Neighbourhood watch: the diverse cars we found in one street
Petrolheads with stories could be right on your doorstep, as we found out
I have lived in my estate for 21 years, but while I barely know my neighbours (tip: never get too friendly; it makes complaining about their noise easier), I do know what they drive. When I first moved in, next door but one had a 911. A few years later, the couple behind them got a Ferrari F355 that they eventually sold to fund a new kitchen. Another had a Mercedes C63 AMG estate, a former Mercedes World skidpan demonstrator that sounded like Brian Blessed at full chat.
I guarantee, if you look around, you’ll see equally interesting cars where you live. You might want to know how their owners came by them. I certainly wanted to know how my neighbours came by theirs when, almost overnight, the number of seriously interesting cars on the estate multiplied. A Dodge Challenger, a Nissan 370Z, a Toyota Celica GT4… Who owned them and what did they think of them?
There was only one way to find out. Breaking my golden rule never to speak to the neighbours, I did exactly that. To my surprise, they were friendly; human, even. And they have some very interesting cars…
*Hayley Brook*
*Owns: Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe, 2018, 13,000 miles*
For a long time, the ex-Brooklands, 2011-reg C63 that resides behind me was easily the noisiest motor on the estate – until Hayley bought her three-year-old C63 Coupé. It has an AMG Performance exhaust that, when she starts the engine, sounds like she’s shot a neighbour.
Hayley bought the car in November last year from the local Mercedes dealer. She had actually gone there looking for a new Mercedes-AMG A45 but was drawn instead to the dazzling blue C63 on the forecourt. “I fell in love with it on the spot,” she says. “It was cheaper than the A45, too.”
As well as its looks, Hayley loves the C63’s sheer presence, aided, to a great extent, by that exhaust. It’s thirsty, though. For example, during one recent drive, it returned just 5mpg. “Now the UK has fully opened up, I can drive the car properly,” she says, without blinking.
*Phil Butler*
*Owns: Nissan 370Z, 2011, 46,000 miles*
I thought Phil’s Audi S6 V8 was his only car until, one day, I saw a sleek blue 370Z emerge from his garage. “I love Japanese sports cars, and when I saw this Le Mans Blue 370Z, I just had to have it,” he says. “I think it’s the best colour.” Other things Phil likes about his Z are its styling, performance, reliability and low running costs.
I may have seen his car only a few times but Phil reckons he’s covered a lot of ground in it. One of his favourite drives is, curiously, Bridgnorth to Telford, but when I consult a map, I can see there’s a great loop you can do comprising the A458 and A442, with, for fans of industrial history, a break at the Ironbridge Gorge museum halfway round. Phil loves his 370Z, but were he to replace it, he might go for either a Porsche 718 Cayman GTS or the new Lotus Emira. “It comes in a really nice blue,” he says.
*Laurence White*
*Owns: Porsche 911 Carrera S auto, 2013, 34,000 miles*
One car that’s sure to stop lawnmowers and turn heads on an estate is a Porsche 911. Rather like a Waitrose popping up, I’m convinced the arrival of one raises house prices. Laurence, the owner of the 911 Carrera S that recently began purring in and out of our neighbourhood, bought the car three months ago from the local Porsche centre without, he says, test driving it first: “It was in lockdown so things were a little awkward but I reckoned a 911 would just be a step up from the Boxster I used to own, so I had no concerns.”
Laurence enjoyed his Boxster, which he describes as fun and surprisingly practical, with ample room for cases in the front and golf clubs in the back, but he says the larger 911 is roomier, comfier and, crucially, quicker. He likes the noise it makes, too – a sort of barely suppressed rage. He can’t criticise it. Instead, his eyes light up when he recalls his best drive so far: “The first one. I’ll never forget it.”
*Tim Oliver*
*Owns: Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205, 1997, 130,000 miles*
I first clapped eyes on Tim’s Celica several years ago when he was deep in the middle of transferring much of the interior of a tired old Celica GT to it. It was a long-term project, he told me, so I was pleased when, recently, I began seeing it coming and going from the estate. Clearly, he’d made good progress.
