They say never meet your idols in the flesh...
Discussion
It has been said that meeting your idols in the flesh have rendered those who have thought blessed to meet that person in which they held so high, for lack of a better word, well, dissapointed! Apparantly the same goes for having the chance to temporarily drive or permanently own ones dream car. I am interested in this thread to get the opinions of those who have done both, that is, met their idol (or someone who they hold great respect for) as well as to hear from those who have driven and or had the opportunity to own the car in which they fantasized about for X many years.
I'll go first.
I dont particularly "idolize" anyone, I dont believe in it, but there are a few people in this world that I would love to meet, that I hold a multitude of respect for.
Unfortunately those few people who I have always wanted to meet, I have yet to actually meet. Curious as to who? No one that special really, but to name two people I would like to meet would be; Stephen King and Jean Claude Van Damme (dont ask why Van Damme, just because. I grew up watching his movies and reading about him and I feel that he was a very brave and motivated individual with the odds stacked against him but he prevailed. I wouldnt mind meeting Stephen Hawking, too. But I think a conversation with King and Hawking would be very interesting!
As far as my dream car, well that would be a few; Viper rt/10 or GTS, Ferrari F355 Spyder, Lotus Esprit (any year from 89 to the last Esprit made).
Unfortunately again, I have yet to experience the thrill of driving (let alone owning) either of those fine supercars with the exception of the Esprit. Thankfully, I was able to drive a 1989.5 Esprit SE, that I was prospecting to buy. I even got so far as to take the loan out for it, have the owner produce a bill of sale, got insurance put on it (as I would have had to drive it some 600 miles home), and paid the initial deposit of $2,000 as I won the Ebay Auction. Unfortunately, the day before I went to finalize the deal and drive off with it I lost someone very, very close to me in one of the worse ways imagineable (a casualty of war, he was in Fallujah patrolling in his Humvee with his squad and never saw the attack by the enemy coming.) As you can imagine at that point, going through with what was to be one of the happiest days of my life had to be put on hold. Thankfully the seller was nice enough to return my deposit and offer his condolensenses(sp?). I did however offer to pay his relist fee, but he generously declined.
Anyway, I got to take it out on the road for a few hours, he was very nice about it and let me take it out by myself for a few hours (after I paid the initil deposit of course). This is was it I thought, I waited over a decade for this moment. And I am happy to say that it was everything I hoped it would be. Not to get into too much detail (that can be another post altogether), but after the intial 50 miles I got to recalling all the qualms journalists have written about the Esprit.
Qualms such as; "the pedals are too close together and annoyingly off set." "rear visibility is nill, as well as the side view mirrors, the rear being obstructed by the spoiler, and with the side view mirrors, the visibility is cut in half; half the relfection is obstructed again by the spoiler, leaving only the outer half to see vehicles on either side of you." "head room is again, nill." "it is extremely tempremental around town and at low speeds, the Esprit begs to be driven on open road and the only real excitement comes from keeping it on boost, above 3,000rpms, which reminds us, turbo lag is plentiful and the test Esprit suffers from what most do, the 3K stumble. Both ailments however could be recitifed by having the ECU reprogrammed with the S4S settings, then it becomes much more tame and manageable." "the lack of power steering, coupled with the lack of visibility makes low speed maneuvering a challenge as well as a scary prospect." "getting in and out of the Lotus is a task better left for the flexible person, and is not for the flexible handicap." "the shifting mechanism, sourced from renaults of the past, is its most hideous characteristic, potentially ruining the real essence of the car."
As I drove this beautiful example, which by the way was exactly what I dreamed off in color on the outside and inside (white with tan interior), it was mint, had all the necessary service records, had a V8 Spoiler (which is the one thing I did not prefer, as I always fancied the SE turbo spoiler, and in my opinion is the best looking one next to the S4 wing, though I know many who would argue that point, stating they much prefer the Sport 300 i.e. S4S spoiler.) and it had OZ Wheels, 18 inch. this was a stunning example indeed!
