BOUGHT My Most Random Car EVER! | SHMUSEUM VLOG 75

Hello and welcome back to the Schmuseum. Today we might be buying a very random car so stay tuned for that but Brad I've been away for a bit over a month and there's a lot that's changed. It has been very chaotic and yeah like you say lots is different there's new things that have arrived and we need to I guess let you catch up on everything. Quite literally so since I've been away we have bought the Clio V6, the GT Black Series has returned from Dubai, the Senna is back from having a few things done with it, a couple of cars have been for service, we have a new Schmuseum team car with the Cupra Formentor and there's been a lot to try and figure out. In fact the F1 car is back here in some form at the moment. So before we get into all of that and have a walk around let me explain when I say we might be buying a new car today. We had an idea and we thought let's just browse the classifieds in case and then we found something and then we thought well why not so today we're going to go and see said car and if we like it we're just going to buy said car and bring it back maybe. This is like the most spontaneous car buying that I think we've done. It literally is. Brad saw in our video schedule that we have for what we're going to be uploading this and was like wait what because Tom and I had kind of decided at 4am overnight. I just went on it just to double check what was when a video was going live make sure that I'd got everything right and saw said car written there and I was like what is that and the next morning it was oh yeah by the way we might be buying a car today. So that's how it goes. Anyway this is a quick turnaround because obviously we're now at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where some of these cars are on display but by way of a very fast update Clio V6. I know you guys talked about it when you went to pick it up. Obviously we have the original Clio from 2005 which is identical to the first car I ever owned and if you think back then this was the ultimate. It's a mid-engined Clio. The engine is behind you in a hatchback. Crazy cool. Lots of work needed so the last couple of weeks the guys well we've all been talking about it along the way have been arranging tons of parts to get everything that we need and some amazing partners are getting involved in that so very soon it will be engine out getting lots of the work done and doing some dramatic changes. That's all I want to say about it for the moment. What else have you guys been up to while I've been gone? The Lusso went for a service, its annual service and MOT. The SF90 went for a shakedown, basically a check after the 4,000 miles or so that I did on the big tour with it. The Cupra has arrived, more of that obviously in the video where the car was being delivered and we're going to be using it kind of how we used the RS3 before the new team car literally. Just lots of running around. I've put a fair amount of miles on so far and it's doing it very very well. Perfect so we'll have lots of updates with that. The Senna, I know Tom said I would explain the Senna. Basically it sat for quite a lot of the winter and it needed one or two new suspension components which we're frustratingly still slightly waiting on at the moment. Part supply in the automotive industry at the moment is a nightmare so when it comes to these things, very very complicated technology, they have to go back from time to time. Obviously it's now down at Goodwood but yeah just had to have a few things looked at and then the GT Black Series which I waved farewell to about three months ago in the Middle East. I last saw this car prior to seeing it now back at the Shmuseum in Dubai when I parked it up where you'd seen it as well. As I say you're lucky it was only three months ago, it was literally six months. I did the same thing, waved goodbye like that to it and then now it's back. Yeah so basically that's all here. You guys also got out the BendPak QuickJacks, got them up and running which is obviously immensely helpful to have been able to do the Tarox brakes on your Abarth but I'm sure we'll have plenty more things that we're going to be doing here at the Shmuseum and in fact big updates that I can't reveal too much about right now in terms of workshop type things. Yeah. We'll leave it there for now, we'll leave it there for now. So today our plan is to head over to go and check out a car, I have no idea which car we're going to take, we should probably take the Cupra. Probably, it's a little bit more understated because we don't want to go and turn up to buy a used car from someone in a bunch of supercars, anything like this. Yeah let's not like take the Senna and the SF90, that is the perfect way to not get a good deal on a car. So we'll probably take the Cupra over and I've arranged everything, I've spoken to my insurance, that's lined up ready to go, just have to click the button, you've got to tax it and all of that and then drive back again in something that has, I'm going to say a personal story, like a personal connection, but you might need us to be with it to explain that a little bit more. So yeah, let's see where this day takes us and whether we have a new Shmeemobile at the end of it. Time to hit the road and collect, well hopefully collect, mystery cars. So I believe we are taking the Cupra, so cold start time I guess. I've got loads of stuff in me, this isn't good. I've got the water bottle, bag, oh god, through the camera, sorry. That's one way to do it and then let's jump in. Today then, Brad's at the wheel. Yep, this is what I've been doing a lot recently, especially in the Cupra. How many miles do we have on here now, just over 3,000? Yep. What was it when it was delivered? High 1.6, yeah, about 1,700. 1,600 or something, so we've done about 1,500 miles or so in the last couple of weeks, so it's been getting some good use. Okay, so driving, well perfect for the occasion today, nice summer day, can't complain, with a cruise around the M25 to go find this car. Now we were just talking a little bit about the type of car, hey Tom? Yes, I mean it's a type of car that I've been speaking about pretty much non-stop for the last 12 months whilst we've been working together and then beyond actually, so it's taken me about a year and a half to convince you to buy this type of car, which probably gives it away. It's one of our favourite types of cars, Tom, right? Yes, if there is this style of body. So a bit more background as well beyond that, it's actually a car that back when I was learning to drive, my dad actually had. Yes. This exact body style, engine configuration. Would have been one of the first cars you've ever driven. Yeah, manoeuvring in the driveway, manoeuvring around the driveway and on that point, there is actually an even more powerful one, but the more powerful one couldn't do what we want to do with this. Correct, yeah, it wasn't tight and crude. We're being so vague about all of this. Yeah, it's fine, although that said, I'm