Blueprints and Plans – this is how I want it all to turn out

Ooh, shiny!

I’ve always liked these style of wheels.
‘slotmags’

Interior:

Leather interior, black carpets and re-trimmed dash. I’ve even got plans as to the exact type of retro-looking radio I want in there. (It’s going to look like an old 8 track but with iPod support and will be wired up to my big ol’ amp!)

Chrome is good, but I want it to be lightweight, so no external bumpers.

Probably keep the amount of exterior trim to a minimum. I will set the indicators into the front valance; just like they do on mk1 escorts.

Engine:

I really can’t decide on what engine to go with. (I know that’s a long way off yet, but here’s a few options).

Should I go with something small like a 1.6 or less?

Low car tax
Underpowered and slow
No fun and probably not lively enough

Ok, so what about a big engine then... like a v8?

Fun
Lots of extras needed like high pressure oil coolers etc
Expensive to get a good v8
Will probably only do about 12 or 18 miles per gallon
Expensive to insure
Sounds epic

What about diesel?

Economical
Sounds like a tractor

The LPG option

With all that said, then I could always go with a v8 on LPG. At the time of writing this, petrol is £1.35 a litre. Diesel is £1.42 per litre. LPG is 72p per litre. So even if I get 18 miles per gallon, it would be possible to use now and again as it’s more than half as cheap as petrol, and would bring my actual mpg to around 37. Just a thought... and there are a few places around where I live that I could fill it up too.

Suspension:

I am determined to get rid of the rear leaf springs. Apart from being bloody heavy, they are straight out of the 60’s and make the back end shake, slide and slip under acceleration and braking. So here’s an alternative idea:

It’s the suspension out of a 3-series BMW. (5 point independent linkage) and I get to keep everything rear wheel drive which is essential.