In addition do the race car, I’ve realized that it’s important to have a reliable daily driver to use for going to work and back, or for when I’ve broken the race car doing something (usually stupid).

I started my two-car ownership adventure with this beauty, a 1986 Audi 4000 quattro:

AKA “The Roach”

This car looked hot. It was lowered on B&G springs, running Koni adjustable shocks and even though they were only 14″ wheels…everyone always asked me if I was running 15’s. I paid $500 for the car, had to invest another $1000 over the first three months to make it reliable and driveable. I dropped a $1700 stereo into it, and spent a summer in it ripping up to Muskoka and back on weekends. I fell in love with this car cruising Muskoka road 13 with the windows down, the sunroof open and the tunes blaring. It was an incredible experience in the twisties. Those shocks made the car handle like a true sports sedan.

It wasn’t perfect, however. The car sat so low that the rear tires would rub the fenders going over bumps. Put a passenger or two in the back (or my mountain bike gear) and it would rub over even the smallest road cracks. The paint was a bit rough looking, I’m pretty sure the car was given a Maaco $150 paint job shortly before I got it. There were a few rust spots…one of which the previous owner had used a sticker to cover up!

Come winter, the second winter I believe, the love-affair with this car ended. I had to drop another maybe $1600 in to the car to keep it running well and THEN the rad blew up, the brakes stared sticking, the door handles broke, the lights were flaky and it would randomly drain the battery dead. I put the car up for sale, got an offer and took it.

I went a few months with just the rally car again, but realized that I was going to need a daily driver once more. Enter Lino and the famous $50 Audi.

AKA “The Schnauser”

Lino’s son was driving this car as his daily driver…and some how got in an accident where he was T-boned on the left side. That’s where the gold door came into the picture…but not why I got the car so cheap. The waterpump was leaking, you couldn’t drive the car 25km without having to fill it up with coolant, and the battery was cooked in it. Lino needed some parts for the ‘88 90 quattro that he had bought his son, so we made a deal. I’d get him a set of rear shocks for the car, and trade him for this 4000 quattro (another 1986 model). I called up a friend who owed me a favour and a set of shocks, and drove out to pick up the car. I called this my $50 Audi, because my total out-of-pocket costs to pick it up were $50.

This car was the perfect mountain bike vehicle. We could stuff four guys, four bikes and all our stuff in it with relative ease. The paint was horrible, the body dented in so many spots that we didn’t really care about the finish of the car. Many a good time was had “making” parking spots by using the bumpers to move the shopping carts, garbage or snow out of the way. The roof always had footprints on it from climbing up to strap stuff down, and the hood had a permanent “sat-on” look to it. I suppose this was because we always sat on! Mickey even used the car at one point to ride his bike over…very entertaining to watch.

The car slowly took on more and more character as we added to the dents and scratches, and continued to place stickers on the back glass. More then once I’d come back to the car after parking it somewhere in Toronto, only to find one of my riding buddies had added a sticker to it to say “hey, I was here”.

The car went 60,000km over a 15 month time span, and cost me a total of just under $500 including the purchase price. I was very much tempted to keep this car, it’s been so good to me, but the truth is I don’t love the 4000 platform that much. It’s square, it’s kinda ugly and the interior is rather ‘dated’. And, while I’ve really enjoyed the ‘dirtbag’ crap car image and had a tonne of fun with it…I’ve been wanting to get something a little more refined and ‘respectable’ for a while now. When the rear brakes finally hit metal on metal, and an unrelated cooling system problem surfaced, I decided it was time to sell the car. Off it went, making room for my newest automobile…

AKA “The Black Stallion”

This is my new (to me anyhow) 1988 Audi 90 quattro. This is another car sourced off of Lino’s driveway. The same son who was driving the 4kq before me, was driving this 90q before me. Fortunetly I got it before any major accidents, but it seems he’s kissed the front left corner into something. No worries, it’s an easy to fix problem!

This car is sort of a gift from my good friend Aaron, and the best car yet. I’ve always wanted to own the rally car and a matching street car…and now I have it. Thanks mate!

“Francois”

Having decided that I need a vehicle better suited for mountain biking out west, I began to look for a Truck. Just a few days later I picked up this 1992 Ford F150 4×4 extended cab, despite reservations from Warwick who thought a truck was a bad idea. It’s equipped with Fords energy efficient (HA!) 302 V8, which gets me a shockingly poor amount of gas mileage I just won’t post about.

On the plus side, we don’t have to worry about scratching it too much, and it’s already served us well getting bikes up the mountain. Also on the plus side is the fact that it has a tonne of new parts. Sadly, that’s because I’ve had to put them it. The tranny grenaded on the 3rd day of ownership, leaving Warwick, Clinton, Miranda and myself stranded on the 99. I’ve replaced the tranny, the clutch, the clutch hydraulics, alternator, battery, and front brakes. Still to be dealt with is the absolute scary rear suspension repair the previous owner did. Like a true frenchman, Francois just refuses to work.

I’m only half serious, the truck has actually been quite good to me after the initial “keep shoveling money into me” period.

-Dave