Ste Ferris

So, i’ve recently bought a new car, which im absolutely in love with, as i usually am with all of mine. They’re like children to me, not just a tool.

So I thought i’d make a post with a timeline of my cars. Although the images arent going to be perfectly accurate because of the slight blowing up of my old laptop, taking all of my pictures with it. So i’ve tried to search the internet for the best fit photographs for the first 3.

2000 [V] Renault Clio 1.2

2003 [Pre Driving age]

Reg: V330***

3 Door [RED]

Name: Conswaila

Quirks: I found an electrical fault between the ignition and the radio which drained the battery over night. Squeeky clutch.

Maintenance: Needed 2 new CV joints, and also had a recall for a sticking throttle cable.

I only had this car for a few months, it was bought for when i was about to turn 17, although needed to be sold so we could have extra money to start up our company. I only drove it a few times [I was only 16] down the country lanes.

1997 [P] Citroen AX 1.0 Dimension

October 2004 - January 2006

3 Door [Burgundy]

Reg: P264EOM

Name: Christine

Quirks: A tin can on wheels! It was happiest driving at 50mph everywhere!

Maintenance: Needed one new CV joint, and had new rear drums fitted as they locked after accidentally driving with the handbrake still on.

A very loyal car, quite underpowered, but nippy as hell in and around town. Very fun to throw around, as it was basically a tin can on bicycle tyres. The seats were covered in horrible suede, which marked and stained very easily. It was also owned by a drug dealer before me, and found a crack pipe under the drivers seat. Tested top speed 107 Mph. Aprox’ 45mpg.

1999 [T] Rover 200 1.4 SEi

January 2005 - October 2008

5 Door [British racing green]

Reg: T316NES

Name: Vanessa

Quirks: TOO much power with too smaller tyres to put it onto the road. Used to wheel-spin far too easily. And if there was too little fuel in the tank the back end used to kick out on islands or tight corners. The clutch had one hell of a bite.

Maintenance: 3 Head gaskets replaced. New [metal] throttle cable housing.

My longest serving car. Despite going through 3 head gaskets, this was my fault as pushing any K-series engine will blow a head gasket due to the way they are bolted to the chassis. Although there is now a head gasket fix developed by Landrover. She was very loyal, and i had a lot of fun with her, she took the motorways in her stride, and was good with town driving too. Although because of being a 16v engine driving in dense traffic was a bit of an effort. Especially because you had to drive her in a very specific way, otherwise she’d just say ‘no’ and stall on you. Tested top speed 118 mph, Aprox’ 36 Mpg.

2007 [07] Fiat Grande Punto 1.9 JTDm Sporting

October 2008 - May 2009

3 Door [Black]

Reg: YU07YKB

Name: Little Bastard

Quirks: Hard as hell suspension, amazingly supportive seats, and a perfectly balanced car. Could outpace a BMW on the motorway. Although the turbo lag was the bane of my life.

Maintenance: The electric window mechanism collapsed. Breaks, traction control all failed on my on the motorway after picking her up from having the window fixed.

I loved this car. The power was amazing, and the ride was the most fun ive had in any car. Although had to get ride of her because of funding university. I’d never buy a Fiat again, but the alpha engine it had was wonderful, so id certainly buy an alpha. Although i will NEVER own a black car again unless it’s metallic. Far too effort to keep the thing clean and scratch free. Tested top speed 124 mph [Limited] Aprox’ 47 mpg.

2000 [X] Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec

May 2009 - August 2010

3 Door [Burgundy metallic]

Reg: X771CRY

Name: Lola

Quirks: Despite being underpowered and the body roll, she held the road extremely well. Very nippy for town driving, and the most reliable car ive owned to date, started first time, every time. Only had 18,000 miles on the clock when i bought her.

Maintenance: 2 New wishbones, and front disks and pads changed.

An all round reliable and trusty car. Survived the winter with minimal use and never gave a problem. Tested speed 95 mph, no top speed tested. Approx 45 mpg.

2002 [02] Renault Megane 1.6 Expression +

August 2010 - June 2011

5 Door [Silver metallic]

Reg: VN02YMH

Name: Winona

Quirks: Like driving in a cloud

Maintenance: Air conditioning re-gas, and Thermostat changed.

Im already in love with this car. By far the most comfortable i’ve ever owned, and has just the right power to be a town and motorway car. As well as having room for passengers so they’e not sitting on top of one another. Tested speed so far 90 mph, Aprox 44mpg.

2001 [51] Nissan Almera 1.8 Sport+

June 2011 -

3 Door [‘Raspberry Red’ Metallic]

Reg: SG51NBM

Name: Penelope/Penny

Quirks: Drives like it’s on rails, looks a little bit pink…

Maintenance: Air conditioning re-gas, Front Fog Lights faulty, Possible slow punctures.

So, this car is great to drive, and handles stupidly well. It’s much heavier than the Megane though, and although it has slightly more power, it’s obvious that it’s not as fast. That having been said, it holds itself on the motorway far better than the Megane ever could. It’s not as practical as the Megane, as it’s only got 3 doors, but there’s room enough for two passengers in the back, although any middle passenger only has a lap belt. Speed only tested up to 85mph so far, although it’s obvious it still has plenty left in her. And because of the possible slow punctures, I’ve only got about 29mpg on this tank, although should get around 37/38mpg although Im pretty sure I can squeeze a little more out of her than that.

So, most of the results have come in, and it’s not really quite how I had hoped or expected it to be.

It’s 8am, and as it stands: Lab: 237 Con: 287 Dem: 51 Otr:27

And although it’s leading to the first hung parliament since 1974, it looks as if in fact the Liberals have lost seats across the country. DESPITE receiving 23% of the national vote [Nearly 1 in 4 votes] and received just a fraction of seats [1 in 10 seats].

The next few days are going to be extremely interesting, and hopefuly the LIB LAB alliance will be able to get enough support from the other parties to go ahead and form a government.

There are two possible outcomes from this result.

A: People will be so disappointed with the results, that it will push into everyone calling for electoral reforms and they’ll develop a working proportional representation system [of which there are 3 viable options] which will finally get us a fairer government we all really need.

B: Because of the disappointing results from this election, itll just serve to create even more voter apathy. This general election turn out was an estimated 65%, 3% increase from last year, but still rather pathetic.

What is also quite likely is that whatever government alliance is formed, it wont be very successful and there will probably be a re-election not long down the road, by which time hopefully these changes will have already been made, and not just over looked.

Now what i’m hoping for at this point in addition to the above, is for labour to get rid of Gordon Brown as their leader. Statistically, the losses that Labour have already incurred, even before the count is complete are epicly terrible. They really should get rid of Brown, and do a COMPLETE cabinet reshuffle, getting rid of most of them. THEN call for a re-election, and see how things pan out.

All of this is a very costly venture, and a hung parliament will de-value the GBP in the short term, although all of this is thinking long term, building a more modern and fairer parliamentary system.

[More to follow]

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