sure someone has worked it out. Probably, somebody already knows at this point exactly what this car is about to be. We've probably now given away enough. Well, we're going to be there in not too long. We're going to have the discussions and then we're going to reveal all. We're now less than a mile away. In fact, we're only a fifth of a mile away, but one of the purposes of this car, Tom, right, is to tow things with, isn't it? Yes, okay, you've just given away the purpose of why it because we need a tow bar in the back and you might think, well, we had a G63 for that, but this is a car that we are going to lug stuff in, not worry about, live very freely with. We're going to use it basically as a bit of a, to have a tow bar and, you know, we don't have to, the G-Wagon was great and we always did carry around sets of wheels and whatever, but we're always very delicate and very, very scared we're going to damage the lever or something. This, that problem is gone. We're not worrying about it. There's a bit of sentimental value with it and in theory it should be here somewhere and I can see it. So let's go have a look and we'll catch up with you in a moment. Fast forward a few hours. I now have a key in my hand and a lot to explain. We have driven away from the previous owner's house so as not to film it right outside, obviously, and we are now at Car Spares where the guys have come to visit a few times because we needed to pick something up, but Tom, I think it's fair to say you were a big influence in this. I think it was. It was 4am. We were talking about various things. I jumped on Autotrader when I should have been in bed and well, here we are. We now have the car in question. Which I'll just give a little sneak preview is a Mercedes and it is in fact this Mercedes, an E500 Avantgarde Estate, which means it is a Mercedes with a five litre V8. It is a Mercedes that is almost 20 years old. But more crucially, it's an estate. As you said, it has plenty of boot space and it looks so cool. Something about a fast wagon. This particular car, yeah, okay, it's not perfect. It's done nearly 150,000 miles. There are a few dings and dents and things around it, but largely everything works. Yes. All the electronics, which you would expect to have broken many years ago, it's all still there. The soft close boot, the automatic blind cover thing, everything. This car is so ludicrously specced. Now, I mentioned earlier that when I was younger, my parents actually had an E500 Avantgarde Estate. Exactly one of these. So for me, it's déjà vu everywhere. One of the first cars you would have ever driven on your parents' driveway. Yeah. And this is the seven seat car. It's got the folding rear seats in the back and just even remembering where the seatbelts click in and how they hold. It's all of that that I remember so very well. It is a silly spec though. I mean, to drive it now and to see some of the spec that it's got, like the heated and cooled seats and the infotainment, there's a screen for the back. It's got a phone and Bluetooth. Even like cooled seats, that's something that was on the G wagon. You know, it's not something you get. Oh, someone's got ice cream. Cold seats are not something that you get on just any car. That's still a quite special option. And this had it in 2003. Everything. You've got the wooden trims for the steering wheel, the stitch on the steering wheel as well. The spec is mad. And then actually, if we come around all the way to the back, there's one of the things that was a big deal was that it would have a tow hook down there. And if we open this up, I mean, it's just all of this stuff might need a new gas strut on that. But if you take this, I mean, I actually remember how this worked way back then. The seatbelt, I say this is supposed to clip in there. You fold this up and then we open up this and there that completes our six and seven seats. That's quite fun. There we go. Headrests probably supposed to take out the shelf probably, but no one's actually sitting there for now. Although saying that, why don't you give the guys a demonstration? I was going to say, look at quite how fun this is. There are cup holders in the back, which is hilarious. But as a tiny young kid, I remember sitting in the back of one of these on occasion. Isn't it hilarious? And maybe this is just me, but, you know, when my parents had cars like this, I always wanted to be in the most back seats, whereas now as an adult, I think that's the worst place you'd want to be just in case anything happened. It also always made me feel a little bit sick looking the wrong way. Yeah, you get that. It's the same. You always want to face the right one to train as well, isn't it? It's the same kind of thing. That's the one. There we go. Sweet. And again, look how clean it is for a 20 year old car. Obviously, it's not expecting it to look perfect, but it doesn't look 20 years old either. And it doesn't look like it's done one hundred and fifty thousand odd miles. And there's very little rust around the car. A couple of the panels are starting to get a little bit of corrosion on them, same as the DBS had actually. But again, you expect that the DBS is a much younger car and had that issue. So you can't be surprised this has that issue. Five times the mileage, twice the age. So what do we have? I know some of the stats. So five litre V8 with, I believe, about three hundred and six horsepower. Yep. Seven speed gearbox. I'm not going to pretend I know the torque figure, but seven G-Tronic. Yeah. Seven G-Tronic automatic gearbox. I'm sure the torque is plenty. Zero to sixty two miles an hour, six point one seconds, which again for something this big is not bad at all. You wouldn't see that coming. No. So what do you do with the bonnets of this era? Slam it down? Yeah, just close it down. This is when they were built really well, so. Solid. And it was always such an iconic look, this like twin round headlight. Yeah. Grille at the front. The three pointed star. Yeah. That sits up on the nose. Which again, when you're sat there and you're looking over the bonnet and you've got that there, you lose that these days. Nothing that doesn't exist anymore. One of the only things I think that's really moved on in what you have in cars now is that you put them in and or rather you wouldn't, you just step in with that in your pocket. Yes. It'd be keyless. I think there's some construction going on next door, but inside here, just to wake it up for a moment, turn the key. Listen to that. It just sounds cool. I'm sure when we do a full analysis of this, we're going to find a lot of things that are wrong with it, but there are no warnings. There are no errors. We've just given it a full tank of fuel. We've got the adaptive air suspension. You actually have a full like all wheel lift on the suspension as well. Might need an exhaust at some point. It's not the loudest, but it's not meant to be right. It's classy. We've got auto lights, auto lights, also wipers, memory electric seats, heated and cooled seats.