Trader Dreamer: Vauxhall Vectra Special

This week a one owner, high mileage Vauxhall Vectra has grabbed my attention. You’d be forgiven for thinking that this is an ex-minicab, but fortunately this Vectra is much cooler than that. This Vauxhall barge is in-fact ex police, and it’s called a Special because it is. Beneath that un-impressive exterior lies a turbocharged 2.8 V6.

A Vectra V6 Special in Service - Photo from Trojan631

Trader Dreamer: A2 and Laguna, now in brown!

Brown, I keep going on about it and I don't intend to stop anytime soon. In a world which looked very much in danger of being taken over by white cars, we need a new fashionable colour. The car manufacturers seem to agree with me (nothing to do with the fact that it's hard to charge extra for white I'm sure) and cars just keep on launching in this fetching colour. The CLS Shooting Brake is just one recent example.

Trader Dreamer: Hyundai XG

To a certain kind of car enthusiast, there are three things will appeal on this weeks trader dreamer. It’s a bargain barge, it’s got yellow fog lights and it’s got pillar-less doors. It really is a bargain too, the car that has all this and more can be had for true shed money, you could have change from £1,000. The car? The Hyundai XG30.

An XG in Chile, photo from juanelo242. 

Trader Dreamer: Eagle Talon

This weeks trader dreamer is more of a ‘try and find another one’ than anything else. A browse through ebay saw me happen across this rarity in the UK, howmanyleft states that while there were once 4 in the UK, only one remains on the road, presumably this one. You’d surely be hard pressed to find another totally unique car for the small sum of £2,495!

Trader Dreamer: Mercedes CLS

If you follow any source of motor news then you’ll probably have seen a review of the new BMW 6 series Gran Coupe. Regardless of the fact it’s rather good to drive, this new four-door coupe has a major advantage in that it might just be the best looking car of it’s type on sale. Its not like it hasn’t got plenty of competition; the slightly dull but still attractive VW CC, the Audi A7, which I strongly disliked until I saw it in brown. The new CLS is nice but the 6 series just about edges it on style, but my (very subjective) point here is that the most attractive modern four door coupe is actually the CLS, just not the present one.

Photo From kenjonbro

Trader Dreamer: Lada Riva

The Lada Riva, or AvtoVAZ 2107 finished production three weeks ago, and for a car which is so well known, not just among car people, but also the wider public, it didn’t get much press for it. It even has the accolade of being the third best selling car platform ever built.

Photo from Patrick_Glesca

Trader Dreamer: Jaguar XKR 5.0

It would seem Bentley has done a good job with their new Continental V8, reviews are positive and most reports suggest it’s a better choice than the W12 that supposedly sits above it in the range. Fine praise indeed and looking at the specifics of it, it’s hard to argue with them. The V8 sounds better, is hardly slower, and cheaper than it’s twelve-cylinder brother, so Autocar’s 4 star review of the GTC V8 seems pretty justified then. The car it just beats (both receiving 4 stars) in the ‘Road Test Top 5’ is the Jaguar XKR, and that’s the car I recommend.

Photo From kenjonbro

Trader Dreamer: MINI Clubman

Brown. It’s a pretty seventies colour. The 70’s are good, nylon shirts, big colours, disco music; it’s surprising to me that more aspects of this period of time haven’t made a resurgence. At present we seem to be in a micro eighties revival, and to petrolheads, that means white cars. The white paintwork that once proudly adorned Carlson Mercedes’, Lamborghini Countach’s and Escort XR3i’s is now prolific, not only on Audi’s 2011 Goodwood stand, but also on the driveways and motorways of the United Kingdom. Surely now its time for something new, and I think brown is the answer. As always there’s a trendsetter, and the first modern car that I can recall launching in brown (that’s not a fact, just my memory!) came back in 2007.

Trader Dreamer: Renault Laguna Initiale 2.0 dCi

Who doesn’t like toys to play with? Maybe I’m just childish, but there’s something appealing about having a large amount of technology to play with. Why else do people buy an S-class? Many reasons probably, but ignoring the other ones, let me bestow some specs upon you; auto lights, auto wipers, electrically adjustable heated leather seats, auto dimming rear view mirror, xenon headlights, dual zone climate control, 6 CD multichanger, parking sensors, Bluetooth prepared sat nav, Insurance group 11, 150 bhp, 48.7mpg. Sounds good doesn’t it? It sounds so much better when you find all this could be yours for £2,850?

 

Photo from Charles-Emmanuel

Trader Dreamer: Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG

It’s pretty strange that I’ve yet to feature a Mercedes on this site, it’s a brand I’m very fond of. There’s something about that three-pointed star on the bonnet that makes you want to progress serenely and comfortably to your destination. Older Mercedes’ delivered this very well, combined with a level of over-engineering that made their cars feel like they could last forever. By 2004 Mercedes had lost some of this in an attempt to match BMW’s driver image, but there was one car that went straight onto the Euromillions win shopping list; the CL65 AMG.

Trader Dreamer: Audi A2

You may have read my ‘Dream Barn’, on the excellent Petrolblog. Whether you did or not, one of my choices was the Audi RS4, and I claimed it was nearly the best Audi ever, but not quite, thanks to the A2. Of course this is entirely my opinion, but I’m fully prepared to justify the A2’s place above the fire-breathing RS4 in this weeks ‘Trader Dreamer’.

