In 1953, US missiles needed protection from rust. At the same time, Rocket Chemical Company staff came up with a product that’s probably in your cupboard right now, and very protective of weapons of mass destruction: WD-40.

It wasn’t until their 40th attempt that they got the water displacement formula right. So, the name WD-40 stands for “water displacement, formulation successful in 40th attempt.”

Its formulation was never patented, so it would never be revealed publicly. WD-40 was sent to soldiers in Vietnam, to look after their weapons, and has even been used to free a tongue stuck to cold metal.

With my cars, I’ve also had experience with rust, water displacement spray, and the number 40. In late 2020, I brought home the 40th vehicle (in 33 years of driving) that I’ve bought for my own use. Cars bought with the wife only add to this list!

Number 40 is a familiar 4WD. I have owned a Land Rover Discovery (diesel) before, but this one has the V8 burble of my recently sold Range Rover, without the fussy electronics. It’s also a 3-door, which I’m told is rare these days – especially in the 90s series 1 update that I have. The paint is much, much better than my last Disco, but still not as good as the Rangie’s royal sheen.

But back to those 40 cars over 33 years. You can read here about how I was in a big rush to get my licence in January 1987 and how my first car was a rusted-out, bogged-up disappointment.

You might think, at more than a car a year, that I constantly bought cars – but I did keep one for around 10 years. In recent times, the internet certainly made it easier to be tempted to purchase (and sell) more often. Those search terms now make it easy to find a mostly unknown Niki, Grandeur or Copen. Back in the “olden days”, you had to use newspaper classifieds, spy cars for sale on the roadside or rely on word-of-mouth to find those “penny dreadful” cars that no-one else wants. That was the case for the first 7 cars I bought, until eBay and Gumtree tempted me for dozens more.

Do I have a favourite? No, I like all sorts of things about all sorts of cars I’ve owned. However, this post reveals the car I most regret selling, even now that I own one very similar in looks and features.

So, just in case you’ve never been to the ‘about‘ page, here is the list of 40 cars.. and counting. Unlike WD-40’s formulation, you can read all the details on my fleet below. Bring on WD-50!

1. 1977 TOYOTA COROLLA YELLOW (BOUGHT 1987)

2. 1981 MAZDA 323 WHITE (BOUGHT 1989)

3. 1989 DAIHATSU CHARADE GREY (BOUGHT NEW YEAR’S EVE 1991)

4. 1992 MAZDA 121 CANAIPA BLUE (1992 DEALER DEMO)

5. 1995 SEAT IBIZA RED (BOUGHT NEW 1995)

6. 1989 FSM NIKI – WHITE (BOUGHT 1996)

7. 1988 MITSUBISHI COLT BRONZE (BOUGHT 2003)

8. 1990 FSM NIKI – RED (BOUGHT 2004)

9. 2003 DAIHATSU COPEN GREEN (BOUGHT 2005)

10. 2001 FORD KA MAROON (BOUGHT 2007)

11. 1991 FORD CAPRI GREEN SPARKLE (BOUGHT 2007)

12. 2000 HYUNDAI GRANDEUR BLACK (BOUGHT 2008)

13. 2002 SMART CITYCOUPE RED/BLACK (BOUGHT 2009)

14. 1994 DAEWOO 1.5 SILVER (BOUGHT 2009)

15. 1991 HYUNDAI LANTRA WHITE (BOUGHT 2009)

16. 2000 VW NEW BEETLE RED (BOUGHT CHRISTMAS EVE 2010)

17. 1993 HOLDEN BARINA WHITE (BOUGHT 2011)

18. 1990 DAIHATSU CHARADE WHITE (BOUGHT 2011)

19. 2006 CITROEN C4 DARK BLUE (BOUGHT 2011)

20. 1996 FORD FESTIVA WHITE (BOUGHT 2012)

21. 2004 PROTON GEN2 ORANGE (BOUGHT 2012)

22. 1996 FORD FESTIVA BLUE (BOUGHT 2013)

23. 1992 RENAULT 19 CHAMADE SILVER (BOUGHT 2013)

24. 1986 SUZUKI MIGHTY BOY BLUE/WHITE (BOUGHT 2013)

25. 1996 LAND ROVER DISCOVERY GREEN (BOUGHT 2013)

26. 1996 HOLDEN BARINA WHITE (BOUGHT 2014)

27. 1992 TOYOTA CAMRY MAROON (BOUGHT 2015)

28, 1995 MITSUBISHI VERADA VXI DARK BLUE (BOUGHT 2015)

29. 2003 PEUGEOT 206 WHITE (BOUGHT 2016)

30. 1996 RANGE ROVER HSE V8 GREEN (BOUGHT 2016)

31. 1985 SUBARU VORTEX XT BLUE (BOUGHT 2018)

32. 1985 SUBARU VORTEX WHITE (LEFT IN A BARN – BOUGHT 2018)

33. 1990 HOLDEN BARINA GS WHITE (BOUGHT 2018)

34. 2004 SAAB 9-3 LINEAR SPORT 1.8T SILVER (BOUGHT 2019)

35. 1996 FORD TAURUS GHIA MAROON (BOUGHT 2019)

36. 2003 SAAB 9-3 ARC SPORT 2.0T SILVER (BOUGHT 2019)

37. 1999 HONDA HR-V 1.6 WHITE (BOUGHT 2019)

38. 2001 CHRYSLER PT CRUISER LIMITED SILVER (BOUGHT 2020)

39. 1998 MGF ROADSTER BRITISH RACING GREEN (BOUGHT 2020)

40. 1995 LAND ROVER DISCOVERY 1 V8 IN GREEN (BOUGHT 2020)

..and more since this post.