The greatest thing I've ever bought.

As with most first cars mine came more out of necessity than choice. Elton was his name, a sharp suggestion from my sister relating to the letters on his numberplate EJO. A fine machine he was too, a 1.6 16v first car was not to be sniffed at and with optional panther black metallic paint he was an exquisite example of an R-registered Ford Escort. Ownership was generally a positive experience, though we had a few chequered moments, some were Elton's fault, for example brake failure, others were not, like the clearly demented soul who liked the look of the 16v badge adorning Elton's rump. Ultimately Elton was an excellent servant and £800 for three years service represented great value, however he is not the greatest thing I've ever bought. No, that honour goes to my second car, which was a choice.

 © James Hughes 2013

May 2008 saw the dawning of a new era, Elton was on his last legs and I was looking for something faster and more fun. The Clio doesn't have a name, I simply refer to it as 'the best thing I've ever bought'. £2500 she cost with around 80,000 miles on the clock, though the part exchange of Elton brought that down a few bob. Living with it since then has been a joy, there have been a few parts needing replacement, namely the exhaust and springs, but other than that its  been solid as a rock. Driven calmly it'll average 40mpg, with the potential to have a lot of fun whenever you like. It is versatile enough to cart my mountain bike around or hold 4 men full of all you can eat meat buffet. As I write this now my car has done over 130,000 miles and aside from a small blowing in the exhaust feels as crisp as the day I picked her up. I have a lot of great memories of this wonderful machine, but top of the pile was the day Jonny and I plodded up to Silverstone to see the first circuit run track day on the brand new Grand Prix circuit. My dad is a safety marshal so after watching some cars go round we went to see him for a chat. We joked about the possibility of me taking the car round and apparently thinking I wouldn't dad suggested I head over to the organisers and see if I could sign on for half a day. It was one of those great moments when it was handy to know the right people, what seemed like only half an hour (and £200 (which was a lot of my money..)) later Jonny and I were opening pit garage 9a and taking everything out of the car we possibly could.

 © James Hughes 2013

The pile of stuff we removed is just visible to the left of the garage. We had done no more preparation for a trackday than that, literally we emptied it. The tyres, brakes and oil were all just as they had been since the last service 8 months earlier. So out we went for five 4 lap runs in total, which let me tell you was exhausting, on the first open trackday on the new circuit layout. My car was probably the slowest of the vehicles there but still in its element. I really went for it and to this day have not had a bigger rush, that absolutely fantastic car just lapped it up and kept going, no brake fade, no oil leaks nothing. I couldn't believe how much grip it had, always having a little bit more to spare, how solid the brakes were and how happy to keep on revving that fantastic engine was. For hours after I got home I was buzzing, its an experience I hope I remember forever. Driving back to my uni residence at the time, the front tyres were balling up and disintegrating after the numerous heat cycles they'd been through so I replaced them fairly soon, but did so with a smile not for a second regretting the punishment they'd taken.

Cars form part of out lives, and take on personalities, often that we project onto them, but we do that with most people too. My Clio has character by the truckload, its an exceptional car dealing with every challenge I've thrown its way and still taking me home in style on minimal petrol. If it were a person I think I'd hate it because its perfect, very happily indeed though, its not a person, its my car, and I bloody love it.