Anyway, this post is getting rather long, so let me summarize my feelings about it. I do not know what all the qualms were about as I did not find the pedals to be so close together that it would become a nuissance. Rear visibility was certainly NOT the best, but the installation of a backup camera with the upgrade of a nice in dash CD player with such a feature would remedy that problem. Side visibility wasnt half as bad as they made it out to be, but it did have the later V8 Spoiler, which sat higher, which I suspect is the reason for the better visibility. The car did not have the S4S ECU reflash, and I did not experience the common 3k stumble. Turbo lag however was obvious, and I can attest to it being tempremental at low speeds and around town. It took alot of clutch/throttle balancing to not look like it was the first time I was driving a stick. I will also attest that at 3k exactly the car turned into a completelt different animal, it went from an institutionalized animal in a cage, into the incredible hulk in the second it took the turbo to spool up, then it was your head being slammed into the seat and I found myself stumbling to keep up with rowing through the gears!
Head room is also very sparce. I am only 5'8, and I know that the interior dimensions were built around the frame of Colin Chapman himself, whom was around the same height as myself, but even still my hair was touching the roof. The lack of power steering and the combination of upgraded wheels which were substantially larger than the stock wheels that came on the car from factory (16 inch to 18 front and 19 rear) made it quite awkward and difficult to drive. But once the car got moving it became light as a feather, and just as responsive!
The gear box wasnt half as bad as I expected it to be, reading all the digs about it I was expecting it to be a complete slosh box, it wasnt. It was precise and I had no issues with it. And lastly, ingress and egress. That I must side with the journalists on, it was not easy, in fact it was very awkward and near impossible not to rub your foot wear against the door, hence all the scuff marks on just about every Esprit you see.
So, all in all, did my idol live up to my expectations? Gladly, I can say YES! Yes it did. And I look forward to the day I can reunite with my dream car.
Your turn! Sorry for the long post.
P.S. I just thought of something, I would love to have met Colin Chapman! Now THAT would be a great conversation! Perhaps I will meet his Son one day!
I'll go first.
I dont particularly "idolize" anyone, I dont believe in it, but there are a few people in this world that I would love to meet, that I hold a multitude of respect for.
Unfortunately those few people who I have always wanted to meet, I have yet to actually meet. Curious as to who? No one that special really, but to name two people I would like to meet would be; Stephen King and Jean Claude Van Damme (dont ask why Van Damme, just because. I grew up watching his movies and reading about him and I feel that he was a very brave and motivated individual with the odds stacked against him but he prevailed. I wouldnt mind meeting Stephen Hawking, too. But I think a conversation with King and Hawking would be very interesting!
As far as my dream car, well that would be a few; Viper rt/10 or GTS, Ferrari F355 Spyder, Lotus Esprit (any year from 89 to the last Esprit made).
Unfortunately again, I have yet to experience the thrill of driving (let alone owning) either of those fine supercars with the exception of the Esprit. Thankfully, I was able to drive a 1989.5 Esprit SE, that I was prospecting to buy. I even got so far as to take the loan out for it, have the owner produce a bill of sale, got insurance put on it (as I would have had to drive it some 600 miles home), and paid the initial deposit of $2,000 as I won the Ebay Auction. Unfortunately, the day before I went to finalize the deal and drive off with it I lost someone very, very close to me in one of the worse ways imagineable (a casualty of war, he was in Fallujah patrolling in his Humvee with his squad and never saw the attack by the enemy coming.) As you can imagine at that point, going through with what was to be one of the happiest days of my life had to be put on hold. Thankfully the seller was nice enough to return my deposit and offer his condolensenses(sp?). I did however offer to pay his relist fee, but he generously declined.
Anyway, I got to take it out on the road for a few hours, he was very nice about it and let me take it out by myself for a few hours (after I paid the initil deposit of course). This is was it I thought, I waited over a decade for this moment. And I am happy to say that it was everything I hoped it would be. Not to get into too much detail (that can be another post altogether), but after the intial 50 miles I got to recalling all the qualms journalists have written about the Esprit.
