I'm getting bored of school blogs - yawn, yawn, yawn!! Decided to blog about something else today: My cars! Yes, far more interesting!! As you may know, I got myself a new Mini One in November. A nice shade of blue (Indi Blue in car dealer speak) with a white checked roof. If you're not interested in cars, just click away now, but I have always been into cars, and can probably still tell you the number plates of all the cars we had when I was a kid! (Another picture of my car)

Anyway, my very first car was a beat up old Renault 4. I loved that car - and did a roof job on that one too! I painted it dark blue to cover the rust! It was an old banger, but a lot of fun. Next came a Fiat Uno - very sensible - very dull! It was also quite horrible to drive, with an engine with the power of an elderly tortoise! Was glad to trade that in for a really cool little car, a Citroen AX GT. That was a fab car - light and flimsy, but went like a rocket powered roller skate. However, it was about as well built as a roller skate too! The driver's door virtually fell off one day when I was getting out! Brilliant to drive though.
Next came another Citroen, a ZX Volcane, which was very lively. A 2.0 litre engine, and a much bigger car. It was supposed to have about 50bhp more than the AX GT, but I never liked it as much. Yeah, fine on the motorway, but for me, it's sprinting away from traffic lights and taking tight bends as fast as I can that I enjoy. The ZX was too grown up for me! It was a medium family car, and I like small cars better.
The Nissan Micra should really have been another in the "sensible but dull" category, but I was actually really fond of that car. It never let me down once in 3 and a half years, had a lot of character, and was a surprising amount of fun for a little 1.0 litre car. Plus I really LOVE the footrest for your left foot - why don't all cars have them?

Anyway, we're up to date now as I waved goodbye to the Micra in November. While the Mini was my dream car, I'm actually only getting to really love it now a few months later. I was just too nervous about damaging it for the first few weeks - and after denting the door, I was even more anxious about it, parking it, leaving it anywhere out of my line of sight! Plus, I was a little disappointed with the performance. The Mini has a 1.6 litre engine, but is quite a heavy little car, hence you really have to work those gears. I was beginning to think I made a mistake and should have bought a Mini Cooper and cut back on the extras. However, now the I've done 1500 miles and the engine is worn in properly, it's running quite a bit sweeter. Plus, I am slightly less nervous and am chucking it into a few corners, whereas I think I was just too tentative for the first few months. Basically, if I just put my foot down and hang on round the bends I have more fun!
I really should have taken Marky up on his offer to have a drive of his Mini Cooper at New Year, just so I could compare I think! (Already planning the next car!)

Anyway, sorry to have bored non car fans! I'm on half term this week, so no school chat. Instead it's a fun week of having new guttering fitted on Monday and Tuesday, and double glazing fitted to the back on the house on Wednesday and Thursday. Great - I get to sit in all week and write cheques for thousands of pounds! Ah well, it'll be nice when its done, but just such a BORING way to spend money!!