
For as long as I can remember, my life has been ruled by cars: my first words after "mom" and "dad" were probably "1968 Mustang Fastback". Back then, I was brought up around the idea of making memories with cars: when I was a baby, my dad and I would spend Sunday afternoons driving to shows in our 1984 Volkswagen Westfalia, where we would be surrounded by old cars and the unmistakable smell of high-octane fuel.
As I grew older, my affections turned to Japanese cars thanks to films such as The Fast and the Furious. Every penny from my $8-an-hour part-time job at McDonald's went towards my dream car: a Nissan 240SX. A few days after my 16th birthday, I rounded up all I my cash and bought one, but never got to drive it because the head gasket blew the day I got it - and that's before I discovered the Swiss-cheese frame rails and the non-existent brakes. Unfortunately, at that point my mechanical knowledge was virtually zero, but that would soon change.
You might think the purchase of the Nissan would be a lesson learned, but it only fuelled the fire and my next buy was a 'track modified' 1984 Volvo 240 - which essentially meant that it was unfit for the road. It was on the stiffest set of badly installed coil-overs you could find, and fitted with a tired, fuel-injected B21 engine making 100bhp on a good day, but I loved it.
It was almost always broken, but when it wasn't I was out cruising with friends or making another obnoxious modification. For a high-school student, it was perfect: loud, way too low, and rusty in all the right places. Unfortunately, as I prepared to leave for university I needed something more practical: out went the Volvo, and in came an automatic 2004 Honda Civic.
Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
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Denne historien er fra September 2022-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på

HIRED MUSCLE
Vauxhall's rebadging of an Australian V8 coupé was an ingenious corporate coup that also inspired its fiery VXR performance sub-brand

'The mighty motor punches this legendary car through the air'
This magnificent Bentley 8 Litre spent much of its life being honed for speed-record success, and its performance is still remarkable today.

MADE TO MAKE YOUR MOUTH WATER
An 'Opal Fruit green' Ford Capri II sparked a Liverpudlian schoolboy's fantasy that would one day become reality

NEW BLOOD TO LIGHT UP HISTORICS
Recent tweaks to the structure of international historic competition are good news for fans of variety

Charge of the light brigade
The Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2 Club Sport's 'less is more' philosophy resulted in a line of revered CS models, led by the 968 and 993

ANGLES OF DESTINY
The wedge-shaped ADO71 could have restored British Leyland's fortunes, but bad timing and an image problem conspired against it

So you want to be a RALLY DRIVER?
If so, the Historic Rally Car Register's Clubmans events are a great place to start. C&SC has partnered with the series for 2025, so let's meet the runners and riders

GRAN DEUR OUT OF A CRISIS
The Mercury Monarch and its Ford Granada twin were products of postFuel Crisis austerity, with compact luxury designed to rival Europe's best

Warts and all
This ex-John Surtees Ferrari 330GT's highly original patina has remained through various owners, and its current custodian plans to keep it that way.

SOME LIKE IT HOT
The United Arab Emirates has been hosting a Middle Eastern take on an Italian classic since 2022, and the event is developing a character all of its own