Supercars spotted, some rarities (vol 8)

[Thorburn]

blueg33 said:

ettore said:

blueg33 said:

Photo doesn t do the colour justice. This was parked up outside the Montpelier Wine Bar in Cheltenham last night.

I was always ambivalent about the Portofino but this would tempt me.

Lady Ferrari, Sir?

Not sure about that. Harry Metcalfe said it s a car he would consider buying.

I guess it would fit right in with his other Lady cars like the Countach, Testerossa. Project 8 etc

A few years ago I was sat in a Portofino in the Swindon dealership and looked in the wing mirror at the 458 Spider behind it.
That 458 is in my garage now.

I'm sure the Portofino is great, and it was the sensible option if I wanted to buy a Ferrari which ticked a lot of boxes, but who buys a Ferrari to be sensible?

[droopsnoot]

Still Mulling said:

So much for opulent elegance: what a deformed creation!

On first glance I thought it was part of the latest Mitsuoka range, and someone had stuck their own badge on it.

[lauda]

Spotted these two at a garage whilst out for a ride around the New Forest this morning.

[Wheel Turned Out]

lauda said:

Spotted these two at a garage whilst out for a ride around the New Forest this morning.

Have to admit the Valhalla is growing on me.

The Valour, not so much.

[MCSV8]

lauda said:

Spotted these two at a garage whilst out for a ride around the New Forest this morning.

They were both driven by the owner at the AMOC trackday at Castle Combe last week.

[Doofus]

Wheel Turned Out said:

lauda said:

Spotted these two at a garage whilst out for a ride around the New Forest this morning.

Have to admit the Valhalla is growing on me.

The Valour, not so much.

IMO that's because the Valoyr looks like an Aston Martin, and the other one looks like a hypercar, which Aston Martin haven't previously (and shouldn't?) bother with.

[DickyC]

Doofus said:

IMO that's because the Valoyr looks like an Aston Martin, and the other one looks like a hypercar, which Aston Martin haven't previously (and shouldn't?) bother with.

Bulldog was fairly hyper in its day.

[Composer62]

DickyC said:

Doofus said:

IMO that's because the Valoyr looks like an Aston Martin, and the other one looks like a hypercar, which Aston Martin haven't previously (and shouldn't?) bother with.

Bulldog was fairly hyper in its day.

The Valkyrie was a bit hyper more recently no ?

[Doofus]

Composer62 said:

DickyC said:

Doofus said:

IMO that's because the Valoyr looks like an Aston Martin, and the other one looks like a hypercar, which Aston Martin haven't previously (and shouldn't?) bother with.

Bulldog was fairly hyper in its day.

The Valkyrie was a bit hyper more recently no ?

Well the Bulldog was DOA, so...

I accept that, and I know my upcoming argument is baseless, but to me Aston Martin has always made GT cars. I know they now also make SUVs, but so does everyone else so I can't really hold that against them, but it's one of those brands that I'm sad haven't been able to stick to their heritage.

SUVs are a necessity these days, if you want to stay in business, but £1m+ hypercars are not, and I'm sad that AM went there...

[DickyC]

Doofus said:

Composer62 said:

DickyC said:

Doofus said:

IMO that's because the Valoyr looks like an Aston Martin, and the other one looks like a hypercar, which Aston Martin haven't previously (and shouldn't?) bother with.

Bulldog was fairly hyper in its day.

The Valkyrie was a bit hyper more recently no ?

Well the Bulldog was DOA, so...

I accept that, and I know my upcoming argument is baseless, but to me Aston Martin has always made GT cars. I know they now also make SUVs, but so does everyone else so I can't really hold that against them, but it's one of those brands that I'm sad haven't been able to stick to their heritage.

SUVs are a necessity these days, if you want to stay in business, but £1m+ hypercars are not, and I'm sad that AM went there...

I knew what you meant and went all Devil's Advocate. If the DB4 had developed the way the 911 developed, the world would be a better place.

[Doofus]

DickyC said:

I knew what you meant and went all Devil's Advocate. If the DB4 had developed the way the 911 developed, the world would be a better place.

Well, perhaps. Arguably, the DB4 did develop the way the 911 did, but Aston Martin ran out of money (several times) sooner than Porsche did.

[thegreenhell]

NDA said:

biggbn said:

Geertsen said:

Saw this drive past yesterday. Absolutely sublime machine and a very cheerful family travelling in it. It was great to see.

This is the kind of thing I love seeing used. Used to see the rather eccentric Nicky Fairbairn MP belting about in his many years ago, in all conditions!!

There was one - possibly this one (?) - parked at the Kennels on Saturday. I didn't clock the registration number.

I very nearly bought one about 20 years ago but it was too long for my garage.

This one is a replica, based on a Rolls-Royce 25/30 chassis. Still cool to see being used.

[DickyC]

Doofus said:

DickyC said:

I knew what you meant and went all Devil's Advocate. If the DB4 had developed the way the 911 developed, the world would be a better place.

Well, perhaps. Arguably, the DB4 did develop the way the 911 did, but Aston Martin ran out of money (several times) sooner than Porsche did.

The 911 is, even now, recognisable as a 911. You could see the DB4 in the DB5, less so in the DB6, but not in the DBS despite it being mostly DB6 under the skin.

Someone with the necessary skills could probably show us what the DB4 would look like now if AML had kept the original idea alive.

(If I asked AI the question, we would have something from Wacky Races, I'm fairly sure.)

[Doofus]

DickyC said:

The 911 is, even now, recognisable as a 911. You could see the DB4 in the DB5, less so in the DB6, but not in the DBS despite it being mostly DB6 under the skin.

Well, yes, but the 911 has always been called a 911. I can see the 'Cortina' in a Cortina, even though there's nothing else to connect the Mk1 to the Mk5.

The DB4 stopped being the DB4 as soon as the (similar) DB5 was launched. If Aston Martin had stuck with the DB4 name right up to what we now call the DB12, you could credibly say "The DB4 is, even now, recongisable as a DB4"

Objectively, there's little to connect the original 911 to the current one, other than engine position and shadow.

[Matt_T]

Saw this 550 Spyder last weekend... I was convinced that it was real (and therefore worth about $4m) until we looked up the reg on DVLA and it comes back as a 1972 VW Beetle.
Is the 1955 tax disc just a reprduction?

[LotusOmega375D]

The original 550 Spyders were all LHD…

[Doofus]

I'm afraid it's one of those cars where common sense should tell you it's not real.

See also AC Cobra, in a local car show in Britain. It could be real, but 999 times out of 1,000 it won't be.

[Matt_T]

LotusOmega375D said:

The original 550 Spyders were all LHD

Yes! I'm an idiot... of course. In my excitement I omitted that minor detail

[Matt_T]

Doofus said:

I'm afraid it's one of those cars where common sense should tell you it's not real.

See also AC Cobra, in a local car show in Britain. It could be real, but 999 times out of 1,000 it won't be.

The caveat being that with AC Cobras there are several genuine later ones. My friend has a 1997 AC Cobra from when they were being made again by Alan Lubinsky in Weybridge.

Edited by Matt_T on Saturday 18th April 07:18

[Dusty964]

Doofus said:

Well, yes, but the 911 has always been called a 911.

Anorak on...the first 80 odd were called 901, before Peugeot objected and it changed to 911.