My 1:1 scale collection

As I lack the financial resources of Mr.Gates, this is the smallest part of my collection! Of course, my wife would probably be offended to see her cars described as part of "my"collection, but you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs!

Since May 2005 I've been driving a 2001 BMW 535i which I absolutely love! It has a 3.5 litre 245bhp V8 in a luxury 4 door body and it is extremely quick! Speed with practicality! Eleanor my wife has a 2002 BMW X5 3.0i since June 2005 which replaced her beautiful CLK convertible (which she only sold as we were expecting twins later in 2005 and the CLK was not big enough!!! The twins arrived in November 2005, a healthy baby boy and girl. Needless to say we are delighted!). Prior to my latest BMW I had a dark blue 1996 Mercedes-Benz S320 with "Mushroom" leather which I bought in 2003. The S320 was a beautiful car and extremely comfortable, but it wasn't particularly quick as the 3.2 litre six was not powerful enough for such a heavy car (despite having 231bhp). My first BMW was a 1997 523i which was great fun but proved to be quite unreliable unfortunately. It blew a head gasket at around 78,000 miles and after I got it fixed I sold it. Before the BMW I had a black 1997 Honda CR-V which I bought new, and which proved to be a fun to drive reliable car. My first proper car (as opposed to two old Chevy's I bought for a couple of hundred dollars in 1991 and 1993 to get around Cape Cod in for the summer!) was a 1991 black Honda Civic 1.4i saloon which my Mum gave me in 1992 for my 21st birthday.

My wife had a lovely 1993 Mazda MX-5/Miata up to 2000, but she had to sell it as she was pregnant with our first child, so it ceased to be a practical day to day car for her. It's replacement was a 1994 BMW 320i in black which was very nice indeed. It had a 2 litre straight six with 150bhp, and was lots of fun to drive! The BMW was replaced in July 2003 with a 1999 Mercedes CLK230 Kompressor Cabriolet which was a fantastic car, especially when the sun shone! (Not often enough in rainy Ireland!). As mentioned above, the arrival of our 2nd and 3rd children (twins!) meant the CLK had to go, but it's replacement (a superb black X5) is an equally fine car, just different!

Below are some photos of our cars. Sometime in the future (i.e.: when I have more money!) I would love to get a 3rd car, possibly a Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3 or a Ford Mustang (or another type of American Muscle Car). Either can be had at less than €15,000, and as they are over 30 years old, road tax and insurance are dirt cheap in Ireland (whereas it is very high indeed for cars less than 30 years old!). Anyway, watch this space! Before a 3rd car can be had, we have to address the small matter of moving to a new larger house with a garage, so I feel such a luxury will be some time away!

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