Bullfinch

This looks like perfect timing for me. My car is being collected from South Yorks on Sat after 2 and a bit years in store. Its then a 180 mile drive south to where I live near Bracknell. Assuming this goes OK then a short 15-20 mile hop to this meet should be no problem:) There will be no time to do anything to the car but I know it's been looked after well in store. Hence I hope it's a case of drive, go and show!!!

I picked up a Scirocco 2.0 GT FSi today from work. I've got it for 6 months while I work out what I really want. First impressions are it drives well, there's a nice exhaust sound under acceleration and in sport mode it feels like a very tight and responsive car. Bad points - rear visibility is rubbish especially with those "see-through" rear head rests and interior fit and finish can't compete with the TT's I've had. It's my first VW daily since I part ex'd my Mk4 Golf GTi back in 2005 for my first TT.

First day back in the UK and spot a VR6 in twilight violet L731 first part of reg in Keymer, West Sussex parked on the street. My parents says its often there.

It shows how much car safety has improved with all those cars from the 70's literally falling to bits on impact. It's one of the reasons I won't go on a track day in the Corrado.

It's now just over a week until I return to the UK and resurrect the Storm. It will need a few pennies spent on it which I don't ever expect to see back come sale time but that's not an issue. As others have said Corrado ownership never has and never will be about making money. The depreciation chart was an interesting one. It's good to see my planned 2014 daily is at no.10 in slowest depreciating cars - now to get back to the UK and test drive plenty:)

Doing some research on cams as when I get back to the UK I'd like some more low down grunt for the Storm. DG now fit Autotech 262 cams and then perform a re-map (sold out of their own long ago). Anyone got these fitted? If so do you recommend them?

IMHO members of the forum are obviously Corrado enthusiasts and many enjoy tinkering and improving the cars they have. If you have a stock VR or valver then any engine updates you would post would be along the lines of changed the oil or spark plugs. Not exactly gripping stuff. It's also why if you read the forum you would think the Corrado is the most unreliable car on earth as again you're not going to write about a daily commute from A to B which went perfectly well.

Slight change of plan. A Scirocco 2.0 GT FSi became available in the company car pool. Hence I will be driving that for a few months upon my return to the UK. I've never gone down the company car route before as always took the cash and bought my own car. However there's enough to sort out in moving back from Oz so have come to the sensible decision.

Its now 4 weeks until I'm back in the UK (hopefully after a Lions series win). My circumstances dictate needing to get a car which I may keep for around 9 months - 1 year before I get around to buying my dream car sometime in 2014. I don't want to use my Storm as a daily and the car I buy needs to have decent performance and at the same time not lose too much in depreciation. Running costs in terms of petrol or insurance aren't too much of an issue. I'm the wrong side of 40 and mid 20's mpg is fine by me as annual mileage is about 10k. As my autotrader app goes into meltdown I'm considering a Golf V6 4motion at say £3k, or else a R32 Mk4 at say £6-7k or a R32 Mk5 at £10-12k. I don't think I will look outside of the VAG stable and fancy sticking to six cylinders. It looks fairly obvious that the 4motion would lose very little whilst the R32's will keep on falling. The great unknown is maintenance. Any other things I need to consider and what's your guess on R32 prices one year from now?

You can try and spot me later at the British Lions game in Brisbane. I'll be wearing red:)

Love your car collection Dollyman. I'd love a Stag to be in the same garage as my Corrado but I'm useless with a spanner:(

Thank god for the internet. Being in Oz I bought it in i-Books. It was a good write-up on the Corrado. First time I've bought the mag and it is a pretty eclectic read. Always fancied a Triumph Stag so you never know...

I'd say if you got it for £2.5k and then had a £1k budget to deal with all issues (assuming nothing major) then for £3.5k you'd have a cracking original car. Look at this way how many Corrados have never been owned by enthusiasts in their lifetime and are still running. The guy's VW Campervan business has been going for a number of years in B-Hill so IMHO he's given an honest assessment.

