About Me

About me and Car History

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About me

The things I like and who I am
Car history
All the cars my parents and more recently I too have owned. Of course, since I've had my drivers' license, I've been driving them too.

About me

I am Ruben van Praagh. I've lived in the Netherlands all of my life, more specifically in Utrecht, the fourth city of the country. As you may have noticed, I am a particular fan of the Ferrari Testarossa in particular and cars in general. Also, however, I like a few non-automotive things like Kampong (the best place to play hockey) and FC Utrecht.
GO TO THE

FC Utrecht HOMEPAGE


Also, I was a member of the 1999 / 2000 Faculty Students' Council of the Economics and Econometrics Faculty (FEE) of my university, the University of Amsterdam. Thecurrent council's website is:

Facultaire Studenraad FEE


My picture is not on the net, but don't grieve too much about that great discrepancy. You will recover, some day. I was born on the 27th of March 1978, but of course I am mentally much more mature than my age suggests, right?

A LIST OF THE CARS WE (MY PARENTS) OWN/OWNED:

In chronological order:

Colour
Story
Picture
Mini 850

Red Bought when I wasn't even around yet. In fact, this car got too small when my mom became pregnant. So, they got a new car because of me before I was even born. And my influence has not waned since...
Mazda 323

Orange / red One of the earliest dreams I can remember is my mother, brother and myself being put into this car - all of us on the rear seat. Then, my dad did something to the gearchange and we drove off - without anyone in front - to do a hospital checkup. Of all the weird things kids dream about...
This was a three-door model with, I assume, a 1.3 L engine.
Peugeot 305 Break GL

Navy blue To be able to do deliveries for their shop, my parents decided an estate / stationcar would be the way forward. This 305 Break was from before the facelift, and therefore carried its numberplate more or less flat on the middle of the back door.
The car met a sad ending when my father drove around Utrecht to the dealership. A small accident with an uncareful moped required a damage assesment (insurance purposes). Having finished this, dad drove back, closely behind a large truck. On the same road, another car, coming from the opposite direction, wanted to cross the road to park on that side. It crossed the road immediately after the truck, and so, the Peugeot hit that car (an Opel Kadett) in the side, totalling it - and the front end of the Peugeot. Dad was unscathed, so he decided to get another one.
Peugeot 305 Break GL Navy blue After the first 305 had done us much good, this one was after the facelift and had the more integrated numberplate.
This car was absolutely fine, but on holliday in Italy, one of the tires burst along the Autostrada and my dad had to replace it with cars speeding by at awfully close distances.
The car had a hole in the ceiling 'carpet' (skai-plastic, fake leather) when my uncle pierced it with his umbrella. My brother and I used to put our fingers in this hole and be punished for doing so.
The decision not to continue with Peugeots was made not because of the car, but because of the dealerships. We could not go to a different one, as the local dealership was a subsidiary of the national import company for Peugeot in Holland. Great cars, but lousy service.
Renault 21 Nevada GTS

Gold Metallic With a simple and tiny 1.7L engine, this spacious car could do 180 km/h. Its incredibly lightweight construction made it very fast, but it was put together very well. My father still calls it the most comfortable car we ever had. The 2.80 meter wheelbase certainly helps in that.
The 21 was chosen after long deliberations between this model and the slightly more expensive and smaller Citroën BX 16 TRS Break. Nevada won it on cost and space. Lucky too, because it would also have won on build quality. However, the looks of a BX are still more remarkable than most cars.
This car is of the same generation as the car Hans Auer, a former commentator in the AutoWeek car magazine, used to call his 'white queen of the highway'.
Renault 21 Nevada GTS(cat.)

Navy blue Metallic The start of what would become a tradition: every 2 years (roughly) a car is replaced.
The first car with a proper catalyst! A first for us. Otherwise: still very roomy and wonderful to drive (I've been told).
Volvo 740 Estate GL BlackLine

Anthracite Metallic Two years on, the new Renault 21 facelift pushed its price up, so my parents started to consider something even more pricy: a classy Volvo. The 940 was just out, but dad was afraid of new-car mistakes (it was hardly a different car, but OK) and decided to go for the chromeless 'sporty' version of the 740.
This car is incredibly spacious and will hold over 2000 liters of goods. Also, the 2.3 engine is very reliable and has a very advanced catalyst. The five-spoke alloy wheels and the black trimming made this car look quite special, if a bit dark.
Volvos from this model have incredibly small turning circles and fantastic powersteering, so they are quite well equipped for riding the city!
Volvo 940 Estate GL Royal Line

Anthracite Metallic Two years on again, Royal Line was a special package. The car was equiped with half leather, half velours seat trimmings that looked very stylish, as well as with an automatic gearbox and the fantstic ECC electronic airconditioning. Also, it had 10-spoke alloy wheels.
Only differences between 740 Estate and 940 Estate: front end, slightly altered dashboard.
Citroen Visa 11 RE (second car)

