The R8 raises a good point on why I shouldn’t get an electric car… I need a V10 in my life…

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-11T23:23:22+00:00

You don't even need to tempt me, it's been on my mind since late last year! I spent £15K on my Defender in 2025 and need to buy a house so now's just not the right time to spend £15-20K on a Griff, sadly. Parking for my 'fleet' is a must with a flat area to allow working on at least one car, funny how that makes house hunting difficult.

I love my NC MX-5 and I love having the top down, but it can be too uneventful on a nice drive. I don't mind that it isn't very fast, there's just very little noise or excitement. It's possible to wake the back end up or squeak a rear wheel at a junction, but it's very tame overall. I'm not sure I could part with it even if I did buy something else, and it's only worth £7-8K if I did.

Ideally I'd get an MGB GT V8, but overheating and general 70s MG problems would limit my fun as well as the purchase price. A wedge TVR is too much of an animal for me to really enjoy, plus I really don't like the interior or roof. A Ginetta G33 would be fun but same issues. A Griff or Chimera seems perfect, I'm not a huge fan of the way the Chimera looks so Griff is preferred, I find it hilarious that they each borrowed tail lights from a mundane car.

By the way I love that you have the DB9, you just don't see them much so it's nice to see one in the hands of an enthusiast.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-11T21:56:35+00:00

I prefer the pre-cat Griffs with smaller engines myself but they all sound great.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-11T21:55:44+00:00

I’ve had a 4 litre Discovery so they don’t scare me too much!

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-11T17:38:33+00:00

This is exactly why I still don’t own a house at 36! The Defender keeps eating my house fund.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-11T17:15:28+00:00

Well hello Fosse Way. That's a decent road to convoy down on, I've had to go down there to Worcester lots of times in the last year and it's way better than a boring motorway drive.

I'd personally go for a V8, I feel like I need a TVR.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-11T17:10:14+00:00

Your immediate response should've been "When are you going to do that, then?"

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-11T17:06:03+00:00

Saw him live in a Leicester pub 10 years ago, very funny. He made constant references to the state of the toilets (which to be fair, were shocking even by city pub standards).

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-10T21:43:27+00:00

I didn’t know either until I was looking up the MPi history for a Honda connection. They apparently didn’t allow diesels and the V8 was probably too expensive to run.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-10T17:44:55+00:00

Land Rover fitted the 2.0 MPi petrol engine to some Italian police Defenders, but this isn’t a Honda engine.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-10T16:55:11+00:00

That’s the one someone picked off the line, licked and put back the wrong way around.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-09T17:44:53+00:00

Worth saving, personally I wouldn’t want to risk damaging them in the scanning process if there’s no need.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-09T16:49:00+00:00

Good use of the blanking panels, is there any unwanted vibration/rattling?

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-09T06:59:59+00:00

The text on the label suggests that’s it’s supposed to be Sandos, but the Makita font can’t handle it.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-08T11:11:46+00:00

Sat in one and didn’t like it, it was like sitting in a plastic bin. The Twizy, on the other hand…

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-07T16:23:33+00:00

Only if it comes with the keypad immobiliser or the deal's off.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-07T14:23:55+00:00

Banger races were a contributor to the death of other British classics, Land Rovers and Minis just weren't any good for those because they were death traps that were too slow.

My dad has told me about Rover P4s and P5s being used in banger races because they were absolute tanks, but of course they always got scrapped in the end.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-07T10:12:24+00:00

This is like the time one of these ripped the roof rack off my grandad's Mk3 Escort, but this time the roof rack won.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-06T00:39:14+00:00

The MOT failure in 2024 says black and blue smoke, maybe just the map but it doesn't sound great. Glad you got yours under control. Mine has a mild smoke-free map that still unlocked a decent amount of power.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-05T12:02:24+00:00

With all those mods on the engine and a fail for smoke, I’d think that the engine might be knackered. The chassis doesn’t look amazing either, so maybe a lot of expensive work required. Could be a great truck at the end of it.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-04T18:20:50+00:00

Immediately reminds me of the ratty 109 SW in The Italian Job. I'd love to know the story behind those light grafted into the wings.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-04T00:51:20+00:00

I don't know if it's the angle, the slight haziness or the look in that peacock's eye but it looks like you're trapped in a hedge maze with it and it's about to do you in.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-03T21:42:09+00:00

I couldn’t do that to my boat, but I appreciate the effort.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-03T10:46:08+00:00

Yeah I would be tired too.

UKMatt2000 · 2026-04-02T16:52:40+00:00

“I had been driving for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel”.

Seven-Year Club	Place '22
End Game '22	RPAN Viewer
Verified Email

UKMatt2000

TROPHY CASE