Right, here goes! I've had a few in my time, and I'm only 24!
Unfortunately I don't have photos for them all, so here are the ones I could get...
This was my Ibiza TDI Sport. Within a month, I had it remapped to 172bhp and 305lb/ft, within 3 months I had the wheels and suspension done, along with the colour coding...ah the joys of being a student!
I got the trackday itch and managed to get my hands on one of 4 SEAT Cordoba SX's modded by SEAT Sport for driver tuition. They had a full cage, koni suspension, a tweaked ABF and were painted half red, half lime green. The previous owner sorted that out. What he didn't do was advertise it on eBay properly, so a car with full respray and 39k on the clock cost me £1250! :D This was it in good use:
I decided to go travelling and sell the Ibiza to fund some of it. When I came back, I wanted a runabout for a few weeks. I got my hands on a mint family owned Polo GT for £350, in the small ads bit of the local paper. I owned it for 9 months and only had to replace the oil and the front pads. I then sold it to one of my mates for £600 and he kept it for a year with no issues either. The car is now in the scene popping up for sale every now and then with more whacky bits on it...bet its ruined now :(
Then onto the moneypit. I loved Corrados ever since I was a kid. I always wanted one, even when I passed my test. I spotted a G60 for sale locally with a mint (and rare) electric Recaro interior, and fell in love...then it all went wrong from there! On the way home the dash lit up like a christmas tree and the exhaust fell off. I got it to work and found more nightmares once on a ramp. I ended up spending about £300 at GSF on new bushes, arms, sensors, etc, as well as a new stainless exhaust and coilovers and then the charger gave up. I got a second hand charger and got rid quick. I think I lost about £1200 in a month! Luckily I still had the super Polo GT at the time, or else I would've been totally screwed.
Back to the SEATs...I saw this going cheap on eBay and sent the seller a cheeky offer of £900, and he accepted! I picked it up the next day fearing I was going to be buying another crock, all it needed was a £45 centre box and £3 PAS belt. I went through the history once I got it home and found that he had the cambelt snap 500 miles previous, and spent £2600 at SEAT for a new ECU and then a head rebuild and service! As it was so cheap and fully loaded, I found it the perfect replacement for the Polo. I kept it for a year and added new wheels and suspension, and sold it for £1900!
Next was the Cupra TDI. This was my mums car from new, and she decided to get an MX-5. The dealer offered her a stupidly low price for it, so I bought it. Revo had used it to develop the PD160 map, so it had 198bhp and 298lb/ft, it was a no brainer!
And now we're at present day, with another Tornado Red VW: