Jonty's MR2 Turbo

Who am I..?

As you've probably already guessed, my name's Jonty.  Born in December 1973, I grew up in Cippenham, Berkshire and didn't leave the area until 2001.  I've had stints living in Ashford (Surrey), Maidenhead in Berkshire, Taplow (South Buckinghamshire) and Chineham, Basingstoke (Hampshire).  I've got three lovely daughters; Tamzin, Poppy and Emilia.

Computers have played a large part in my life after my father bought a ZX81 many years ago, and it was the rubber-keyed Spectrum after (for those who remember!) that got me hooked.  Having invested a lot of time and money into home computing it wasn't a surprise to see my education similarly tainted -- with schooling, A' levels, and higher education all based around IT.  With both a diploma and honours Degree behind me, I've no desire to study further.

I left university in June 1996 and in July I started work at IBM.  I've since TUPE'd a couple of times but am in my 26th year of service.  Working within IT support (fancy that) and based in Bedfont, I started off with problem call management and then moved into LAN administration, back in the days when OS/2 was still popular.  Moving up through the ranks my next challenge was providing dedicated IT support to IBM's Consultancy business on my lonesome and what started out a 650 people strong group was 3,500 at the end of 2 years.  After looking at team leadership, I secured a Team Leader role based in Farnborough in 2004 and enjoyed growing a successful team.  Then in April 2006 I returned to Bedfont in a Service Analyst and Country Infrastructure Implementation Manager role.  Since then I've team-led once more and in 2008 stepped out of working for IBM internally in favour of a commercial capacity.  I've since TUPE'd but currently looking after a major clinical research organisation.

At home I sometimes still fiddle with computers, although nowhere near as much as I used to.  My priorities have shifted away from computers and cars, regrettably.  I was a keen photographer, but less so now.

If you'd like to get in touch about something then you're more than welcome to email me.

Me and my cars

It's funny, I wasn't into cars until I left school and started college in 1990.  I passed my driving test within 3 months (began to drive on day one of being 17) and when I left university I decided to treat myself to a car I'd been drooling over for some months -- a Peugeot 306 XSi in Diablo Red.  It was a mint example and at the time extremely hard to get hold of.  I bought it on the same day I saw it.

Another car that had always taken my fancy was the Rover 220 Coupe -- there was something about it and I just loved the lines.  Considering something with a bit more oomph, I was curious to know what the Turbo model was all about, and in all seriousness, I didn't know what a turbo was.  After a test-drive, I knew exactly what a turbo did and again bought the car the same day -- a turbocharged 220 Coupe in British Racing Green.  Again it was mint!

Unlike the Pug, the Rover Coupe didn't stay standard as my knowledge of cars grew and my passion for power and performance increased.  With a conservative 240 bhp at the front wheels, uprated suspension, brakes, 17in alloys, slight bodywork changes, and an impressive ICE installation, it made for a great car.  I'm still not quite sure why I sold it to be honest!

When the MR2 arrived in October 2000 it ran in parallel with the Rover for a while but then one of them had to go.  Now that my MR2 ownership is also over, I've had a more practical toy to play with.  And in 2020 switched to diesel and an auto.  Good times!!

Me the mechanic

Before the MR2 appeared on the scene I knew very little about how to maintain a car without the assistance from a qualified mechanic.  I understood bits of how they worked but to service and care for it myself... yikes!

The Rover was entrusted to Moto-build Racing for all its servicing and modifications and only since owning the MR2 have I been learning how to do things myself, with the excellent help of MR2-owning friends, on-line resources, and clubs.  Personally, I don't relish the thought of being at the mercy of Toyota either hence the effort to learn and do as much work on the car as I can, with professional help from mechanics if necessary.

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