RDQ 18/9/19- The most unlikely car you’ve owned?

Probably the Citroen Xantia I had in 1992 - I'd never been a Citroen fan. I was always a Ford or Vauxhall person but was offered a test drive in the Xantia and loved it. I had a 1.9Tdi SX and it was trouble free for 110k miles.

In 2001 I replaced a RR Classic that had failing air suspension with a Freelander V6. I must have had a rush of blood to the head. I should have just had the suspension fixed. I got rid of that Freelander just before I joined the Autocar forum.

The XC90 but that's the missus bus so probably doesn't count.

In that time I've had
Civic Type R
BMw 130i
VW Golf Ed 30
Mercedes C220 Cdi
Porsche 993
Golf Gti Mk6
Cayman
Focus ST
GT4

Out of that list I guess the Merc was the biggest surprise. At the time I was doing loads of miles so bought a new 6 figure mileage car for not a great deal of money and it was wafty loveliness. Not quick by any means but just drove so smoothly. A proper Merc before they went all sporty.

Mrs Sacamano had a Citroen Dyane when I met her and she hated it. I actually quite liked it - you could take all the seats out except the driver's and roll back roof, leaving plenty of room for a group of people to stand up with their head and shoulders out the car. I remember England winning a football match and we had about 8 people in it, driving round The Spanish City, waving flags and firing rockets out the top. It didn't half roll going round the corners though.

Er, a Nissan Micra diesel replacing a lovely 370Z was a bit of a shock as was buying a campervan.

Prior to that the biggest surprise was trading a 3 yr old, scuffed, Stilo diesel for a brand new Alfa 3.2. It was a dream car but I didn't expect the salesman to be able to make it happen at a price I could afford.
However that was the change that made the E39 M5 possible less than a year later and, at that time, it was a huge step up to something that had performance almost comparable with the current supercars (nowadays even some 5 door, 2 litre, hatches could comfortably dispose of the M5).

Difficult. Probably the Z1. Because I usually buy cars with at least one eye on all-round practicality - space for passengers, decent amount of luggage space, good touring abilities.

The Z1 only came about because I was posted to Russia for 3 yrs and therefore decided to sell my car, which at the time was a 52-plate Audi S3 in Nogaro Blue, on the basis that I wouldn't get any use out of it and it would just sit there depreciating and deteriorating.

It was fate that, just after I sold the S3, I spotted the Z1 up for sale on the Munich Legends website for a whisker less than I had just got from selling the S3. I'd always liked them but had never thought about owning one as they are completely impractical, however I realised it was a way to put the cash into having a car in London that wouldn't depreciate and practicality was no longer a major concern. I went to test-drive it, fell in love and the rest was history.

Replacing a Subaru Legacy Turbo with an Escort GTi was a weird choice, but it turned out alright because the Escort was a decent, reliable and relatively chuckable car.

I always made myself promises to own certain cars throughout my life: I told myself before I passed my test that I would own a 405 Mi16 after getting a lift in one belonging to my Brother's mate, and I ended up buying one when I was 20. I promised myself a Subaru before I was 25, and bought the Legacy when I was 22. My cousin owned a 205 GTi 1.6 in the early 90s, which prompted me to buy a 1.9 at age 19.

I also promised myself a Porsche 968 by the time I was 30, but becoming a father at 26 and buying a house put paid to that.

I never promised myself I'd pay far toom much money for a diesel Vectra, but I did.

Now I just buy what I can afford at the time.

A Honda CRV I had as the company car whilst the TT was on order. Best thing on reallocation list but wallowy old bus compared to the preceding A3 Sline and subsequent TT!!

Probably the C-Max.... never expected to walk out of the dealership having bought the one in the showroom having originally gone there just to get a quote on a bumper repair for younger daughter's Fiesta. I had seen a used C-Max on their website and enquired about a test drive after getting the Fiesta assessed, but it was sold previously. They let me have a test drive in another one but it was beyond budget. New car salesman who sold me the Ka saw me walking through the showroom and asked what I was doing there, we got talking, he sat me in the one in the showroom, we talked some more and the figures came out better than the used one....

Burn the witch!!!!

The Legacy. I was going to buy a Passat TDi!

I felt totally comfortable commuting to from Brum - shit drivers, but a 400 quid square car with big bumpers, that doesn't back off when you push your way in makes for less stressful journey!

Work colleagues stuck taxi signs on it.