Blair

Corrado's definitely the sexiest of the two. Even after 6.5 years of ownership, I'd still have to glance over the should when I parked up :) Which reminds me - nice siggy Luke, very happy to see ATW has gone to a loving foster-home :D

At a rough guess, I'd say "fun"...? Ignoring the point there's a huge accident waiting to happen there, that does look like a good laugh. The guy in the red Corolla GT needs a bit of solo track time - not just to hone his technique, but also to stop him killing anyone else!

You know, that really doesn't look as wrong as I'd expect it to...

Yeah, apparently you're much safer swimming on the sea-facing beaches (Manly, Bondi etc.) than in the harbour itself, which seems the exact opposite of what you'd think! The sharks even go up the Paramatta River, I'm sure there was a woman killed there in recent years. My Bridgeclimb guide told us people saw a Great White actually breach next to Circular Quay, but I'm not sure I believe it...it's the sort of thing that gets reported at least on shark forums, and I never heard it anywhere else :) What line of work are you in, if I can ask? :) I'm in IT but IT jobs seem to be drying up out there at the moment... :(

Played :)

I don't get to wash my Corrado any more... :(

Well, I meant the StreetKa but both, really :)

All credit to Ford - they've done a great job in the last 10 years. The Puma was the first Ford I thought I actually might like (well, except for the Capri and XR3i from The Professionals when I was a kid :) ) The StreetKa was a wasted opportunity though. What happened to the rumoured decent engine that was going to go in it? That could have been a great with a decent amount of power. I was impressed with the Mondeo TDCI I drove recently. Not so impressed with the Focus though - either one. For some reason they always felt like a car you sit ON, not IN.

Yeah, a couple of times. First time I went in late 2002 - I was staying with a friend in Castle Hill, we drove into Manly and I got the ferry from there to Circular Quay - just stayed on and went straight back :) I went again with a mate for the RWC final (no tickets, but he was starting a round-the-world trip so I went along for the first 2 weeks in Sydney). We went to Manly for the day, crossed on the ferry - beautiful sunshine. Did a bit of boogie-boarding at Manly. Then mid-late afternoon the clouds just rolled in and it bucketed down! That was the story of that 2 weeks unfortunately - we got some of the worst Sydney spring weather in living memory apparently! The only reason I own an X-Box was for Project Gotham 2 so I could race round Sydney :)

Hmmm....I used to have a used one but I think I threw it out (I sold my Mk1 nearly 7 years ago!). It might be lurking somewhere, I'll have a look - but don't hold your breath!

2 things I love: 1. The VW Corrado 2. Sydney (OK, it's a place, not a thing...! :) ) Therefore I am currently beside myself with envy :) Can't wait to see some pictures of the car in its new habitat!

Ah OK, gotcha. Have you tried GPC for the rubber?

So your missus' first car after passing her test would be an R32? I hope your dad owns Direct Line or something...:)

I assume you're talking about the plastic inner door liner? Because that's the seal you need to sort. You can make your own out of thick plastic sheeting. I used some decent double-sided tape (clean the door down with a de-greaser first), stuck the sheeting on, trimmed the edges to fit and holes for the window winder etc. Worked a treat :) Prior to that the rear footwell was like a cold foot spa...

The previous owner probably had the same problems every other carb'ed Mk1/2 owner had in the winter. I had a Mk1 1500 GLS, the ex had a Mk1 1500 GX, when you started them in winter - sorry, IF they started in winter - they took 5 minutes to start running on all 4 cylinders! Do you have a corrugated pipe leading from the air filter housing down to a spot behind the front grille? Because that's what I'd expect to be there. And isn't 4+E a reference to the gearbox - I always thought it was a long-legged 5th for economy?

Worth doing some brand investigation. What does BMW say about your workforce? What would Audi say about them that is advantageous? See if you can find results of a study on perceived Audi brand values. http://www.brandchannel.com/education_glossary.asp Have a look at this paper as well - might give you some ideas, and might give you something to reference (you could even print a copy of the report to give to the interview panel for their reference!) http://www.jyanet.com/cap/2002/0316fe0.pdf What are the perceived values of Audi cars? Well, speaking personally, I'd say - understated but efficient - high quality - innovative design (historically) - depdendable - unobtrusive I'm sure you can come up with loads of similar crap of your own ;)

Easy way to find out - send the seller a question, tell him you've got a mate who wants a set too, he doesn't by any chance have more than one set does he...? :)

Bit of a blanket statement there! The taxi firm my brother worked for had a fleet of old Toyotas (mid-90s, pre-Avensis) with similarly small-capacity engines and I don't think any of them had less than a quarter of a million miles on them! I remember him calling round the house in one that had just ticked over 400K and still running fine.

Sounds like b*llocks to me - he'd have done a deal there and then for the whole lot if that was the case, not re-list them and go through the hassle each time. Computer says "lying tw*t" ;)

Oh, and spot-on Jim - late '80s if I remember rightly...

lol! I remember that issue well - it's in my loft! (along with some original issues featuring the Corrado G60, and the Autocar Corrado G60 vs Porsche 944) I remember thinking at the time how wrong it looked...and it hasn't aged well! Is it me or does it just look like a squashed 3-door Sierra Mk2?!?

I think you've done a great job so far - funny to see a project car pop out when it's so far down the line, we normally get snippets when they're still just rolling shells in primer :) If you want my honest opinion, I'm with the Welsh One on the lights - all-red tints would look sweet, half-tints probably would too. I also think the original wing mirrors are a lot nicer - sorry! I like the sound of the black-centred alloys as well. Will the design let you get away with that OK? Sometimes the join between spoke and rim doesn't let you get away with a 2-tone wheel. Personally I'd ditch the eyebrow spoiler but that's personal preference. I like them on Mk1/2 Golfs, but never liked them on Corrados - they always just seem unnecessary on such a nice car :) And this might seem to contradict what I just said, but I like those rear "spoilers" that go at the top of the rear windscreen - not really a spoiler as such, they just look like they bring the roofline lower down the back of the car. For some reason I think, in that colour, it would look awesome with the arches rolled a little wider (if you've got the wheels to fill them). Also with that colour, I think the side bumpstrips would also look good and help break up the light colouring a little. These are all simply personal preferences though - I think you've done a great job so far! Can't fault the interior.

There's a guy round the corner from me with a Ferrari 360 in yellow, with a bastardised "JACKO" number plate (he also owns an original Sierra Cossie). Bizarre thing is from what my mate says, he lives in a small development of houses that can't be worth more than 200K tops (rather than the palatial residence you'd expect of your typical Ferrari driver!)

EXACTLY my reasoning! (I was at least sober enough to think of that ;) )

Payment sent :) I tried to send it last night but was half-cut, thought it best to wait until sobriety kicked in before making any financial transactions...!