Red A second car? Well, it is useful. The Visa was bought in Hilversum, which was where I went to school. It had an excellent ride for such a small car, but my mother (the principal driver) felt its lack of powersteering became too much in the end.
The front end was smashed a bit once, when my mother was too close to a car that had to back up. My brother was with her in the car and was quite excited about witnessing an actual car crash.
My grandmother once, on a very windy day, drove my brother and myself from Eindhoven to Utrecht in it, but she was quite scared on tall bridges. A Citroën will always move about in winds, but this is actually something not to worry about.
A Mother's Day present, the car was equipped with a solar reflection belt on the top of the windscreen and a TURBO sticker.
Renault Clio 1.2 RL (second car)

Blue Metallic The new and improved second car was a very basic Renault Clio (fully plastic doorpanels) with a rather strong 1.2L engine. Its main asset was the colour, though.
The car was traded in by a man who automatically, but for no apparent reason, assumed it was an RN model and thus better equipped. We (Mom and me) did not notice until the deal was settled for the next car, but were very pleased.
Volvo 940 Estate GL Malmö LPT (Aut.)

Bordeaux Red Metallic The first car I drove when I had my drivers' license. It was traded in on the next day, so I had to be quick to take my chance. I especially remember the excellent steering.
The Malmö model was extremely luxurious and sported a Low Pressure Turbo, giving it much increased torque. The seats were fully leatherclad, there was ECC and many power items. However, the car had some minor glitches, as the power windows, mirrors and heated seat on the right were often broken, and one of the doors had badly fitting window linings. But the drive and allround quality feel were still great, somehow. Again, it was kept for about two years.
Renault Clio 1.2 Symbol (second car)

Red Sad story: a poor old lady had just passed away and put only 1,200 km on the counter (less than 1,000 miles). The Symbol is an RN with special trimming and some minute extra's. It served us very well!
Chevrolet Trans Sport 3.4 Exclusief

Silver Metallic As Volvo was slowly phasing out the 940s and because of the slighlty less than expected quality, my parents decided to look at MPVs. Mom says she thinks the Trans Sport is pretty, and I can only react by stating that it is not particularly ugly.
Alternatives considered were:
Volvo Polar 2.3 LPT SportsEdition - it got more expensive with age, not cheaper, which broke a good trend.
Volkswagen Sharan VR6 - too expensive, carries a VW badge (my mother hates several brands).
Ford Galaxy 2.3 16v / 2.8 V6 - chairs were too hard, Ford badge.
Citroen XM V6 - too expensive, no resell value.
Chrysler Grand Voyager 3.3 V6 - more expensive than Trans Sport, and both my brother and I veto'd it because of its hideous and heavy bench system
Renault Espace V6 - very expensive and bad seats in the rear, whilst neither parent felt comfortable with the far away windscreen.
Renault Clio 1.4 RT 5-door (second car)

Blue The best story yet, I think:
One day, dad said to mom: 'Come on, we had better go to the dealership and get the Clio checked.' They came back in a new Clio and immediately decided (money growing on trees? alternative to overeating) to buy one. This is how we got a brandnew 5-door Clio with reasonable luxury, but metallic paint was just too much to ask. The regular blue is pretty anyway.
Chevrolet Trans Sport 3.4 "D"

Silvermist Metallic Two years had passed, time for a new car. Alternatives considered this time around:
Volvo V70 2.5 20v - too small in terms of maximum boot space and too expensive.
Ford Windstar 3.0 - new generation is worthwhile, but an inferior seat system, an uncooperative dealership and much less power for the same pricetag.
Opel Sintra V6 - more power, but an Opel badge (my mother has severe brand trouble) and it was rumoured to go out of production.
Opel Omega 3.0 V6 - expensive and an Opel badge, otherwise it might just have worked out.
Fiat Marea Weekend 2.0 HLX (second car)

Green Metallic Another surprise:
Our trusty and trusted Volvo dealership had just received a 'fantastic offer'. The car was priced for its money, was a rather young (same year as bought) occasion and had that wonderful 5-cylinder engine. Plus the Clio was paid for very handsomely.
This car is fully loaded and is the fastest car in the list up to this point.
I considered some alternatives, only to find out that the car had already been bought...
- brandnew Renault Megane Break 2.0.
- brandnew Ford Focus Break 2.0.
- young Volvo 940 / 960 occasions.
Peugeot 607 3.0 24v V6 Pack

