Is that a pocket rocket i see?

Mar 2014

Well ever since I was 16, I wanted a hot, fast, exciting car – that would allow me to satisfy my youthful fancies. I started when my Dad, rebuilt an old Ford Anglia, which had an awesome V6 motor in it and I felt like I went to heaven.  Of course, not having a license, I used to pinch the car on weekdays, whenever I could a take it for a spin.
Nowadays you have so many awesome vehicles to choose from that just the thought of driving a few makes my head spin.  These include the VW Golf 6 GTI’s to Audi’s 1.8 A3 Sportback.  How awesome.
The toss-up between a new “Pocket Rocket” versus buying a super duper hot hatch than has been put through its running in paces is always a dilemma and often comes with one question:  What is your budget?  Taking a test drive with an awesome used-car dealership is often the best way to go forward because they usually have an awesome array of use vehicles for you to try out.
Pricing is interesting because a used hot-hatch with low kilometres can set you back from R 220,000 upwards for decent vehicle such as a 2009 MINI COOPER S CONVERTIBLE with 64,700km priced at R 237,999 – not bad when a new one costs R 353,000 that’s a huge savings of over a R 100,000 and will cover your fuel costs for a long time and that’s great when consumption is claimed at 6.4 litres per 100km.  Just remember this vehicle has a claimed top speed of 225km.
Well as with most hot hatches, they are fun to drive and make you feel like you could hit the racetracks and take on group N with a quick change of takkies. Mountain pass, no problem.
Surfboard in the back, sure, if you have a small board! . Practical, reliable and if you studied hard enough you could eventually afford one. Things were simple when we were younger and Dad rebuilt the car. So what happened?  Hot hatches happened – that’s what.  Thank heavens