I have recently been trying to sell my Karif, with a predictably poor (read ‘zero’) response. So, why was I trying to sell it? Because the wife hated it (‘looks like a Ford Cortina’ – huh?!) and I thought it would be preferable to have something in the garage we both liked. But then I recently took it out for a valedictory (perhaps) drive and thought to myself, ‘why am I doing this?!’ It’s a hoot to drive, ridiculously quick, and what the hell would I buy to replace it, which would appease the memsahib and give me anything like the same visceral satisfaction?’ Answer came there none. So, it remains (sort of) for sale, but continues to tickle the cockles every time I take it for a spin. ‘The ‘spin’ is somewhat rhetorical, since it will do that at that the slightest provocation; but it remains one of the great fun cars of the late 20th century and never fails to put a smile on my face. And whilst a Shamal now commands something close to £100k (why!!), the Karif (at less than a third of that) remains the unsung hero of the bi-turbo years. Yet another fact of 21st-century life (one of many) which perplexes me…
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