“I wasn’t going to give up,” he says. “The GT-Four ST205 is a very special car – beautifully built [Tim’s a quality control engineer, so appreciates these things] and superbly engineered. Everything has a purpose. Nothing’s for show.” As an example, he points to a small, round air duct in the bonnet that feeds air to the cam bearings. Other technical highlights include the Super Strut Suspension, active spoiler and aluminium bonnet.
“I’ve had many good cars, among them a Cavalier GSi, a Calibra Turbo 4x4 and a Peugeot 309 GTi,” says Tim, “but none impress me as much as the GT-Four.”
*Steven Botwright*
*Owns: Honda Civic Type R, 2017, 24,000 miles*
I realised there was a petrolhead in residence at the top of the estate when a grey, 2016-reg Ford Focus ST diesel started appearing – and then all of a sudden it vanished. “I hadn’t had it long before it was stolen and wrecked, so I replaced it with this Type R,” Steven explains.
I challenge you to find a cleaner car. It’s spotless and gleams like new. Not only that, but Steven has fitted around £3000 of extras to it, including carbon-fibre body parts whose manufacturer logos he’s stuck to the side of the car: “I’m a member of the Type R owners club and people like to make their cars their own and show them off.” He usually keeps his motors for around four years but reckons he’ll hang onto the Civic: “It’s my midlife crisis car. I won’t be changing it any time soon.”
*Mark Faithful*
*Owns: Dodge Challenger R/T 6.4, 2019, 6000 miles*
This is Mark’s second Challenger and, like the 2011-reg 5.7 RT he owned previously, he’s had the windows darkened. As a result, as it woofles through the estate, it looks truly menacing and makes our little patch of the UK feel like downtown Chicago. It’s a Scat Pack model (bigger wheels, adaptive suspension and a beefed-up drivetrain) with the Widebody package that, Mark reckons, makes it less of a handful on slippery roads. He bought the car new from a UK dealer.
Mark’s love affair with Challengers began when he saw Richard Hammond driving one on Top Gear. “I promised myself then that I’d have one,” he says. “That was around 2008. Eight years later, I bought my first.”
He likes the Challenger’s retro look – “It’s still what it always was” – muscly performance and surprisingly secure road manners. Insurance costs £500 but economy is a dismal 15mpg, partly because Mark drives it to work each day – a distance of just six miles. “It doesn’t do many miles but each one is memorable,” he says.
*David Hall*
*Owns: Land Rover 90 300Tdi 2.5, 1998, 150,000 miles*
David’s car collection has always intrigued me. It runs to only two motors but they’re interesting for being such a contrast. One is a Mercedes-Benz CLK 500 and the other’s a Land Rover Defender 90.
He bought the Land Rover in 2010 when heavy snow that winter made it almost impossible for him to visit his mother, who lives deep in the countryside. “Nothing could get through, so I bought something that would,” he explains. “It’s old, it’s slow, it’s uncomfortable and it’s noisy. You don’t drive it. You wrestle it. I’m not afraid to put a dent in it, though. Marks just add character.” He’s often approached by people asking him if he’ll sell. “Some have even knocked on my front door offering me cash but it’s a keeper. The one thing that worries me now is having it stolen.”
*Cherished need not mean rare*
*Maureen Hodgson, owns: Nissan Primera 1.8 Active, 2000, 63,000 miles*
Cars don’t have to be icons, muscle cars or track weapons to inspire affection. Take my next-door neighbour’s Nissan Primera. It may be old, with a dated interior and some discreet body repairs, but to Maureen it is a loyal companion without compare.
“My husband bought it on my advice,” she says. “I liked the servicing package Nissan was offering and I must say, ever since, I have found the dealers to be very helpful.” Maureen has enjoyed some great drives in the Primera, most notably to North Wales and Cornwall: “She’s a delight to drive and very comfortable, and when I ask her to go, she really flies!”
*READ MORE*
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*Secrets of the cars that did a million miles*
*The cars that are also cults*
