On cars:
The Volvo C30S SSRI Coupe of 2009
I bought this over a year ago, trading in the 2009 Mazda B50 2WD Ute - which was a fantastic vehicle in excellent condition. I bought the Mazda Ute almost new as an experiment to see how it went over 2 years when used not as a ute at all but as a two seater car, basically. It is the only car I've ever had that basically appreciated in value in the 2 years I had it. Why? Because I had used it simply as a car. Very strong, lots of added on things like side steps and dark glass and bullbar and great spotlights etc.
It was great except I found it very difficult to park because of the one tonne tray sticking out beyond the cabin-line and there were quite a number of occasions when I reversed it into steel poles...doing no damage at all to the ute, mind you. Finally, after I reversed it into the side door of a new Mitsubishi Pajero at low speed and basically tore off the door of the Pajero, still with no damage to the Ute, I began thinking about trading the Ute in. Just poor vision reversing, and me with a sore neck.
It was comfortable. The bumpiness of the rear leaf-springs were well balanced simply by having a 20 kg bag of sand in the centre back of the tray. Thus: car-like suspension. Good diesel engine. Cheap to run, and problem free.
Anyway, the Volvo is a good coupe. Low and fast and safe. The only car I've owned where you don't have to slow down when going around corners or changing directions radically...It just does what you want. No complaints, no back-end drifting etc. The other day was a good example, I did an illegal U-turn at some lights and failed to see a fast approaching very large Toyota Sahara 4WD so I was in a bit of a pickle...so...planted foot to the floor on the accelerator...and the Volvo just ignored all its inbuilt safety-gear tuned to the particular driver's habits, and it just threw itself forward out of the way in a great pool of seething rubber and smoke. Brilliant. Fortunate.
I bought it second hand 3 year old at about the same price as a new basic Toyota Corolla (the famous and indestructible Bangkok Taxi) so, its value depreciation was about 20% per year, and continues to devalue each year faster than a Corolla would, although this is only a concern if one wants to sell it. I like it and it reminds me of Simon Templar's Volvo in The Saint, and so its resale value means nothing as I wish to keep it. Volvo engines are great - especially the C30S 5 cylinder donk...massive power in a very heavy body...and will do an easy 600,000km without effort or much that needs fixing. Fuel costs are twice that of a Corolla.
If I had to make a dispassionate objective analysis and asked myself Is the Volvo, when new, worth the money...maybe $50,000...then NO, not at all. A Daihatsu Terios or Sirion, a Hyundai Getz, or even the Toyota Corolla is a much smarter way to get around and you could buy 4 Hyundai Getz for the price of the Volvo. The Getz will last as long and maybe even be a bit more reliable...but I just like the glass boot, the 'shooting brake' configuration of the Volvo that hearkens back to the 1969 PT model of Roger Moore/ that's all. I like it. And Volvo does have the most comfortable car seats in the world.
Cars I would like to have in the future, whilst keeping the Volvo: a fifteen year old Mercedes S500 Long Wheel Base. You can pick them up for around $15,000 now, with 130,000km on the clock, which is a drop from $150,000 when new...and they are great loungerooms to drive around in. They came in V6, V8 and V12...and I would kinda like the V12. I'd also like a low km 2012 Hyundai Getz 2 door 1.4l car and do it up a treat as they are very brilliant machines. Zonking down from Rockhampton to Brisbane in the Getz, or from Rockhampton to Cairns were comfortable, fast and excellently affordable experiences.
So, favourite owned cars, in order of excellence, for me, would be:
1: Hyundai Getz
2: Volvo C30S SSRI Coupe + Holden Kingswood Station Wagon in green
3: Daihatsu Terios + 3: Mazda B50 2WD Ute
Motorbikes:
Favoured:
BMW R1100R Randy Mammola Replica 2002 in police colours of Blue and White
Moto Guzzi Tenni Le Mans 2000 in green, brown, white and red (quite an Italian pastiche)
Ducati ST4S in yellow, with design elements from Benetton and Marchesini fine mechanicals
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