Qualms such as; "the pedals are too close together and annoyingly off set." "rear visibility is nill, as well as the side view mirrors, the rear being obstructed by the spoiler, and with the side view mirrors, the visibility is cut in half; half the relfection is obstructed again by the spoiler, leaving only the outer half to see vehicles on either side of you." "head room is again, nill." "it is extremely tempremental around town and at low speeds, the Esprit begs to be driven on open road and the only real excitement comes from keeping it on boost, above 3,000rpms, which reminds us, turbo lag is plentiful and the test Esprit suffers from what most do, the 3K stumble. Both ailments however could be recitifed by having the ECU reprogrammed with the S4S settings, then it becomes much more tame and manageable." "the lack of power steering, coupled with the lack of visibility makes low speed maneuvering a challenge as well as a scary prospect." "getting in and out of the Lotus is a task better left for the flexible person, and is not for the flexible handicap." "the shifting mechanism, sourced from renaults of the past, is its most hideous characteristic, potentially ruining the real essence of the car."
As I drove this beautiful example, which by the way was exactly what I dreamed off in color on the outside and inside (white with tan interior), it was mint, had all the necessary service records, had a V8 Spoiler (which is the one thing I did not prefer, as I always fancied the SE turbo spoiler, and in my opinion is the best looking one next to the S4 wing, though I know many who would argue that point, stating they much prefer the Sport 300 i.e. S4S spoiler.) and it had OZ Wheels, 18 inch. this was a stunning example indeed!
Anyway, this post is getting rather long, so let me summarize my feelings about it. I do not know what all the qualms were about as I did not find the pedals to be so close together that it would become a nuissance. Rear visibility was certainly NOT the best, but the installation of a backup camera with the upgrade of a nice in dash CD player with such a feature would remedy that problem. Side visibility wasnt half as bad as they made it out to be, but it did have the later V8 Spoiler, which sat higher, which I suspect is the reason for the better visibility. The car did not have the S4S ECU reflash, and I did not experience the common 3k stumble. Turbo lag however was obvious, and I can attest to it being tempremental at low speeds and around town. It took alot of clutch/throttle balancing to not look like it was the first time I was driving a stick. I will also attest that at 3k exactly the car turned into a completelt different animal, it went from an institutionalized animal in a cage, into the incredible hulk in the second it took the turbo to spool up, then it was your head being slammed into the seat and I found myself stumbling to keep up with rowing through the gears!
Head room is also very sparce. I am only 5'8, and I know that the interior dimensions were built around the frame of Colin Chapman himself, whom was around the same height as myself, but even still my hair was touching the roof. The lack of power steering and the combination of upgraded wheels which were substantially larger than the stock wheels that came on the car from factory (16 inch to 18 front and 19 rear) made it quite awkward and difficult to drive. But once the car got moving it became light as a feather, and just as responsive!
The gear box wasnt half as bad as I expected it to be, reading all the digs about it I was expecting it to be a complete slosh box, it wasnt. It was precise and I had no issues with it. And lastly, ingress and egress. That I must side with the journalists on, it was not easy, in fact it was very awkward and near impossible not to rub your foot wear against the door, hence all the scuff marks on just about every Esprit you see.
So, all in all, did my idol live up to my expectations? Gladly, I can say YES! Yes it did. And I look forward to the day I can reunite with my dream car.
Your turn! Sorry for the long post.
P.S. I just thought of something, I would love to have met Colin Chapman! Now THAT would be a great conversation! Perhaps I will meet his Son one day!
Edited by ESOG on Sunday 29th May 03:36
Jean Claude Van Damme , you will be disappointed for a start he is tiny about 5'4" and 70 kg if he is lucky , he even wears platform trainers in the gym :-} he has a huge attitude , i was in California , USA training and he wanted to use the machine i was using at Golds GYM , he asked to use it , i said no problem im not finished so you can work in . He said NO i want the machine so i said well in that case you can wait until im finished , he glared at me i just smiled and said don't worry ill be here for ages now :-}}} he stormed off
total w
ker classic small man syndrome
I had wanted to meet Arnold and meet him at World gym i must say he was very very nice he got someone to take a pic with me and him and chatted for about 10 min , i seen him about 4-5 times over then next week in the gym or restaurant he went out of his way to come and say hello .
