"Fungus the Favorit"

CAR HISTORY

There I was, pootling down the M1 one Thursday night early March 2006, after visiting the folks, when the engine warning light lit up on the dashboard of the Vauxhall Astra (Mk3) that I was using as daily transport. This light covers everything engine related from sensor failure to total destruction. In this case it didn't take too long to discover that the cam belt had snapped. The car was recovered back to my parents and a call made to JP the following morning. He'd mentioned a couple of days earlier that he'd seen a Favorit for sale.

A quick trip and a test drive later and I was the proud(?) owner of an "L" reg Favorit LXi with the low compression 135 engine, a rusty tailgate and algae growing in the 3 of the 4 door openings. In its favour, it was cheap, 1 owner and had done 13k in 12 years. I also had several spare Favorit engines in my shed.

I thought it would only be a stopgap until I'd saved up for something better but she refuses to die, which is a good job as I'm still skint. In the 3 1/2 years I've had her, She's had a complete exhaust system, one set of tyres, oil changes ,two sets of brake pads, one CV joint and a headgasket. Never failed to start, never failed to get me home.

Which, considering the near diva like behaviour of many of my previous cars, makes her the best car I've ever owned.

Believe it or not - she's proved quite good on 12 cars as well.

CAR SPECIFICATION

Engine: Skoda 1289cc. Alloy 8 port head, alloy block. Single point Bosch fuel injection.

Transmission: 5 speed, all standard.

Suspension: All standard, could do with upgrading...

Brakes: All standard.

Bodywork: Rusty tailgate (Standard fitment due to no cavity seal applied at the factory). Does have a CD player fitted though. And now a maplight too.

Wheels & Tyres: Standard steel rims, plastic trims that rattle over bumps, 165/70x13 tyres.

EVENT HISTORY SINCE 2006

It's done a few 12 car road rallies, done course car duties on CDMC classic car runs and has now racked up 87k from new.