The Best ///M/Barge/General Rant/Look at this/O/T (Vol XVII)

[L100NYY]

Currently watching IoM TT build up.

Got me thinking of these again.....

[Diesel Meister]

contango said:

Cmoose, as a daily driver it's hard to get your head around an Elise for twice the price of the low mileage 986 you posted yesterday. That comes from someone with an Elise and a few older pork in the garage.
Some of the Lotus bespoke parts seem to be priced by Porsche or Msport, at least in my experience.

I would go for the 986 and upgrade the suspension, saving the balance to cover the worst case.

This seems to be the only sensible answer. You could make an absolute blinding sports car for £10k or possibly less, depending on how ambitious you are.

For me:

1 x 986 (healthy, mechanically refreshed and decently shod 2.7 or 3.2, 17s only); plus
1 x floor mounted bucket seat; plus
1 x set of decent (possibly semi-adjustable) spring and damper kit; plus
1 x geo session (responsive and yet compliant - malleable and predictable with a hint of neutrality is the optimum consistency)...

...Garnish with breathing mods to taste and enjoy!

Not sure you could do better (especially for those of us with champagne taste and lemonade money).

[Diesel Meister]

L100NYY said:

Currently watching IoM TT build up.

Got me thinking of these again.....

Me too. Watched Road for the second time in a month as well. Astonishing family of talented nutcases who do the worlds best impression of being completely normal. I honestly found it touching as well as mind-boggling in terms of the skill and single-minded determination - the obsession frankly - of those men. You can relate to some of it, sure, but these are not your common or garden variety blokes by any measure. Fascinating.

Still too chicken to try for my bike license. But it's more realistic than learning piano or some such

[bungle]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I assume you saw it in person then? What sort of condition was it in, looks good in pics? Having a mid-life crisis, I think I might need something like that...

[bungle]

Thanks - makes sense if Scotland.

anonymous said:

[redacted]

That always concerns me. I like buying from a car person. Otherwise they've bumped up kerbs, scraped the wheels, doesn't matter about a missed brake fluid change etc... Maybe a good thing that I am now putting myself off, but it does look good still.

[bungle]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

mmmmm. Bizarre.

I have some pondering to do...

[olly755]

Worked in the smoke this week. Always an event for a country lad like me to see some exotica in it's natural habitat.

Couldn't help smile at the sight of a Veyron parked in the mostly empty residents underground car park, and another chap in the throes of parking a Veyron Super Sport right next to it, just to piss the other oligarch right off

[Diesel Meister]

olly755 said:

Worked in the smoke this week. Always an event for a country lad like me to see some exotica in it's natural habitat.

Couldn't help smile at the sight of a Veyron parked in the mostly empty residents underground car park, and another chap in the throes of parking a Veyron Super Sport right next to it, just to piss the other oligarch right off

I'm there most days but rarely get the chance for a proper gawp. That said my office overlooks TCR, so you occasionally get something tasty razzing northward (R8s, Lambos, wannabes in fast saloons). It's a completely pointless place to own such cars (other than as the usual badge of wealth) but it's really great for spotting. Das Krapital is like an overcrowded zoo sanctuary for the endangered species of uber chariot. Not really enough room for them to stretch their legs but you can get closer than you would in the wild ;-)

[Diesel Meister]

L100NYY said:

Leins said:

Just been thinking about the SLK Black, and not sure if I've ever seen one on the roads

I'd rather like one of those but a std SLK55 would be a better bet with some tweaks I guess........at least the option of mean & roofless is available then

to either options but I guess the folding roof seems sensible seeing as it's a well-developed selling point of the SLK over similar sized competitors (or it was before the current Z4 at least). That is unless you just want a smallish 2 seater AMG. Not being a vert man, it would be whichever I came across first. Preferably with a Spanish box conversion. Because I'm kinky like that

[braddo]

Diesel Meister said:

... my office overlooks TCR...

?

[Diesel Meister]

Tottenham Court Road

[Leins]

Diesel Meister said:

L100NYY said:

Leins said:

Just been thinking about the SLK Black, and not sure if I've ever seen one on the roads

I'd rather like one of those but a std SLK55 would be a better bet with some tweaks I guess........at least the option of mean & roofless is available then

to either options but I guess the folding roof seems sensible seeing as it's a well-developed selling point of the SLK over similar sized competitors (or it was before the current Z4 at least). That is unless you just want a smallish 2 seater AMG. Not being a vert man, it would be whichever I came across first. Preferably with a Spanish box conversion. Because I'm kinky like that

I'm not a vert guy at all either*, so part of the appeal is very much that the roof's been sealed-up. Can't explain why that should exactly be the case, but it's probably similar in reason to why I have a 2-seat hot hatch

I'm trying to find a pic I have somewhere, from the last time at the 'Ring, of an SLK55 that had been sealed up too and ready for track work. Wasn't a Black Series, but it certainly looked mean


'* various Porsche Speedsters being the only real exceptions. And I use the word 'real' very loosely there due to the current market

[Leins]

Can't find it, so please indulge me in another, taken 25 years ago on the Champs-Élysées. This was also the day I sat in a GTA Le Mans in that Reggie dealership that can be seen in the background. Seems a bit sad that these cars look like they are to be partially banned from said street in the near future

[braddo]

Leins said:

Can't find it, so please indulge me in another, taken 25 years ago on the Champs-Élysées. This was also the day I sat in a GTA Le Mans in that Reggie dealership that can be seen in the background. Seems a bit sad that these cars look like they are to be partially banned from said street in the near future

Random question for the thread - the pics of M1s recently made me wonder, has there been any other mid-engined car with a longitudinal straight 6? Nothing else than the M1 pops into my head.

[Diesel Meister]

Leins - I get you. I actually think the Black Series is very cool. I like coupes. Especially with V8s, carbon roofs and attitude

braddo - nothing springs to mind. They really tend to be V configuration. Strange. Would love an M1. Sexy as hell. Like a lot of bimmers pre-1980. Or 1990.

Edited by Diesel Meister on Saturday 4th June 00:16

[Blueprint]

Ba-doyng!

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

[NomduJour]

Leins said:

Seems a bit sad that these cars look like they are to be partially banned from said street in the near future

More so when it's a pointless gesture to appear on-message and pacify the enviro-mental left. Of course, Citizen Kahn's already plotting his response.

[s m]

Diesel Meister said:

Leins - I get you. I actually think the Black Series is very cool. I like coupes. Especially with V8s, carbon roofs and attitude

Always seems a shame they couldn't get a manual box as an option

There used to be an enjoyable video of a Black vs a GT3 RS and E36 M3 at Spa on a track day. Most entertaining to watch but, rather strangely , was removed some time ago from all the hosting sites

[deadslow]

Ferrari 458 speciale. All secondhand. LHD £250,000 RHD £375,000

Why are the RHD prices so pumped?

[wst]

deadslow said:

Ferrari 458 speciale. All secondhand. LHD £250,000 RHD £375,000

Why are the RHD prices so pumped?

A poster in this thread suspects slightly unethical UK dealer behaviour.