most people i don't rally care who they are or what they have done we are all the same and found if you don't treat so called celebrities any different and one of your mates they are really down to earth
total w
ker classic small man syndrome I had wanted to meet Arnold and meet him at World gym i must say he was very very nice he got someone to take a pic with me and him and chatted for about 10 min , i seen him about 4-5 times over then next week in the gym or restaurant he went out of his way to come and say hello .
most people i don't rally care who they are or what they have done we are all the same and found if you don't treat so called celebrities any different and one of your mates they are really down to earth
Shanes - I have heard that about JCVD from many people who have met him here in the states, but supposedly those who know him in his home town of Brussels have the nicest things to say about him. I noticed that he wears shoes with high soles, you can see it in his movies, tom cruise is also guilty of the same thing 
again, evident in certain scenes in his movies. Is JCVD really that short though? meaning is he really. 5'4? That can't be, he is more like 5'7 - 5'9 no?
I wouldn't mind meeting Arnie, he seems like a very down to Earth person. Most likely because he hasn't forgotton what it took him to get to where he is now, he of all people understand I am sure the principles of hard work and dedication.
Just to clarify too, I don't "idolize" any person, that's best left to those empty headed shell of people who wish they can be just like Paris Hilton. The only thing I would want from Paris Hilton is to be IN her
again, evident in certain scenes in his movies. Is JCVD really that short though? meaning is he really. 5'4? That can't be, he is more like 5'7 - 5'9 no?I wouldn't mind meeting Arnie, he seems like a very down to Earth person. Most likely because he hasn't forgotton what it took him to get to where he is now, he of all people understand I am sure the principles of hard work and dedication.
Just to clarify too, I don't "idolize" any person, that's best left to those empty headed shell of people who wish they can be just like Paris Hilton. The only thing I would want from Paris Hilton is to be IN her
My best friend is a very good kickboxer, has been doing it since he was very young. His idol was Jean Claude van damme.
A few years back, my friends gym paid (around 7k iirc) for good old Jean to come in and give a 1 hour tutorial to the students whilst he was in the uk.
He turned up 2 hours late, half pissed, did a few st moves for 15 minutes, swore a few times and fked off with his entourage. He also refused to sign any autographs before he left.
My friend went home that night, tore all jean's posters up and put all his movies of him in the bin.
Like you say, never meet your idol.
A few years back, my friends gym paid (around 7k iirc) for good old Jean to come in and give a 1 hour tutorial to the students whilst he was in the uk.
He turned up 2 hours late, half pissed, did a few s
t moves for 15 minutes, swore a few times and fked off with his entourage. He also refused to sign any autographs before he left.My friend went home that night, tore all jean's posters up and put all his movies of him in the bin.
Like you say, never meet your idol.
Working class said:
My best friend is a very good kickboxer, has been doing it since he was very young. His idol was Jean Claude van damme.
A few years back, my friends gym paid (around 7k iirc) for good old Jean to come in and give a 1 hour tutorial to the students whilst he was in the uk.
He turned up 2 hours late, half pissed, did a few st moves for 15 minutes, swore a few times and fked off with his entourage. He also refused to sign any autographs before he left.
My friend went home that night, tore all jean's posters up and put all his movies of him in the bin.
Like you say, never meet your idol.
hahahah you know the sad thing is that I can actually see that happening. I totally believe you. But maybe it was during the time he was doing massive drugs. He did have a very bad drinking and cocaine habit, it was peaking during one of his movies with Rob Schneider and quite obvious if you watch the movie. Knock Off, that was the name of it, he even admitted being on a sA few years back, my friends gym paid (around 7k iirc) for good old Jean to come in and give a 1 hour tutorial to the students whilst he was in the uk.
He turned up 2 hours late, half pissed, did a few s
t moves for 15 minutes, swore a few times and fked off with his entourage. He also refused to sign any autographs before he left.My friend went home that night, tore all jean's posters up and put all his movies of him in the bin.
