Have Car, Will Drive

If I could buy any car as daily personal transport for my current routine, it would be a BMW 135i coupe. Yes, I know the 1-Series M is nearly here, but I fear it will be just a little too pure to be an ideal daily drive. I have never driven a 135i, yet its combination of that beautiful inline turbo six driving the rear wheels with a six-speed manual transmission in between is just about as close to perfection in my mind as any car could get. And all this while maintaining useable boot space and practicality, as well as a degree of anonymity.  My assumption in choosing an ideal daily driver is that I could own more than one car, as the 1-Series coupe is not practical on all fronts. It is I believe however, a beautiful compromise.

Everyone's first car has a special place in their heart, and for those of us with a passion for cars this effect is amplified. This was mine: a 1990 Peugeot 405 Mi16. I was with great restraint that had I held off buying my first car for nearly six months after I'd passed my license test, although finances (or more accurately, lack thereof) also played a substantial part. Having just scraped together just enough money for a car that might be worth owning, I trawled online car advertisements for weeks looking for the right vehicle. My list of criteria was short (ABS, somewhat economical to run, a touch of class) although armed with limited resources, this substantially limited my choices, especially given that I refused to own a family sedan of the Australian-built variety. Before buying the Peugeot I had test-driven five cars, all Saabs. Two GM 900s and three 9000s. The better of the two 900s I had bid for on ebay, but it sold above my budget, while the best of the 9000s made m...