BOUGHT AND SOLD OUR CARS
TRADING PLACES
Behind the rich veneer of test cars, Autocar’s staff live a life of more mundane motoring. Here are the vehicles we’ve bought and sold in 2023
RESTORED
1972 VW BEETLE (1302 S)
FELIX PAGE
Having languished in my grandparents’ lovely, dry garage for seven years, my Beetle was cruelly evicted earlier this year.
Imade some ill-fated attempts to get it going but then cowed to the demands of my nearest and dearest and listed it for sale – to no avail, because any prospective buyer was soon put off by the slight inconvenience of it not running. Fine by me; I wanted to keep it.
Anyway, Volkswagen UK then asked if they could show my car at a 70th-anniversary gathering it was hosting in September, and when I at first declined reluctantly on the basis of the car’s roadunworthiness, VW kindly offered to rectify that if I provided the necessary parts. I agreed, not quite realising at that stage how much work was going to be needed… Anyway, here we are a few months later: I’m penniless, my partner won’t speak to me and the neighbours make no secret of their distaste for the offbeat clatter of an air-cooled flat four.
But it’s all worth it for the grin it brings to everyone’s face when they see me drive past. I think.
BOUGHT
1991 VW POLO BREADVAN
FELIX PAGE
A confession: my brother bought this one, not me, but I did offer advice (“don’t buy it”). A piston shot through the block on the drive home, but within a week he and a friend had found, bought and installed a second-hand engine that cost £70 on eBay. That was six months ago, and the Polo is still going strong.
1992 ROVER MINI
ALEX WOLSTENHOLME
Five years ago, before I could drive, I desperately wanted a Mini. Unsurprisingly, my parents said no. Earlier this year, as a not-so-well-to-do adult, I had been complaining to my parents about the prices Minis commanded. Just when I thought I’d never see an affordable Mini in good nick again, I found a 1992 one-owner example and have managed to negotiate it into a neighbour’s garage.