[Matt F]

Sounds great - my only concern would be what mileage it will be on when you come to sell - there's a psychological issue (for me anyway) with the 100K miles barrier - I could never imagine buying a car with that kind of mileage.

Aren't there plenty of 996's available at reasonable money with mileages in the 50's or early 60's?

By the way, since buying my C180K Sports Coupe a couple of weeks back (and still loving it and getting 37+mpg) I've been wondering about the more powerful version for the future. What recently came out is the C350 version - 3.5 V6 with 272bhp and yet still 29mpg on the combined cycle. Now that really would be something!

The best bit however, is the price - whereas the C350 saloon starts at well over £30K, the Sports Coupe version starts at £24K - is it me or does that sound like a performance car bargain.

What also struck me with the Merc is that it is effectively a car that everyone seems to moan isn't made anymore - the VW Corrado i.e. coupe/hatch with four seats, great build, looks, handling etc. The only difference is the Merc is RWD but that's arguably a good thing.

Matt.