I’m a writer. I get paid to convert information floating around my head into words. I use a computer keyboard to make the transition. Now I have a problem.

You see, last night, I managed to chop off a small part of my thumb in a remarkably stupid incident involving an axe. As I’m discovering as I try to type this, it’s a massive problem. I touch type (albeit not properly) so the use of all digits is something I consider very necessary. Trying to type while one thumb is damaged and wrapped up like a particularly portly sausage is bloomin’ difficult. I’m sort-of trying to use the right-hand more, but have to hold my damaged thumb up to allow the two hands to overlap. I’m also likely to get RSI from hitting the delete key.

It’s scary to be honest. I rely on the humble computer keyboard to communicate with the world, my many friends, employers and family. I can hurl words onto the screen at a rate of 85 words per minute when I’m really flowing. Not today. It’s hugely frustrating.

Nor can I really drive. I had a go earlier and immediately ran into issues with the seatbelt and the handbrake. Every gearchange hurt, so I reluctantly clambered back into the passenger seat. Then my brain decided it needed a rest so I’ve achieved pretty much nothing today but snooze on the sofa.

I damaged my hand turning a log into kindling, after somehow forgetting that it’s a good idea to remove your hand from an object before smacking it with an axe. An actual fire is a lot more dangerous than gas central heating. My wife and I do pick up minor injuries fairly frequently, and you don’t know misery until you’ve spent almost an hour moving freshly delivered, dry logs in the pouring rain as you desperately try to get them under cover. No worries though – there’s a good, wholesome feeling that you just don’t get from twirling  a thermostat. But you do need to be careful when twirling sharp objects.

Doing nothing is proving very frustrating. This blog entry must stop soon as writing it really hurts. I can’t play any musical instruments (well, piano just about but bass guitar and ukulele are impossible) and I can’t really get on with any of the DIY tasks that need doing on the house. Worse – Rachel and I may have to share the driving as we head to Sussex on Saturday. This is a novel and somewhat worrying prospect purely because I’m a crap passenger.

Grateful I am though that the damage is not worse and that the staff at Bronglais Hospital are so efficient and friendly. Now I really must stop! (be glad there are no photos!)

Yes, perhaps a controversial point for a motoring writer to make, but the more ‘expert’ reviews I read about the Daihatsu Sirion, the more I wonder whether they actually drove the car at all.

It isn’t a car that found favour when reviewed as a new car. Some faults are rightly pointed out. It’s not very spacious in the back, the low speed ride is pretty poor and some interior appointments are not of the sort of quality people expect of a Japanese car. The window switches are particularly nasty. But what I find truly extraordinary is how many reviewers complain that the 1.0 is unexciting, noisy at speed and ill-suited to motorways.

This is why I was so surprised when I first took the Sirion on a dual carriageway and found myself racing along at a supremely quiet 80mph. Sure, the little three-cylinder engine IS quite noisy when accelerating, but once up to speed, it’s astonishingly easy on the ear. Wind and road noise are very much acceptable and far better than the Mk2 Golf I had previously. The three-cylinder engine sound superb too. It’s a bit harsh perhaps, but it barks like the half-a-V6 it truly is and sounds much faster than it in fact is.

Quite why you’d go for the larger four-cylinder option I’m really not sure. I imagine you get a bit more low down grunt, but I doubt it’s any quieter on a motorway, and I imagine it’s thirstier too and it would sound as exciting as Eeyore reading the instructions on a washing machine.

Better than the reviews would have you believe

In fact, I was exceedingly happy to discover that the Sirion has returned an impressive 49mpg on its first tank of fuel in my ownership. Over 315 miles on just shy of 30 litres of fuel. In fact, it may have done better than that – I refused to believe the fuel pump when it cut off, so probably squeezed a bit more fuel in than I did when I first filled up on the day of purchase. Now, those who know me will know I don’t exactly hang about, so 49mpg is all the more impressive for such a hard-worked engine. The 2CV can’t get near it.

Wowzers MPG!

So pleased was I that I ‘fixed’ the rattling exhaust by battering the silencer with a hammer until the baffles stopped rattling. Nothing is quite as satisfying as repair work that involves a hammer.

