Magazine Issue 1.pdf - SEATCupra.net

BIG STU’s IBIZA DIARY PART ONE
Two blown head gaskets in six months, one new cylinder head, one new starter
motor and ring-gear, one noisy timing chain, one blowing exhaust which dropped
off at the down pipe on the motor way at 80mph and 4 bald tyres and seasickness
every time I went round a corner. My inherited Skoda favorit estate just had to go,
and with £5000 to play with, the hunt for new car had begun.
The new car had to be a 3-door hatch with an insurance friendly engine and was
big enough to fit my 6ft 4” 20 stone frame (hence Big Stu) and it had to pull my fat
arse around town and take mother to the garden centre. And the other thing the
car had to be was fun and was full of modifying potential. My short list came down
to the Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa, Citroen Saxo, VW polo, and the Seat Arosa and
Ibiza.
First one up to cross off my list was the Dagenham Dustbin, lots of potential here
but how ever you went about moding it, it would look more or less the same as the
rest of them, plus I vowed not to buy anything with a blue oval unless it was a
GT40, RS200 or Escort Cosworth. Next was the learner drivers favourite, the Corsa
which I have liked since I was at school and when the time came to learn to drive,
this was my ticket to freedom and was I glad to pass my test because I hated it
after 4 months driving it! Then on to the Saxo, nice looking car, lots of potential,
but my area was full of them plus it was French, which was a good enough reason
alone!
The next car on my list was the sturdy and VW Polo, reliable, well-engineered, good
equipment and lots of potential, but it was let down by the plain looks and would
have cost £100s to put right. Onto the Seat Arosa and Ibiza, well-engineered using
VAG running gear and components, spares easy to obtain (HA! which was not the
case with some parts as I was about to find out later) and both looked better than
the polo. The Arosa looked good and had a good spec, Parts to modify it were a
bit thin on the ground at the time requiring a bit of improvisation. But when I went
to test drive one, with the seat all the way back, tilted and reclined, the law of
physics came into affect and my knees were wedged onto the dashboard and it
took me 5 minutes to get out.
Then at last the Seat Ibiza; admittedly I have always had a soft spot for this model
because of its motorsport heritage and being a motorsport nut myself, the
prospect of owning a car that was the basis of one of the most successful F2 rally
cars of all time was appealing. Mean looks as standard, again built using VAG
parts, good equipment levels, full of potential, lots of room for mothers shopping
and most important of all,
I fitted!
So the hunt began for a 96-99 1.4 sxe 3door low mileage Ibiza, trouble is with such
an underrated car, that used ones are a bit thin on the ground, particularly in my
century if you ask me.
area.
I reckon that if it had a ford badge on it,
there would be loads around.
And eventually I found the perfect Ibiza
only 15mins away from home and sure
enough there it was on the forecourt,
mint condition, light metallic blue, the
exact colour I wanted, reliable 1.4
engine, 18K on the clock and with leccy
windows and a decent Kenwood stereo
all for £5995 and £750 part exchange
for the old Czech tank –bargain of the
Mother stumped up the cash as a loan and I was now a proud owner of a Seat
Ibiza with implicit instructions not to do anything to it, that didn’t stop hatching
a cunning plan with a demon tweeks catalogue he-he!
PART 2 IN THE NEXT ISSUE
First mods, 3 month wait for alloys and a conversation with a kerb on icy roads,
ouch!
FEATURE YOUR MOTOR
What were aiming to do with the new look Drivers Club Magazine from now on is
each issue try and feature a club members car.
This would include a feature written around the car, and a writeup of its mods and
styling, and anything else thats noteworthy.
So if you want to feature your motor put pen to paper and tell us all about it, take
some nice photos of it, try taking it to a nice loaction and take some good snap
shots of it, cause we’ll be using it on the front cover and dont want the neighbours
cat in the background.
Now go to it, its your magazine, and without your help it just wont happen, the
organisers do this in their spare time, we dont get paid for it. We do it cause we
enjoy it and want this club to be the best it can be, so help support it be part of the
club make some effort and we’ll make it the very best we can.
Regards Mark F.