I’d been itching to get back to the blog and write about one of my great passions: classic cars.
Even before I got my driving licence, I imagined my first car being a classic, a Seat 600. And, for something more rugged, the Citroën 2 CV, which has to be one of the most fun cars there is to drive.
Once I had my licence, at 19, I was lucky enough to inherit my mother’s 1985 four-speed Opel Corsa 1.0, but I was still dreaming of a classic. By then I’d fallen for the Volkswagen Beetle, thanks to the Herbie films.
That little Corsa and I had some great adventures. Despite its small engine, the speedometer would hit 160 km/h… it travelled all over Spain and was the official car of DJ.Flexi at his many events, loaded to the brim with my professional sound equipment, and it never once left me stranded.
But the years went by and I moved on from the Corsa to my father’s Opel Kadett GTi; a young man in his early twenties simply couldn’t afford a brand-new car. That Opel easily went past 160 km/h and reached 200 without breaking a sweat: a super-light, reliable car.
It was also the official car of Flexi Music, carrying my mobile disco gear here, there and everywhere. It survived a heavy snowfall in Asturias, but because I didn’t look after it properly on the way back, I had to replace the engine…
I couldn’t buy a car of my own until I got married, and by then the decision wasn’t 100% mine, so we went for a Citroën Xantia 1.9 TD, which was honestly superb, and we enjoyed it for 10 years. Wonderful on the motorway, good pick-up for a diesel, and fully loaded with Alcantara leather seats.
The next one was a black beast, a BMW 530 D with over 200 bhp and 400 Nm, packed with extras 🙂
In between there were three company cars: a Renault Laguna 2.0 that was really sluggish, very lazy, with soft suspension, but it did its job.
The one that was brilliant was a pretty cool Mercedes 190 that I earned at a multinational. I gave it a full tune-up and for a while I felt like a bourgeois grandad 😉
I jumped to another company and was assigned a black VW Passat 1.9 TDI diesel. I loved it; a very effective engine.
Then 2024 arrived, and since the BMW had no DGT environmental badge it was banned from driving within the Municipality of Madrid, so I had to banish it to Valladolid, where I sold it for far less than it was worth at the end of 2025…
But, oh, surprise! Classics are allowed to drive around Madrid. So I went for plan B: a classic with historic vehicle plates.
I went on Wallapop and started weighing up options. Lancia Delta, a classic Mercedes W122, Peugeot 205, Ford Escort Cabriolet, Golf Cabriolet… which one should I buy?
In the end I listened to my heart and went for one of the cars I’d dreamt of at 16–18: an affordable German sports car that my cousin in Madrid used to have, a Porsche 944. Why not? They ranged from €8,000 to €20,000 depending on the mechanics, the year and their state of preservation.
And this is where networking comes in.
I started getting in touch with friends who already drove classics to ask them about the running costs of this car, its pros and cons, and events where I could meet 944 owners and ask them first-hand what the car is like.
After seeing several at events, my mind was made up: the 944 would be my classic for regular use in Madrid.
My son lent me a hand, along with his car-loving friends. We test-drove two in Madrid, a red one and a gold one, but the one that won us over was a black one in Seville. Its wheels stood out, with an impressive deep dish and 245/45 tyres.
We chatted on Wallapop, exchanged a few videos to check it was in good shape, and I went to get it. An ’84 944, registered in ’86, which hadn’t been shown much love by its previous owners, as it had struggled to pass several MOTs.
The last owner had looked after it, though, and it only had 80,000 km on the clock, so it has plenty of life left in it.
The first thing I did when I got back to Madrid with it was join Club Porsche España. Some people may say the 944 is the poor man’s Porsche… but it’s 100% Porsche, it’s more of a handful and it’s more composed in corners than the 911 thanks to its perfect 50/50 weight distribution between the front and rear axles.
And, keeping up the networking, I looked up the classic car meets in Madrid, and almost every weekend I went to the gatherings in Torrejón, Alcalá de Henares, Navacerrada, Colmenar, Tres Cantos, Villaviciosa…
What do you find at these classic car meets? Really good people, folk who are passionate about classics and about keeping a little bit of motoring history alive by lavishing love on our four-wheeled babies. Maintenance tips, where to find spare parts, good mechanics, painters, upholsterers…
Another unbeatable place for networking, advice and more was the 944 Spain WhatsApp group, where 200 of us 944 owners hang out. There you’ll find real mates who help you solve any problem you have with your sports car.
So if you’ve caught the classic car bug, don’t hesitate: get yourself to the events to discover your ideal car and go for it. You have no idea how much you enjoy every single day, or how people look at you, unaware that it’s an affordable and sensible option however you look at it.
Categories