I almost had a heart attack. I read it was a green Storm for sale in Burgess Hill (where my parents live) and thought for a moment they'd taken mine out of store and stuck it on e-bay for a laugh before I get home from Oz in a few weeks.

Very sad news. RIP Chris. As others have said he was so knowledgeable. Thoughts are with his family and friends

I did a quick google search and the Club GTI forum back in 2004 was saying good things about Trimsport and Lance - I assume its the same company and person. If so that's a good track record.

I'm returning to the UK in July after 2 years in Oz and need to buy a new daily before thinking about getting the Corrado out of store and back on the road. When I left in 2011 I had to sell my Mk2 TT 2.0T coupe which had been a great car. First considerations are either a TTS or S5. It's just me and the missus so no need for 4/5 doors. Budget is £30k so should get a decent 1-2 year old used car, albeit my other thinking is to maybe get a Mk6 Golf GTi and run this for 12 months allowing me sufficient time to research and get a 911 (997) without losing too much on depreciation (I assume I'd get a Golf for maybe £15k and not lose too much in a year). Are there any other cars worth considering - note I've driven VW-Audi's since 1995 so pretty stuck in my ways!

I've used an HP laptop for the last 4 years and it's been good. The problem as always seems to be it goes slower as time goes on and all the anti-virus stuff doesn't help. Hence it's a MacBook for me next time. The question I have though is how easy is it to transfer i-tunes accounts? Also can I just back my photos up on to a hard drive and just re-load onto a Mac. Final point I probably now use my i-Pad for 80% of my web needs know and just use the laptop for the more complex stuff or times when I need to use MS Office.

A thread after my own heart. I'm moving back to the UK in the summer after 2 years in Oz. Assuming the Corrado doesn't cost too much to bring out of storage I should have a few pennies left for a nice daily. A 911 (997 flavour) is on the list but I want to take my time to find the right one. I used to drive a Mk2 TT so I could be tempted by a TTS or else an S5 (V8 engine - got the bug from being in Oz).

OK - well I now know I will be back home sometime between June and Xmas. This means I get to see the British Lions thrash the Wallabies (I hope!) and then return back to blighty to get the Corrado up and running again. I also have to think what my main car will be.....

I still enjoy the reading the forum but being 12,000 miles away in Brisbane I don't feel like I can contribute much at present. All should change sometime in 2013 when I return to blighty for good. Anyway the great thing recently was being back in the UK and heading 'oop north to check out my Storm in storage. All was fine and dandy and I even managed to drive it a few hundred yards. I've got funds set aside for the reinstatement work so I'll be back in touch with my usual helpful suppliers when I know more about my return date. If anyone wants a weather update today is 30C and sunny!

40. Had first Corrado when aged 24 (1.8 16v), then got a VR6 but part-ex'd for a new Mk4 Golf GTi in 1999. Returned to the fold in 2009 with my Storm, currently SORN'd and on holiday in Yorkshire whilst I'm working down-under for 2 years.

Before I moved downunder I took my Storm to the Phirm and was very impressed. I was a little apprehensive beforehand as my car is in original condition and their website seemed full of Mk3/Mk4 Golfs in various lairy disguises. However the guys down there appeared to enjoy having an original car to work on. Like you I'd been a DG regular but with the Phirm being just 20 miles from home rather than 120 I could get the repairs done during midweek and not worry about my Saturdays being used for long drives up the M40.

Thanks for uploading this video. I assume this car with its UK number plate is still in the VW museum.

It's a shame but I think the BBC were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Licence fee frozen and the need to make savings etc. It will be interesting to see what half the races means - ie: I assume it will be all European based GP's with a 1pm race start time with ones such as China, Malaysia etc being on highlights. I'm enjoying/enduring Channel 10/One HD coverage over here in Oz - they have adverts during the race but use BBC commentary feed with a couple of link men in the studio. Make the most of what you have in 2011 and fingers crossed for 2012.