I've had the unique experience of owning only two cars that met an untimely end due to circumstances beyond my control. One such car was my very first Caterham, which I unfortunately destroyed at the exit of the Goodwood chicane during my very first track day. I was showing off to my mates watching nearby, and that moment changed the course of my relationship with that particular vehicle. Since then, I've driven, raced, owned, and built many other Caterhams, and I even own one today that closely resembles the one I lost nearly 40 years ago. But that chapter is behind me, and I don't miss that particular Caterham anymore.

The Only Car I Truly Miss

What remains etched in my memory is my beautiful late Mk1 VW Golf GTI. This was a car I owned in the mid-1980s and poured all my attention and limited funds into. I enhanced it with Bilstein struts, Tarox discs, Italtune pads, and shod it with Yokohama HFR rubber, which were among the first road-legal track day tyres. What I loved most was that it looked completely standard on the outside. Once I had improved its handling and stopping capabilities, my next focus was on providing the engine with the power to truly exploit the newfound abilities of the chassis.However, fate had other plans. One evening while I was on the telephone in my flat, I heard a loud crash followed by the familiar sound of a car alarm. A driver had taken the wrong way on a one-way side street next to my flat, hit an innocent Ford, lost control, and rammed the poor Golf into the large BMW parked in the next space. Despite its abbreviated and damaged state, it was taken away on the back of a truck to the nearest scrapyard. Since then, I've driven other Mk1 Golf GTIs, but they never quite lived up to the memory of that special car. It still holds a special place in my heart as unfinished business.

The Porsche 911 That Haunts Me

There is another car that I am starting to wish was still with me. I sold it for good reasons - work demands meant I wasn't using it, and my brother really wanted it. But its absence over the years has been gnawing at me. It began as a common late Porsche 911SC, which the previous owner had attempted to turn into a 2.7 Carrera RS replica. Most of the work was done, and the car looked brilliant. It had twin triple choke Weber carburettors instead of the fuel injection system and SSI stainless steel exhausts, which together increased the power from the standard 204bhp to around 225bhp. I added little K&N filter packs on top of each carb to enhance the sound, making it sound like a slightly silenced RSR race car.When I bought the car, it had already covered nearly 200,000 miles. During my ownership, I drove it at speeds that I thought I could get away with, and yet the engine remained in excellent condition. It never overheated, didn't burn any oil, and always maintained terrific pressure. I adored this car, even though it was a replica. I even did a twin test with an original Carrera RS, which cost many times more, and it was difficult to tell which one I preferred.But as my work life progressed, I found myself needing a different vehicle for long journeys. So, the car went to my brother, who enjoyed it as much as I did. It wasn't until last week when I drove a 1988 Carrera Club Sport that I realized how much I loved the sound of that air-cooled engine, the clarity of the steering, and the slight thrill of potential danger. It reinforced my belief that there are truly no other cars like an air-cooled Porsche 911.