Picture from wyzik

Trader Dreamer: BTCC Special I

YouTube is a wonderful thing, aside from millions of hours of utterly pointless drivel and many more comments of the same ilk, there’s seemingly no limit to what you can watch. I’ve recently been entertaining myself by watching BTCC videos. I’m a huge fan of the super touring years of the sport, and YouTube makes it possible to watch those races on demand. This is the first of ‘Trader Dreamer’s inspired by this great racing series, and it’s natural to start with the year 1990, the first year to feature the new 2-litre class that would make the series so very special.

(Picture from Ejcallow)

Trader Dreamer: Rover 200 BRM LE

This time around ‘Trader Dreamer’ is one rather personal to me. This is a car I’ve wanted for several years now, and with prices obscenely low at the moment, this appears to be the time to buy a car that could very well appreciate. What this limited edition car desperately needs is more caring owners, while some have such luxury, many turn up for breaking or with questionable engine conversions. The car is the Rover 200 BRM LE and my plea to you is save one for me, and sell it for the current price in a few years, ta. 

E46 328i Vs F30 328i – In Video

In the most recent ‘Trader Dreamer’ I compare the virtues of the brand new 328i to the model 13 years its senior. If you don’t want to take my conclusion alone, perhaps you should watch the two videos after the break. In one you’ll find Clarkson testing the 328i at its launch in 1998 on ‘old’ Top Gear. The other comes from Autocar, with Steve Sutcliffe testing the most recent model. See for yourself how much has changed in this expanse of time.

 The E46 & F30, both can skirt around a rocky outcrop but which would you have?

Trader Dreamer: BMW 328i E46

The embargo on reviews of the F30 BMW 3 series was lifted earlier this week, meaning that we can find out that once again the 3 series is top of its class. Hardly surprising as this has been the case for as long as I can remember. What is perhaps a little surprising is the engine in the new 328i, a name plate that we in Europe haven’t seen for 11 years. Under the bonnet you’ll find no 2.8 litre straight six, nothing of the sort in fact, the car has a 2.0 litre turbocharged four cylinder. The new car will set you back £28,080 before you start ticking boxes, but if you’re not keen on spending that sort of money a car with a lie on its boot lid, then perhaps consider the E46 328i. It’s not lying and it can be had for as little as £2,000.

Photo from aaronmarks

Trader Dreamer: Ford Scorpio

How do you follow up a V12 Ferrari in a series of blogs? Well perhaps something a bit more realistic. Something with half the cylinders but a top speed only 40mph adrift of the now £60k supercar. A car that offers more equipment than the Ferrari, better economy, more seats, and in facelift form, more exclusivity than the Testarossa? Yes it’s all sounding great you say, well, witness, the Ford Scorpio!

Photo from kenjonbro

Trader Dreamer: Ferrari 512TR

So I've gone a second Sunday without a Trader Dreamer, but to make up for it, here’s one about a true automotive hero. These days if you want a full on lary V12 supercar you must surely go to Lamborghini or Pagani. Yes Ferrari make the fully competitive 599, but it’s engine location gives it the appearance of a GT rather than Supercar. In this day and age it’s harder than ever to make a case for a V12 Supercar that’s so big you need a runway to fully explore its abilities, but if there’s one period of time where these vehicles were at home it was the excess of the 1980s.

Photo from daveoflogic

Trader Dreamer: Honda FR-V

In 2000 the Fiat Multipla was launched to critical acclaim, its clever seating plan allowed 6 people to fit in a car that wasn’t massive like an Espace, and still had boot space with 6 occupants. It won Top Gear’s family car of the year award 4 years in a row, and in its launch year managed runner up in the ECOTY. With MPV’s very popular at the time, and Fiat bringing this new idea to the table, you could presume that it would be a sales hit. This however was not quite the case, currently there are 13252 registered on the road, compare this to the decidedly mediocre Fiat Stilo, which wasn’t winning any awards, but sold in more than twice the volume. Some reckon the car would have been more successful, if it were not for Chris Bangles controversial styling, and this is where the Honda FR-V comes in.

 

Picture from 'Imnop88a'

Trader Dreamer: Aston Martin Vanquish

Imagine the situation, it's 2001 and you are Vice President of a UK wide company, you’ve risen through the ranks. Eight years ago you were driving a ford Mondeo Mk1, now even your BMW isn’t enough, so you go and splash £160k on a brand new sports car. But even in this elevated status you are reminded where you came from, the electric window switches are exactly the same as that Mondeo all those years ago. The car that offers this experience? That’ll be the Aston Martin Vanquish, which could now be yours for less than £50,000.

Photo from 'RGT3'

Trader Dreamer: Land Rover Freelander I

To say the Evoque has been well received is a bit of an understatement, from what I've been reading it has fantastic looks, it isn’t bad to drive and it has all the premium image you could want for. Thing is, the price is pretty premium too, kicking off a little shy of £30k. So if you don’t have that sort of money there is a vastly cheaper alternative, and that’s a used Land Rover Freelander.

 Picture From 'kenjonbro'