Well here goes;
One of my petrolhead bucket list cars was to own an AMG V8 - Done
Initially the novelty of owning an estate with super car performance was fun, but after a while the novelty wore off. The opportunity to enjoy the performance and make the most of what I owned never really arose. Family and other work commitments didn’t allow for any road trips or track type opportunities. So I’m left lamenting what might have been when given the opportunity. Personally I feel that the “fun” operating window of the E63 starts at 60mph and above which, with the current speed hating/adverse society today, really isn’t feasible to explore, especially on the crowded roads of southern England.
As to those who were wondering if it was a cash flow crisis? NO! it certainly wasn’t, the car was bought outright at the point of purchase. I always monitor closely the sale price of cars which I own so as to not loose too much money on them come resale, I have a depreciating price point when reached, I will decide to sell at and the E63s had reached that point and as a matter of fact, I did rather well on part-ex and came away smiling for once. I also wished to free up some capital to buy the wife’s new family car - Jaguar iPace that is when Jaguar pull their finger out and allow for test drives to occur
When driving the E63s, it was always pleasant, but rarely involving due to its massive capabilities, there in lies the conundrum! I wanted something that was fun, practical, involving, unique and would be a decent investment, i.e. not loose too much money! I did indeed look at the BMW 130i, Golf GTi Edition 30, Golf R32, AUDI S3, Volvo V50, Saab 9-3, MB A200Turbo, MB A45 and others. All were on a downward slope that I didn’t like the look of, or they were just too common, or just too dull! I fancied a frisson of excitement. So the Megane R26 F1 230 offers all of the the things I was after.
It is regarded as one of the best handling hot hatches of its time, it is rare in this colour (by the way it is a fabulous pearlescent yellow, the most sort after colour - the photos don’t do the colour justice unfortunately) especially with the full sticker pack, which this has. It’s a very low mileage example in excellent condition and was a bit of a bargain with more than 10 people chasing it if I didn’t follow through with the purchase. Ok, yes it will let me down at some stage, and yes, it will have electrical gremlins, but the reward for every time you push the start button more than makes up for the slight hesitation of will it or won’t it?
All in all it makes me smile when I drive it and it makes me smile when I look at it. Oh to be back in control of a car again with very little nannying from the electrics, it’s a breath of fresh air. A big PLUS is that now, the values of these Mk2 Megane have started to rise. So if I take good care of her and drive sensible mileage (5-6k is my average personal mileage) it should be a fun and cheap if not free driving experience, here’s hoping!
Prior to buying this I had a Fiat Coupe 20VT Limited Edition for 10 years it was fun, fast and great to look at. I did shows, track days and went round Spa in it. After that it was a Subaru Forester STi - absolutely fabulous to drive, very much in the same vein as the Megane is as it had been track modified, then came the MB C350 CDi Sport Plus, lovely car until the red paint fell off - thanks for that MB! Then I went onto Jaguar XF 3.0TDi V6S Portfolio Sportbrake great car but lacked a personality, then the E63S. Four estates on the trot, the last 3 were autos, although they all had manual modes, I think I’ve just had enough of automated gearboxes for a while and feel the urge to get back some of the control a manual affords. My daily drive is a 2018 diesel Ford Transit and that can also be “fun” on the right road.
So there you are, those are the main reasons for the decision that the time had come for a change. Don’t get me wrong the AMG E63S is a great car, but I just wasn’t able to fulfill its or my imagined potential that it offered.
I hope that it brings further happiness to the next owner.
P.S. there are no baseball caps allowed in the car, nor dodgy Pssssst dump valves!
P.P.S MB don’t give a hoot over customer/brand loyalty, so why should we the purchasing public?
