ALL THE CARS I’VE EVER BOUGHT
Used car addict Keith Adams looks back at his best – and worst – classic buys. This week, a Mercedes-Benz bought for a song – but sadly not packing a V8…
WHAT I PAID £800 IN 2010
PRICE NOW £500-2000
WHY DID I WANT ONE?
Having a reputation for buying pretty much anyone’s old cars can be a very good thing. I’ve experienced cars that I would never have experienced in a million years and found pretty much the best in all of those. In the case of this Mercedes-Benz A Class it was a case of being offered it and actually rather pleased that I had been. You see I love the A Class. Not those new-fangled modern ones that look like a VW Golf – the original, which earned a reputation for falling apart – or falling over – within five years. Yes, like all the lost causes, I really rate them, seeing what the engineering team originally saw – asuper-clever package that Issigonis himself would have been proud of. They’re barely longer than a Ford Fiesta MkII but have more room inside than a Sierra. So when my mate Rob offered me his for £800, I could hardly refuse… could I?
WAS IT A JOY – OR A NIGHTMARE -TO LIVE WITH?
It was interesting. It was in a shade pretty close to British Racing Green with a beige interior so I felt quite at home in it. As did my family, who loved the epic amount of rear legroom in it (Mercedes-Benz claimed that the LWB A Class matched the S Class in that department). Within days of buying it I’d arranged to go to the Techno Classica show in Essen with my good mate Richard and all of his photographic gear. The car swallowed that and our luggage with ease. This was a brave thing to do considering that I hadn’t even serviced the car but I was comfortable with that given that the belts had not long since been done. That drive to Germany soon had me picking faults – its lack of high-speed stability was surprising – but it served me well during the year that I owned it and I was sad to see it go when I sold it to Richard.
WHAT’S YOUR ABIDING MEMORY OF IT?
Its practicality. I’ll admit that this doesn’t sound like the stuff of dreams but some