Gris Sidobre Time to consider an alternative to the huge, bulky TransSport came when the Marea Weekend was found to be large enough for almost all of our moving and delivery efforts. And so, my parents embarked on a trip to buy the kind of car that was suited for them: a high-class sedan. Still, they did consider carpooling or taking me or my brother with them and emphasised rear seating room and a big boot as minimum demands.
The logical choice was the Volvo S80, which had impressed all of us with its good looks. If it would be significantly cheaper, maybe, just maybe, a V70 model would have been considered instead, but that turned out to be a very expensive car. So, looking at an S80 2.4T, the search for alternatives began.
- Audi A6 2.4 - too expensive, and a facelift was approaching. Also, it was not as impressive to my parents as they had hoped.
- Alfa 166 3.0 24v Steptronic - never a real contender: no resale value, less quality and small in comparison.
- BMW 525i - a 'no-go' area to my mother, and also prohibitively expensive.
- Jaguar S-type 3.0 - too much chrome, and far too expensive.
- Lancia Thesis - introduction date was too far ahead to become a serious consideration.
- Renault Vel Satis - introduction date too far ahead, and it promised to be too expensive as well.
- Renault Avantime - again, not introduced yet. Also, my mom thought it might be too extreme.
On the way to finding an Audi dealership, my parents 'happened to stop by' a Peugeot dealership. They were very impressed with the 607, and there were promises that Peugeot would not prove to be the problem that it so often had been many years before. So, after driving the S80 and the 607, it was decided to go for the 607, which had a better driving position for dad. Also, the criticisms of the car press were not very apparent during the testdrives.
Citroen ZX 1.4i Avoriaz

Vert Metallic What generosity! My parents decided to move out of town, so I and to a lesser extent my non-driving brother were getting a car of our own.
After browsing for a few weeks, an old friend who works at the Citroen importer found us a nice 1996 ZX 3-door. We test-drove it and it seemed OK, except for a flimsy gear change.
Meanwhile, two other candidates appeared:
- Another ZX, but this one a 1.8L with a few more gadgets. The stories about the 1.8 are not good, however, and this one had indeed backfired or in some other way destroyed a cylinder the day before we checked this car out in detail. The 1.4 at the importer was just a better deal.
- A Fiat Tempra 1.6 sedan. This one had excellent specs, with many things electric and that famous spacious interior and boot of the Tempra. But the guarantee deal was somewhat weak, and my brother thought he liked a smaller car better. Also, it had done a couple of thousands of kilometres more.
So we got the ZX 1.4 Avoriaz, with a flimsy but functional gearbox, and a very roomy interior and great handling. The only faults of the car's own doing are somewhat unreliable lights at the rear and a badly designed flip-down bench.
Citroen Xsara Picasso 1.8 16v (second car)

Blue Having stepped into sedan territory for the 'first car', the Marea seemed a bit too sporty and not practical enough. Mind you, this is all relative, as the Marea Weekend is an extremely load-friendly car.
So, to find a spacious midi-MPV or the like, my parents heard my advice.
The list included:
- Renault Megane Break 1.8 16v - the same as a Marea, but cheaper.
- Honda Stream 1.7 - too expensive, but great quality.
- Peugeot 307 Break 2.0 - not very cheap, but a good contender.
- Fiat Stilo Multi Wagon 1.8 - not pretty enough to mom's liking.
But the deal on the Xsara Picasso was very good at a dealer which sold both Fiat and Citroen. And so, the Egg on Wheels got on the driveway. It handles well enough for a lumpy car, and it is spacious indeed.
Peugeot 607 3.0 24v V6 Executive

Bleu de Rhodes Like the 607. Want another one.
Never the same, so they went for the Executive spec level. Dad had seen a number of tints of blue, and chose this one. To go with it, they went for the cream and wood optional Ivoire version. Some friends have a Rover 75 and they liked the way this colour scheme fits the car.
The Avantime had by this time come, a friend had ordered one months before and had still not gotten his one. Later on, we heard he cancelled - just 2 months before Avantimes actually started being delivered. He went for a BMW 5-series diesel which, admittedly, handles better and is also better quality.
Peugeot 607 2.7 HDi Executive

Gris Cendré Still like the 607. Want another one.
Again, to change things around, and with the new face lift, dad took the lead.
For him, especially seeing his annual kilometer tally rise to some 25,000, he decided to go for the new super-diesel, the 2.7 HDi that also sits in the Jaguar S-type (and, according to the guys at Top Gear, was the first Diesel to actually make an English car more desireable. Also, it was only the second diesel for Jag. Which is why they needed not just Mommy Ford, but also Peugeot, to develop it properly.
The gear box is also new - and a massive improvement. From 4 gears to 6 makes for much better response, even if the diesel V6 already has much more torque than the old petrol V6. There is still, however, a moment the car-engine-gearbox-suspension need to understand the command to 'Engage'. Luckily, the brakes don't need such a moment of their own time.
The colour dad liked best was a silver colour with just a hint of gold / brown in it. He wanted to combine this with Ivoire cream interior again, but, on the dealership's advice, he went for the dark Titane interior instead, which is supposed to be a bit sporty. Well... It's modest, at least, especially with the black leather.
Honda Accord 1.8 LS 5-door hatchback

