GTAm

I saw it too. And I fully agree. Its horribly ugly. Even uglier than the X5. But they are so lucky the brand is so strong and their cars keep selling really well.

You're right Devinda it's owned by Romesh Emmanuel. He lives in Pelawatte now. Yeah I've seen a couple of E36 coupes. I've seem 3 E36 convertibles. The blue is owned by Bri. M cars I think 3. The two M3s and the one M5.

True the original looks good and this one looks a bit wiered. Should be a flyer.

You're right mate. RWD is often overated. Now hot hatches are pushing 240bhp thru the front wheels without a problem - Mazda 3 MPS, Vauxhall/Opel Astra VXR and the Seat Leon Cupra. Of course RWD offers better balance though.

Agreed. Infact so was the 1.9 Z3 and opposed to the sic cyl Z3s and the M-Coupe. Mx-5 is one of the best handling and fun sports cars of all time. Maybe a few hair dressers like driving?

The early UK imports were South African built and the quality is not that great. Try to find a low mileage single owner brand new import with service history and you won't go wrong. And there are cars like that. I know one that will soon come to the market but one of my pals is already eyeing it. The later cars came with the newer timing chain engine that's found in the pre-facelift E46. There's only one 328i in SL to my knowledge. But there are a few 320is and 325is. Yeah sixes are the best but the fuel bills will be higher. Of course the Carina feels like a fridge with wheels compared to the BM when it comes to driving pleasure. But yes its the safe bet. Remember don't buy a car without getting a check by a person who knows BMs or you'll end up fixing many things.

I like Evo as well. But its not available in SL. My new CAR mag has already arrived so I guess next month I'll switch to Top Gear!

Yeah he's the guy who owns it. Styled and manufactured by Pininfarina in Italy so brakes could be Brembo. Actually its the weight of the engine is the issue. Everyone prefered the 2.2 HDi!

Yeah awesome machine, V6 engine by Ferrari, space frame chasis composite panels. I've read it's not easy to drive. But what a shape!!!

Hi Devinda I used to get 8km/l consistantly from my 318i and a lot more from the 316i I had before that. And I don't hang around either. The 316i is too slow. Go for a 318i. Yes he can get a 300- or 301- 156 for that money. Its a lot sportier than even the BM. But as with the BM it'll need to be checked out by a specialist and maintained by one as well. I've had my 156 for about 7 months now and so far only spent on the A/C.

The yellow coupe is a V6. Gorgeous car eh? Not sure about V6 406 saloons tho. There are a couple of 605 I know. There was a pre-face lift 2.0 petrol turbo once advertised. But that was a long time ago. There's supposed to be a guy who imports used parts somewhere in Battaramulla. You might try to locate him and get the vents. I agree its a great drive!

Yeah, Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Lancia............What a portfolio! My 2nd car was a used Fiat Regata 100S. It was the only 100S in SL. This car was first imported by the famous Mr. Harry Jayawardene and I bought it from him. Terrible build quality but awesome drive. 100bhp twin cam and only 970kilos. 5 speed and all round discs. Fantastic engine note from the twin cam and the mid range torque was great! I did 100mph in that car once and it was rock steady. It was well equipped with A/C, P/S, Central locking and p/windows. I regret so much selling that car!

Toyota Hi-Lux - I agree central locking making a noise hardly matters. New Hond Civic sedan - It doesn't look like a frog more like a fish with its face wider than its tail. 350Z - Well some people buy only one car. And if for example you need to travel with your girl/boy friend or wife/husband on holiday, you would need a car with decent boot space. If you have a sedan as a 2nd car this would not matter. Nissan Murano - Well this is the problem with all SUVs that are not off roaders. They have no real purpose. It's more a fault with the buyers of such vehicles. Why spend extra money and buy extra weight and consume extra fuel when the same use can be got from a car? Its simply a fad and the false feeling that SUVs are safer. So I think that's a justified comment. Yeah you're right. CAR has become more GQ than the critical auto mag that I used to love, since their current editor Jason Barlow took over. I've been reading CAR since the 1990s but last month I bought a Top Gear as well. I find that they are much more critical and unafraid to say things. The format of the mag though is quite a mess compared with CAR's excellent layout. But what's to be done, we can't have it all!!!

