Tristan P Barratt - Vehicles

My first vehicle. I killed it. I was taking my mate Viv Townsend out for a drive round on his 17th birthday and ran into a Bedford Rascal near Stithians.

We had the technology though and it was rebuilt. It lasted until 1993 when I found out that I was going to Uni in Salford and thought that 850cc of throbbing power may have been "underwhelming" on the M5/M6 corridor. So, it made way for...

£1,475 from Michael Evans Car Sales in Barncoose - and what a peach.

It was a bit miley when I bought it, but was still a lot of car for the money at the time. Great comfort, plenty of space quick enough and very reliable, this was my "steed" through university and beyond. Dubbed "Totally Ace Like" and "Comfy Cav" by mates at Uni, I kept this through my work on 'Wycliffe' and it even appears in one episode. The one with the poisoned baby food. Eventually she was sold for something a bit cheaper to run...

Another Mini. I killed it.

This was picked up for a princely sum of £650 and was not the greatest purchase I've ever made. It had stickers of a cat and hippo on the boot when I bought it. The brakes were crap - the near side rear often locked up under braking, which sent me spinning into a wall at Hayle one November night. Nasty car - but at least it did pave the way for...

My first Capri. Having admired Mum and Dad's Capri GT4 since they had it from new in 1980, I always had a soft spot for the timeless Ford Coupe.
This was great - a good workhorse that saw me commute to and from London when we relocated there. It had a few bits and bobs done to it and was crap at starting for ages but I finally got to the bottom of that one. In the end I bought 2 more and it had to go. Sold to a chap in Wembley with no tax or test - he said it was in way better nick than his was...

A COMPLETE BARGAIN this was. I wasn't even looking for another car but when we were down on holiday in Easter 2000, we went past Carnkie Motor Centre and there were 3 Capris on the forecourt - all at stupidly low money. This one was the best of them - a champagne gold 2.0S for £395. I managed to get it for £350 and drove it straight back to London, no problems. I loved it but you can guess at what happened next...

A chap just round the corner from where we lived had 3 Capris - a black 2.0S and 2 silver 2.8 Injection Specials. Then, one of them appeared with a for sale sign in the window. It was far too much money but as the weeks went by, it slowly fell and I went and had a look when it reached £1,195. It looked okay, had some work done but would eventually need more and I offered £600. He took it! So there I was with 3 Capris and I just couldn't keep them all. eventually they thinned out until November 2001 when I sold it with no tax or MOT.

In 2001 I woke up and smelled the coffee. I was working in central London and commuting by Tube everyday - I didn't really need a car.
Then in 2002 I saw an advert for a car that I'd always fancied - a Vauxhall Belmont. It was cheap so I went and had a look, a drive and I bought it. It needed a damn good service and a bit of TLC but went on to be a great car for travelling from London to Cornwall in. We moved back to Cornwall though and while I was looking for work, I found she was a bit pricey to run. Time to downsize again...

Bought from a rather nice chap called Julian from Select Cars...

Great fun and ran on fumes. Handled like a go-kart too! Plus it would sit at 70 on the bypass fairly happily. The alternator died and I was introduced to the living hell known as Fiat dealerships but apart from that it was a good little car. At the time though, I was doing part-time work in London and using the train - which was utter crap. I decided to go for a diesel commuter wagon...

Hindsight really is a wonderful thing. 2 months after I bought my 1.8TD Mondeo LX with air-con and was happily commuting from Cornwall to London, I was offered a job in Cornwall at Select Cars. Use of a company car would be part of the deal, so the Mondeo was redundant. A shame really, this was the newest car I'd ever owned and by far the best for going over the bloody speed humps outside our house. It was sold to my former Manager in London and fortunately funded My Capri 280...

2005. Change of jobs again - meant a change of car too.
I wanted another Capri for a daily driver, so I trawled AutoTrader's website and found what sounded like a beauty - but it was in Aldershot. Cue mad drive there in thunderstorm to view it. Seemed like a good 'un, a bit saggy at the back but we're all entitled to that after 20 years. Enjoyed it but didn't count on the horrific fuel consumption and forgot that modern cars now come with *POWER STEERING*. Was sold in 2006 to make way for my first Probe.

A Ford Probe.
They're good looking cars that come with plenty of toys and going for daft money nowadays. So, figuring a 16v would be better on fuel, I targeted several and ended up with one from Exeter. Sadly didn't have ANY of the toys I wanted but it was in great condition. I intended to keep it for a few years but then a 24v loomed on the horizon with the exact spec I was looking for - and it was only based in Truro...

Spot the difference?
The difference is a bigger engine - V6 (much nicer sound), leather, cruise control and air-conditioning. All that for £950. These cars really are at rock bottom price right now and starting to thin out on the roads - not that they were ever THAT popular to start with.
The economy is slightly worse than the 16v but nowhere near as bad as I was expecting and in fact better than the 2.0 Laser Capri I had. Now that's progress...

My Ultimate Car.

A Ford Capri 280 Turbo. We purchased this from Affordable Classics in Essex in 2004. I always wanted a Capri I could keep and enjoy as it is for now, then eventually when it gets a bit tired, have fully restored and then pamper. This is the one. Getting dangerously close to being the car I've had the longest - and I fully intend to keep it that way too.