Anyway. My point is, the reviews that litter the internet do not always make for good reading material. I know I’m quite odd in thinking the Sirion is my idea of a really good car – the fact that Neil Campbell of Practical Classics agrees doesn’t make me feel any less odd. Sorry Neil. Reviewers have a nasty habit of all wanting the same thing. More power than is really needed, more refinement than is really needed and handling that could shame a sports car. None of these things are that important to me, which is why my Daihatsu Sirion review is so glowing. I’m not alone either. Read actual OWNER reviews, and the Sirion sounds like an entirely different car.

I went off-roading in the Discovery at the weekend, but got very lazy with photos. You’ll just have to believe me when I say I had a lot of fun and the Disco performed without fault.

Back to the silly, yellow car. There’s one serious downside to owning the Daihatsu. Enthusiasts seem to be very thin on the ground! It’s not just Sirion fans – that I could understand – but generally, there are very few forums for small Daihatsus. Or any Daihatsu at all. Now, I know the company has withdrawn from the European market, but that doesn’t stop Lancia fans or Rover fans from celebrating their departed marque’s historical produce.

It’s a real pain because by contrast, there is no shortage of information online about Land Rover Discoverys (yes, the plural of that annoys me) or 2CVs. The internet is an absolute god-send when you’re stuck with a problem, but it only works if there is a community or forum that exists to help you. So far, I’ve struggled to find a decent Daihatsu forum or community. I found one, but there is cyber-tumbleweed blowing around the place.

Nice car, but where are the enthusiasts?

So, desperate as I was to adjust the clutch, I was forced to just try and work it all out on my own. That wasn’t difficult actually. A 10mm bolt needed removal so I could get the air filter assembly out of the way, and then there was a hand-operated adjuster on the cable itself. It took seconds to sort out and the clutch bite is no longer on the floor. Result!

Emboldened by this success, and blessed with a day of sunshine, I set about making further cosmetic improvements. I’d already gone around the rusty areas and applied Vactan rust converter. It’s great stuff.

Vactan treated wheelarches

So, a quick sandpaper session and I could slap some zinc primer on. This is also incredible stuff and I’ve had it keep rust at bay even without a top coat. I did have to apply filler to the lower edge of this arch, as there was a small hole at the bottom. First time I’ve used filler (incredibly!) and I found it easy – as long as you aren’t too fussy about finish. I wasn’t. This is allegedly a temporary repair to get the car through the winter.

The car came with a handy tin of touch-up paint. That meant applying paint with a brush which saved on masking time, but meant a nice finish was pretty much impossible. I’m not fussed and it doesn’t look too bad really.

Muttley amused by the finish

It’s definitely a lot better and a fine way to mark the first week of ownership. Next job is to try and remove the horrible dog smell from the interior.

I’m still enjoying the little Daihatsu, though I’m surprised at the amount of flack I’ve attracted since buying it. I can’t really see what people have against the thing. Sure, it’s no classic, but then was a Mk2 Golf really that interesting? No. It really, REALLY wasn’t. Yet that car attracted nothing but praise. It’s amazing what an advertising campaign can do for a car.

I think it has more  to do with being Japanese. There’s still this belief that the Japanese can’t make cars that are fun. “Surely only the Italians can make small cars that entertain,” says the world, ignoring the fact that the Japanese have been building absolutely incredible small cars since the 1960s.

Honda’s S800 was the first car it tried to sell in the UK. It used a tiny 796cc four-cylinder engine, with four tiny carburettors and a red line somewhere beyond 8000rpm. 8000! It screamed like a racing motorbike compared to the overhead-valve plodders built in Great Britain at the time, which would run out of puff comfortably before 6000rpm. It was a technical tour-de-force.

Daihatsu itself build the Charade GTti in the 1980s as a response to the supermini hot-hatch market. With a triple-cylinder engine and a turbocharger, it was lunacy on wheels. It was a mere hint at what that firm could do. I still desire a Mira Avanzato TR-XX after reading about them when I was at school. Built to Kei-Car regulations (restricting size and speed for the Japanese market) the TR-XX had a 659cc three-cylinder engine, turbocharging, intercooling and four-wheel drive all crammed into a package only 3.3 metres long and weighing just over 700kg. It could scorch to 60mph in less than nine seconds. It was bonkers. Who needs a bigger car?

A very, very silly, very, very quick little car

Now, my Sirion takes a leisurely 15 seconds to get to 60mph but  the thing is, it doesn’t feel it when you’re behind the wheel! It feels much quicker, sounds fantastic and 60mph feels like the land speed record.

