their practical hatchback designs would obviously make them ideal as a daily, they should provide bags of fun on a twisty back road, but despite being slightly newer than most of the other candidates I’ve considered, would a nineties Peugeot really offer me decent daily reliability? Hmmmm… so what would in fact be a viable option?
Maybe there simply isn’t one? Maybe that’s why I’m still sat behind the wheel of my BMW 330Ci Sport (E46) from ’02 on my daily commute? And granted, it does a damned good job of it too. It starts first time every time. Having owned the car for a bit more than a year now, it has only cost me normal servicing and a new set of Continetal tyres. I must also confess, that driving home from work at two in the morning in a timezone-confused state after a 12-plus hour workday, I do indeed appreciate the comfortable seats, the climate control, the quick defrosting windscreen and the altogether easiness of the whole experience. From a more enthusiastic point of view, the straight-6 engine still manages to be a real gem. But despite the engine, the driving experience is still on the whole somewhat dull. The car is simply too well engineered for its own good. An altogether overly accomplished piece of kit. As a driver, you are cocooned from all that is happening. There’s not much left to excite – there’s no soul. Oh, and that over-sensitive traction control drives me up the wall with its annoying orange light flickering at me while I’m robbed from the power of the 3-litre lump out front. Yet, the 330Ci is still on my drive. How come? Have I really gotten that old and soft? Let’s say some 15 years ago; I would have loved that same commute in a stripped-to-the-bone Caterham with no heater, no softtop and only a skimpy set of Brooklands screens – even on a frosty morning…
I realise I’ve asked you this before, and subsequently failed to do anything about it: But what am I meant to do? Should I bite the bullet and sell my 330Ci? If so, what will I replace it with? Which classic car or youngtimer delivers big on smiles per mile, while still offering genuinely reliable all-year-round daily transportation and a half decent rear seat? Or should I perhaps take a different approach? Maybe I simply need to come to terms with the softer me? The me that appreciates luxury, comfort and all that is easy. Maybe I need to embrace my 330Ci, and perhaps even spend a bit of cash on it in order to better unite us. It would be a way of committing to the BMW coupé. Who knows, if I started with a professional rust-proofing of the car, it might even still be on my drive when it’s old enough to be considered a true classic, and I would have thus – albeit in a very long-termed manner – solved my worries as I would finally be daily driving a classic car. Yes, I know, that’s rather far-fetched logics for you right there…
