I was struggling for an excuse to drive the Peugeot 205GTI until my wife kindly realised she’d forgotten some vital component of Sunday lunch, so I was dispatched to town to procure, and there was no better weapon for it. Light, nimble, quick and lucid as it is, a 20-mile blast on the roads around here in a 205GTI reminds me why the one I owned 32 years ago helped convince me I needed to find a way of earning a living driving interesting cars.
I couldn’t find an excuse for the old Fiat 500 but I thought I’d go and drive it regardless. Lack of space means it currently lives on its own in an old barn which I don’t like because it’s not as dry as the shed, but it’s the only car I own small enough to negotiate its way past the table tennis table and my drum-kit. But it wouldn’t start. The battery was fine but the starter motor just clicked pathetically and then stopped altogether. Is it a coincidence that while all the cars went to bed healthy, only the one that lived in damper conditions played up? I’ll never know, but I doubt it. I know people who are very robust with their old cars and just accept rot and rebuild as part of the cycle of motoring life, but I don’t like it at all.
So much so that I’ve decided something has to go. It should probably be the Fiat because even I can see I don’t need two ancient air-cooled two-cylinder cars in my life, but Mrs F loves it, so it stays. The Land Rover can’t go because it’s too useful and I passed my test in it and, as mentioned, the Citroen is not going anywhere, ever. So it’s the Peugeot or the Porsche. I should sell the Peugeot because the Porsche is rare and special, but really a 968 Sport is a long distance car and when I do long distances and almost without exception, work means I need to be in something else. Truth is that while I love the car enough to have kept it for two years when I only bought it so I could drive a 918 Spyder for a day (long story, but essentially the deal was I had to turn up in a Porsche I actually owned), it’s the one I use least. So if you know someone who might want a well known 968 Sport, do get in touch.