Over here in Belgium , people who actually have to work for a living, call this sort of absurd pricing “rich people’s disease” Spend your money on whatever is hot and inest at the same time...and spoil that thing for the true enthousiast.
You can’t project anymore when eyeballing nice classics.

Even in Europe, with the 1.5diesel three-cylinder 116d, it can be fun.
I’ve had it as a company leaser since 2015, and since a few weeks I’m really dreading the day when I have to exchange it next year.
We knew it was coming, as a four door prototype was displayed a few years back, but still, it stings.

We can get the Camaro , and now it seems we get the v8 and the 2.0 turbo. Ok , smooth move Chevy, but it’s a) slighty more expensice than a mustang and b) - in turbo-guise - just a tad less powerfull. But ok, I hope people catch on to this. I like the mustang, but it’s getting boring. Get some more camaro over here,…

Since the waiver system seems the same worldwide; I’ll take it from my perspective; normally the track’s own crew maintains the track, so why sue the organiser? In Belgium, the trackday organiser mostly pays the track owner/caretaker to keep the track safe, intervene with accidents etc. throught the track’s own crew…

That’s easy, two mentions: 1) Peugeot 406, 2.216v (not the diesel); had this after a first gen Renault Clio;it was a steal given the equipment and low km count; but the cream was the way it could cope with me tossing it around; I expected a somewhat comfortable daily, not a real mover since it was a medium sized, FWD…

I see a bleak future flash before me: the commute will be a drone of ever so slight whirring of the electric motor, accompanied by a faint elevator muzak at minimal volume, only “entertainment” allowed.

That being said: don’t jerk around early in the morning or in the middle of the night. Tolerance has to come from…

So dignified.

There used to be an abundance of them in Belgium. My father once resold an MK1 example (hew as more an Opel guy back then) , which I think was the nicest looking example (if unmodded), but the next gen ones could be made to work:...some box flares here, some screaming turbo engine there, and you’ll have a winner in no…

Indeed, and ridiculous. For tuning and classics it’s ruffly the same;

As a Belgian....I can’t blame you. Every damn speeder is news and in our northern part (Dutch speaking here), they slapped us with a miserable non-highway speed limit of 70 km/h (43 mph - ish)
Seems the stuck up no-fun people always end up in office here, happily waving the “europe” - stick when validating higher…

If only my lowly 116d would have half that power; it has half the number of cylinders, half the discplacement...and kind of two turbo’s also...but alas, it is not to be :(
Are you reading this BMW?! Think of the poor slops who have to drive your low-end “offcourse it’s a lease” - models and slap some extra turbo’s on…

In Europe, the Rally conversion is one of the main reason it has become such a rare model on the road. (we got that exact Coupe-with-trunk model over here as a Corolla GT), at the beginning of the century - before the big classic car craze - that was something to look out for when you wanted to buy one : making sure…

Nevermind the “active” gizmo’s.
But if things like seatbelt pre-tensioners are on the us-model, and as a major automaker, you know they’re present on most cars on the european markter, just fit them already; keeps the powers that whine happy.

In Belgium, the ecoboost version is not a rare sight anymore , it seems to sell pretty well; and let’s face it; € 39.950 for a well equipped rwd car wat 320 HP is interesting.
The GT is disastrous on a tax level; sets us back at about € 45.950 , I spec’d both with custom pack and metallic paint. GT over here has 422 HP.
…

People who act in unwanted stunts often get a big thumbs up from me. Really. I do it to channel the raging. Ok, sometimes it angers them more, but more than often, it results in a puzzled look,...maybe a night of bad sleep , gna! :p
While riding my motorcycle and getting clearly cut off at traffic lights, I stand point…

I don’t exactly know how things go about in the US, but if in Europe a bunch of “enthousiasts” read one or two articles like this, the asking price for the car model in subject go up by 40 % ; every punk with one of those in the garage thinks he has struck gold with his sad beaten down example.
By consequence, the…

My father owned a 120 for about two years near the end of the Eigthies. Amazing car for a 10 year old to ride along in. Because of the extra plumbing , it also had heater vents in front of the rear seat.

I’ve seen shit in all sort of car brands and Mercs still have rust issues.
So what’s new?

I see your strange Pontiac and raise it with an Opel rally car.

The downside of every car that was once expensive and now cheap; a big Merc, Porsche or BMW will always be an expensive German car as far as parts go.