The screaming transmission is just hilarious. On my Land Rover, it means the transmission is worn out. With Daihatsu, I can’t help thinking they engineered it in specially because it would be funny.

Oh sure. It’s not perfect. The ride is a bit crashy and bouncy (though still better than the Golf), there are quite a few trim rattles and the steering is far too light. But it’s incredibly pleasant to drive and feels like it just wants to please. Getting into my Discovery today was a bit of a shock. I almost needed two feet for the clutch!

Well, I’ve done my bit to defend the Sirion from a surprising number of detractors. The poor thing sits in limbo land – too old to be new and too new to be old. But this is where the good folk of Autoshite realise that the bargains can be found, just like in the 1980s when a rusty Mk2 Jaguar was hard to give away. That doesn’t mean I reckon I’m sitting on an investment though. Japanese classics are woefully overlooked in this country (witness my giveaway-cheap Nissan Bluebird) and I’ve already discovered that Daihatsu forums, clubs and enthusiasts seem to be in horrifically short supply. If you find any, do let me know where they are hiding!

I have a (not large) pile of cash and the ‘Buying Mania’ is very much upon me. The Volkswagen Golf has been sold, and I was surprised at how I felt as it departed. It might have been a bit of a dull motor, but it did everything I demanded of it, including trips to Devon and North Yorkshire. It has gone to a young, female Volkswagen enthusiast to allow her Golf Mk1 Cabrio to have a bit of a rest over the winter. I’m sure it’ll be ideal for the job.

The merest sniff of interest was enough to have me plotting what to get next. It’s a proper excitement trip, that leaves me exhausted. Hours and hours spent trawling Ebay, Gumtree, the classifieds in Classic Car Weekly and random forums, bursts of huge excitement as I decide what I want followed almost minutes later by depression as I realise the folly of my ways and pick something else to lust over.

During the past three days, my Ebay watch list has been evolving to a great extent. Some of the cars that have appeared on it include the Ford Puma, Volvo V70, Rover P4, Austin Landcrab, Ford Probe, Mazda MX3, Mazda MX6 (but not MX5), Perodua Kenari, Volkswagen Lupo, Smart (original, LHD), Triumph 2000 (it was a nice one, it soon went out of budget), Triumph TR7, Fiat Multipla, Fiat Coupe, Volkswagen Beetle, Rover 75 and Austin Maxi. What sort of a list is that?! There are sports cars, people carriers, city cars and proper, chrome-dripping classics. There are icons and there are obscurities. Trying to choose one is leaving me as flustered as a group of female Strictly fans suddenly faced with a chest-baring Artem Chigvintsev (nice cultural reference eh?). I have no idea what to do other than flap my hands and make unusual cooing noises. Naturally, my wife is finding all of this a bit annoying.

Incredibly, I’ve made it through the day so far without buying anything at all. The sensible thing would be to continue with that. After all, I have two perfectly capable cars sitting outside the house, even if they do both have ancient underpinnings – the 2CV’s date back to 1948, the Disco’s to 1970. It even still has beam axles and a steering box, like a 1930s car.

I’d like to think I could do it. Keep the cash, perhaps even add to it so I can buy something really old and nice. Yet, it also feels like it’s only a matter of time before a rather expensive button gets pressed on a certain website, or a phonecall leads to rather too much temptation. Buying a car still gives me a massive rush. I love the excitement, even though the days leading up to it are inevitably filled with sleeplessness and aching eyes. Often, it is even accompanied by a massive hangover, as I wonder what on earth was going through my mind. The cold light of the day after is not always forgiving.

The biggest problem is that when the mania has kicked in, as it most certainly has, I can do pretty much nothing else. It’s that endless searching that helped me find my Discovery lurking in the parts section of Ebay. But it’s also the constant pondering of what to get next that can leave me prone to making daft decisions – like buying an enormous Mercedes, or buying a Ford Maverick sight unseen. The danger is that rationality can be utterly overlooked, though the Discovery proves that it needn’t be so. Perhaps that was luck more than anything!

So, I should put down the laptop, make plans to go out for the day tomorrow and go and get a good night’s sleep. I’ll just have one more check of Ebay first though… and possibly Gumtree. And maybe Preloved. And maybe I should check Classic Car Weekly from a couple of week’s ago…