Like you say, never meet your idol.
t load of cocaine during the filming of that movie. When I went back and watched it, like I said, it became very obvious. He looked absolutely horrible. He was sweaty and red and his eyes were everywhere. His movement was so unnatural and his speech was worse than it ever was, not that it was ever great. hehe 5'7" 5'9" you have reading those bull st news papers again :-}}} i am 5'7" as was looking down at him he is a absolute runt and a skinny one at that .
to many put people on pedestals because they are in the movies of on magazines , i knew just about all the pro body builders and to tell the truth there would only be 1 or 2 that you would not piss on if they where on fire 99% i would throw 100 octane on them :-}}}
most of the wsbk and moto GP riders are very nice and a good laugh , only met 2-3 F1 drivers and they where top guys as well i think most of the motor sport and athletes are pretty good really
t news papers again :-}}} i am 5'7" as was looking down at him he is a absolute runt and a skinny one at that .to many put people on pedestals because they are in the movies of on magazines , i knew just about all the pro body builders and to tell the truth there would only be 1 or 2 that you would not piss on if they where on fire 99% i would throw 100 octane on them :-}}}
most of the wsbk and moto GP riders are very nice and a good laugh , only met 2-3 F1 drivers and they where top guys as well i think most of the motor sport and athletes are pretty good really
shanes said:
hehe 5'7" 5'9" you have reading those bull st news papers again :-}}} i am 5'7" as was looking down at him he is a absolute runt and a skinny one at that .
to many put people on pedestals because they are in the movies of on magazines , i knew just about all the pro body builders and to tell the truth there would only be 1 or 2 that you would not piss on if they where on fire 99% i would throw 100 octane on them :-}}}
most of the wsbk and moto GP riders are very nice and a good laugh , only met 2-3 F1 drivers and they where top guys as well i think most of the motor sport and athletes are pretty good really
I can understand ur point- so hey, how about you in regards to my original post? You said u met arnie and it seems like he lived up to his name, now how about ur dream car(s). Ever catch a ride in one/driven one or owned one?t news papers again :-}}} i am 5'7" as was looking down at him he is a absolute runt and a skinny one at that .to many put people on pedestals because they are in the movies of on magazines , i knew just about all the pro body builders and to tell the truth there would only be 1 or 2 that you would not piss on if they where on fire 99% i would throw 100 octane on them :-}}}
most of the wsbk and moto GP riders are very nice and a good laugh , only met 2-3 F1 drivers and they where top guys as well i think most of the motor sport and athletes are pretty good really
ESOG said:
I can understand ur point- so hey, how about you in regards to my original post? You said u met arnie and it seems like he lived up to his name, now how about ur dream car(s). Ever catch a ride in one/driven one or owned one?
i am test driving one of my dream cars next month :-}} i have driven a number porsches and 2 ferrari's , as for cars i own i don't have anything that special , Porsche Cayenne , WRS STI , Ford 150 lightening { all at my house in spain } , BMW X3 {here in indonsia} and a Honda CRV { at my house in thailand}i have always been into bike as raced them for years i have a few bikes the KTM RC8R i nice just picked up a Ducati 848 EVO but looking at a Ducati Desmo now as well after riding one 2 years ago i have to own one
i hope its not sold before i get there as i need this in my garage in Andorra very badly :-}}
shanes said:
ESOG said:
I can understand ur point- so hey, how about you in regards to my original post? You said u met arnie and it seems like he lived up to his name, now how about ur dream car(s). Ever catch a ride in one/driven one or owned one?
i am test driving one of my dream cars next month :-}} i have driven a number porsches and 2 ferrari's , as for cars i own i don't have anything that special , Porsche Cayenne , WRS STI , Ford 150 lightening { all at my house in spain } , BMW X3 {here in indonsia} and a Honda CRV { at my house in thailand}i have always been into bike as raced them for years i have a few bikes the KTM RC8R i nice just picked up a Ducati 848 EVO but looking at a Ducati Desmo now as well after riding one 2 years ago i have to own one
i hope its not sold before i get there as i need this in my garage in Andorra very badly :-}}
phumy said:
I call bullssshhheeeeiiiiittttt, need to see custard on this one for a newbie....