Oh yes of course. How could I forget !!!

If you want a Sporty drive the CRX is great. Forget the Del Sol - This was a replacement for the CRX which was a softish car which lost the sharpness of the CRX. Also the Cynos is another hairdressers car. Not a sports car eventhough its two door. If you Prefer Japanese I'd say a Honda EG8 with a Vtec engine if you can find an unmolested one. If you want something more sophisticated get a BMW E36 318i. I owned two and they're not as expensive to run as people think provided you get a well looked after car. There are lots of bad ones so check them out thoroughly. Great to drive!

Hey I did not know they won in 74,75 and 76 ?? Are you sure? What was the car? I can only think of the 124 Abarth!? I would have thought that in those years the Ford Escort would have won.

The Delta Integrale won 1987, 88, 89, 90, 91 and in 92 a private team (Jolly club) won running the Delta beating the factory Toyota team!

You're probably not aware that the Abarth Fiats, like the original Mini destroyed much bigger engined cars in the World touring car championships during the 50's, 60's and 70's. Mind you Fiat has almost always been successful in motorsports. They won the WRC 3 times with the 131 Abarth in the late 70's and then with the Lancia (Stratos) 3 times and the Delta Integrale 6 times successively. No other manufacturer has come close! Not even the big Japanese manufacturers like Toyota, Subaru and Mitsubishi who began winning only after Lancia withdrew. The 500 is an icon and was recently voted the Sexiest Car ever in a Top Gear survey, beating Ferraris and Lambos. It sold in millions the world over and it was a classless car like the Mini. Poor families as well as movie stars owned them. There are hundreds of thousands of people around the world waiting for this launch. Even if you check out old racing results in good old SL you will see that Fiats were once dominant with the 850s, 124 special Ts, 125s, 128s and X-1/9s. And as usual they beat larger engined cars. Just ask a guy like Bri Ponnambalam - one of the guys who used to race them. Also like the mini you'll be grinning like crazy when you get out of the 500 after a drive as it is so much fun. And its got loads of character that's lacking in most other cars (Did I hear the word Japanese ?). It was also Michael Schumarcher's 1st car and he still owns one as do and did many F1 drivers . Sure in the 70s and 80s there were lots of quality problems and the road cars suffered. But one thing remained and it's their character! That's probably why they survive today. But this is a little car is a monster because the Abarth will weigh around 800kilos and pack 120bhp. Check out the power to weight ratio! And if the Panda 100HP is anything to go by should be a winner. Sorry for the long history lesson but I thought the brand and the car needed a bit more R-E-S-P-E-C-T !

Check out this cute little monster due this year at Frankfurt!

Yes but couldn't they get a proper stylist? What a horror! Looks like the 80s again!

It definitely seems to be getting worse. Our currency is slipping each week. And eventhough the Central bank posts 8% growth, they don't mention that inflation is over 20%. Things can only get even scarier in the near term. What's even more worrying is that apart from the war, the lawless culture that's developing in the country. We are looking uglier each day to the rest of the world. This means very few tourists and even fewer foreign investors will consider SL.

Check this out http://public.fiat.pl/grzanecki/pliki/sport/puntodrift.wmv It’s an amateur video taken during the last „Barborka Rally” in Warsaw. The last part of the movie is really cool, with the Grande Punto in full drift on an old oval test drive track. Enjoy

Well its not as closely related to its Ford cousins as the X-type is to the Ford Mondeo. This one is based on the current S-Type which was based on the Lincoln LS platform. Which is no real bad thing. Come to think of it the Mondeo is a very good drive. It's just that the Jag got their styling all wrong and they looked old from the day they were launched. This one's heading in the right direction I think. But there's a hint of Aston in the profile.....again not a real bad thing either!

Current models in stock are the E200K - 19m and the E280 21m. E350 has to be ordered.

I doubt it will be worth it. better if you sell the LHD and buy a RHD car. New cars are extremely hard to convert. Tax will be based on a valuation given by the agents in SL and depreciated for 3 years. Double that figure and that will be your tax (roughly).