Green Mica After 5 years of service, I finally traded in my own ZX. It had become just scrappy, having received dents from a number of unknown individuals on both sides. Honestly, that is all that was ever really wrong with it. This ZX was wholly and utterly reliable and I still say it has great handling too.
But where to go now? Big cars sell for the same prices as smaller cars, remember. They can just be more expensive to own. So I started looking for something larger.
The list included:
- Mitsubishi Sapporro - old if not ancient souped-up Galant, but I thought it had a 150 BHP. Turns out I was wrong, it was 125 BHP, so if it's not so pretty, very old and not so fast, it is only exclusive. I know why it would be, you just wouldn't want one.
- Alfa 164 V6 - as far as I'm concerned, still the best looking sedan. But they're often run to bits, the quality is not great even if kept well. Still, I found a gold metallic one (sedate colours mean a very small chance of maltreatment, never, never buy a red Alfa second hand). It was a post-facelift Super V6 24v. Drool... But it was from 1996 - the same age as my ZX. Also, it was some Euro 4.500, but guarantees were not even offered as an option. Still, it was an original Alfa dealer, the car looked like it was kept in great shape, so, still, drool! But everyone told me, that I did need a reliable car, so I kept the 164 in mind and started looking for a late-nineties / early-noughties reliable, large and not too expensive 'family saloon'. So, I looked mainly at two more options: - Nissan Primera 2.0 - it had to be the model before the Renault-esque new / current version, because of budget. But it had to be the faclift version, because otherwise it would look plainer than anything you would consider to be very plain. Also, it had to be the 2.0 with its 140 BHP. But the interior is awful in terms of dullness and lack of shape. Also, Nissan is not the epitomy of reliability. It's good, but not that good.
Not an option:
- Mazda 626 - too dull and low on power and handling.
- Toyota Avensis - too expensive and too dull.
- Renault Laguna V6 - Yeah! But... No! But... Yeah! But... No! But... Great engine, but thirsty. Also, the old Laguna is more than a bit unreliable if it has many electronic options.
- Alfa 156 - Not so reliable and often run to bits, the interior materials don't age well.
- Peugeot 406 - too expensive for the quality level.
- Ford Mondeo - too expensive or low on power AND spec.
The Accord combined most of my wishes; it's big on the inside, it has plenty of kit (mine, like most, did not come with alloys, though, and I do miss the fog lamps my ZX had as about its only option). Also, it is one of the best handling cars in its class, even if the new one is even better and mine does not have the double wishbone suspension. Moreover, even the 1.6 has 110 BHP, my 1.8 does what most 2.0 engines do: 136 BHP. Economy and power combined, a big plus. Added to that, it was one of the first EuroNCAP 4-star cars, so it is very safe.
Today, I average some 13 km per litre / 7.7 litres per 100 km. The biggest letdown is the brakes, which are still being critised on current Honda models too. The capacity is a bit limited and ABS kicks in quite soon. But, like always when on the road, anticipate and you'll be fine. It not that the brakes are bad, they are just not so good as the sporting ability of the car would merit.
Nissan 200 SX S14a Automatic

Green Metallic The Honda was great, but it is hardly a special car, rare though it may be on the European mainland. So I started browsing the web for Opportunity.
I was looking for all kinds of cars. Top of the list: Renault Avantime, style before substance, I know, but I do want one. The cost of an Avantime was still much more than I could afford, so I looked at other cars on a list of Sort of Special Cars: Mitsubishi Eclipse, Subaru SVX, That One Pristine Alfa 164 V6, Honda Legend and the Nissan 200 SX, hardly sold in Holland at all.
I did also look at newer, more 'normal' cars, such as the Renault Megane 2.0, Alfa 147 or Fiat Stilo Abarth. The Civic 2.0 160HP 5-door was a rare as it was above budget...
After several months, it all of a sudden turned up. A dark green (AGAIN) Nissan 200 SX. At an official Nissan dealer and quite nearby. The downside: it had an auttomatic gearbox, not so nice alloys (but not ugly) and a custom exhaust that looked like someone's chimney. This caused terrible noise and rattle when I testdrove it.
After careful negotiation I just couldn't resist. The original (I do mean the real, original) factory exhaust was put back where it belongs and I was a happy Nissan driver!
Today, I average some 10 km per litre / 10 litres per 100 km. This is not a comfortable car by anyone's standard, but it is fully equiped and it feels special. That is what counts. Of course, it is also tremendously reliable.

Quite a 'growth plan', eh? The first 'second' cars, that is the Visa and the Clio 1.2's were bought second hand.The same goes for the Fiat Marea and the all my own cars.

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