Why do you say that ? iv already booked in for the test drive , main reason is its left hand drive and 2 years old i cant register it in andorra if it 3 year old needs to be a newer model .if i like it ill buy i have the cash sitting there for it and the ducat Desmo but im not putting anything down to i see it in the flesh
shanes said:
i am test driving one of my dream cars next month :-}} i have driven a number porsches and 2 ferrari's , as for cars i own i don't have anything that special , Porsche Cayenne , WRS STI , Ford 150 lightening { all at my house in spain } , BMW X3 {here in indonsia} and a Honda CRV { at my house in thailand}
i have always been into bike as raced them for years i have a few bikes the KTM RC8R i nice just picked up a Ducati 848 EVO but looking at a Ducati Desmo now as well after riding one 2 years ago i have to own one
i hope its not sold before i get there as i need this in my garage in Andorra very badly :-}}
You'll be needing genuine Birds Eye with that claim, none of that Asda si have always been into bike as raced them for years i have a few bikes the KTM RC8R i nice just picked up a Ducati 848 EVO but looking at a Ducati Desmo now as well after riding one 2 years ago i have to own one
i hope its not sold before i get there as i need this in my garage in Andorra very badly :-}}
t. 
I don't have any idols. Cars it'd be nice to own? Sure, but that list changes on a regular basis. Even the F40, which I had a poster of and a couple of models as a kid, isn't perfect.
The only person on this planet who comes close to being someone I might idolize is my dad. Fantastic father, fantastic grandfather, fantastic husband.
Senna was a great driver. Did I idolize him? No.
I might admire and respect a man's achievements, but I will not idolize them. They're only human, and they have flaws. Sooner or later they may even completely destroy the image you have of them.
This view is not something I've developed as I've grown older. Even as a child, I never set anyone on a pedestal, nor did I sense in anyone who did.
Edited by Pints on Sunday 29th May 06:57
shanes said:
phumy said:
I call bullssshhheeeeiiiiittttt, need to see custard on this one for a newbie....
Why do you say that ? iv already booked in for the test drive , main reason is its left hand drive and 2 years old i cant register it in andorra if it 3 year old needs to be a newer model .if i like it ill buy i have the cash sitting there for it and the ducat Desmo but im not putting anything down to i see it in the flesh
Pints said:
You'll be needing genuine Birds Eye with that claim, none of that Asda st.
no worries if its still there when i fly in and i like it ill send you the pics , the only reason we are going over t. close the deal on the house in andorra and buy the car
i am in Jakarta indonesia i live and work here , i was retired in spain but got board so came back to run one
of my projects here in indonesia , ill stay 2-3 years then move back to Andorra and spain to live .
i have got a back up plan if its sold as found 3 LP 700's for sale in germany if its gone ill fly there when im
over to check out one of those .
cars in the UK are free compared to here in indonesia the LP 700 here is 1.2 million usd the 640 goes for
between 800,000-1,000,000 usd , thats why i plan on buying on there so when we go over on my daughters
school holidays i can drive it :-}}}
phumy said:
I say it because, funnily enough, i dont believe you, now if you know your way around PH you will know what the custard test is, plus if as you say you have a test drive already booked, then the test will be no problem for you..
i don't know my way around here i only joined to find out more info on the LP640 , i friend told me about the site and iv joined up why do you have to be a long time member , i found the add on here for the LP640 then contacted the dealer i have spoken to him 3 times in the last week when i take a pic of the car ill bring the wife and get her in the pics
or should i take a pic of her in the car
Mod edit, picture deleted
Edited by shanes on Sunday 29th May 07:04
Edited by Matt172 on Sunday 29th May 07:25
you guys make me laugh :-}}}
i dont see why the mods took the wifes picture down :-{{
i guess this place must be full of people posting ste all the time
mods here is a pic of my wife with her jet ski im just trying to put across im not full of it
by the way she was 3 times miss world and runner up miss universe but retired years ago
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z173/strattonmo...
and me and the wife in thailand
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z173/strattonmo...
i dont see why the mods took the wifes picture down :-{{
i guess this place must be full of people posting s
te all the time mods here is a pic of my wife with her jet ski im just trying to put across im not full of it
by the way she was 3 times miss world and runner up miss universe but retired years ago
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z173/strattonmo...
and me and the wife in thailand
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z173/strattonmo...
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