Faults:

Ball popped out of cup in distributor.

Brake Disc gouged. Problem was due to missing pad clip causing pad to run to metal.

Brake fluid boiled. Needed draining & Replacing.

New Clutch at approx 80000 Miles.

Handbrake useless.

Brakes still dodgy after being seen by three different garages.

New Water pump. Where the metal spindle went through the plastic 'stirrer', it had sprung a leak.

2 sets of New front tyres (down to driving style more than the car). 1 new set of rears (with second set of fronts)

Doors don't fit properly, LOTS of wind noise at motorway speeds.

General Comments:

Point (the steering) and squeeze (the throttle) handling.

Steering is "talkative", you can feel everything the front wheels are up to through the wheel.

Mine is timed "up" slightly and has a modified warm air intake so it goes through the front grille instead of joining from a bracket above the exhaust manifold.

Can keep up with a 1.8 Litre Focus around the country lanes.

Will cruise all day at 90mph on the Motorway.

Runs out of steam at 100Mph.

Will beat most cars to 40Mph, then runs out of steam.

Rev limiter cuts in @ 30 in 1st, 50 in 2nd, 70 in 3rd (I haven't hit the limiter yet in 4th or 5th).

Seats are comfy (even with a bad back).

Engine management system is good. When my lower cam-belt pulley went, the top half of the engine wasn't damaged as the EMU cut it off (at least that's what the bloke at the garage said.

Problems getting New Parts where I live. Took a fortnight for a touch-up pen to arrive!

Headlights are as good as having a candle behind the lenses.

Faults:

Gear box leak when bought, rear of the exhaust pipe fell off, not too much really. However, I have spent more than £500 in repair costs and spare parts.

1 front tire needed changing when bought.

General Comments:

A fairly nippy car. Handles fairly well on the motorway and around town. Not bad for a first car.

A lot of space inside as I once carried 6 people in total somehow!

Steering is quite light when driving, however it can become slightly heavy when parking, but not too bad because the tires are quite slim.

Not bad on fuel economy either.

Faults:

Front left shock absorber has gone.

Battery keeps draining.

General Comments:

This car is seriously underestimated when it comes to performance. This is one of the fastest cars I've ever driven. I've blown away Golf GTi's, Vectra SRi's, Mondeo ST24's - it's easily as quick as a Renault 5 GT Turbo.

This is one of the few performance cars that insurance companies have seemed to forget. At group 11 (some companies class it higher, at 14) premiums are reasonable for the performance.

Handling could do with setting up properly. A good set of lowering springs or even coil-overs sorts it out.

Interiors are decent, not sure about the black and white checkered trim on the seats, but it does have a Momo steering wheel and boost gauge!

Things to check when buying are firstly the body work, check the wings, tailgate, and around the fuel cap and arches. Turbo's and clutches (and especially gear boxes on the Mk1) also need checking as they can be expensive to repair.

Reccomended modifications include: Dump valve, induction kit, exhaust, super-chip (extra 30 BHP!), de-cat pipe (if catalyst) and a good set of alloys.

Contact me at turbowilly69@hotmail.com for any advice, tips or recommendations!