The 'Cars you should own' thread...
Discussion
speedtwelve said:
As a TVR owner I was tempted to add my own car, but if I'm honest, the Elise S1 is the biggest eye-opener I've ever pedalled. It really is just on another level, the steering is so direct, the chassis response instantaneous, and the whole thing seems free of inertia. The minimalist, bare aluminium in the cockpit, the driving position, the precise feedback of the unservoed brakes, it's just great. I haven't sampled a Caterham, but so far the little Lotus is the closest thing to a Formula Ford that I've driven with a tax disc.
Wot 'e sed.You can keep your hypercars and whatnot, an Elise is a car every petrolhead should own, so they can feel what proper steering and handling balance is. One of the best sports cars ever built (especially the S1) and I really do aspire to own one.
Stedman said:
740i.
And another yes for a X308/350 XJR. Yum.
Some nice choices in here I'm working thro my own list
TVR
Aston Martin Vantage (old one)
Porsche (cos Domster has beaten it into me)
Jaguar (waiting to come of age)
Bristol (as above)
FSO Polonez
I had one. It was very cheap £800 for a sub three year old car. Even though it was slow the prospect of more power was actually alarming (apparently they did a version with the 2 litre FIAT twin cam). On hard cornering the back of the car sort of weaved around on it's leaf springs. The steering was heavy and low geared with no discernable feel. It felt top heavy and just plain nasty.
The build was astonishingly crude and rust was already beginning to appear. The engine sounded like it was broken but every other FSO I'd heard was exactly the same.
When you've owned one of these you can appreciate just about every other car on the planet.
Unfortunately there's only a dozen or so left in the UK so you'd be very lucky (do I mean that?) to find one.
Edited to ask if I've missed the point of the thread?
I had one. It was very cheap £800 for a sub three year old car. Even though it was slow the prospect of more power was actually alarming (apparently they did a version with the 2 litre FIAT twin cam). On hard cornering the back of the car sort of weaved around on it's leaf springs. The steering was heavy and low geared with no discernable feel. It felt top heavy and just plain nasty.
The build was astonishingly crude and rust was already beginning to appear. The engine sounded like it was broken but every other FSO I'd heard was exactly the same.
When you've owned one of these you can appreciate just about every other car on the planet.
Unfortunately there's only a dozen or so left in the UK so you'd be very lucky (do I mean that?) to find one.
Edited to ask if I've missed the point of the thread?
Edited by CDP on Thursday 3rd December 00:01
Garlick said:
Classy, cool, V8 powered, luxurious and getting rare. Forget a modern SUV and get one of these. I love mine.
What an excellent pic too, says it all.
Yes, lovely, but my parents had two - a 3.9 Vogue SE and then a 4.2 Vogue LSE. The first nearly killed my stepmother when she applied the brakes at circa 85mph on the motorway and the thing swerved uncontrollably into a neighbouring field owing to a latent fault in the suspension. The second nearly killed me after something went awry with the engine management system that meant if you took your foot off the brake it would accelerate from rest to 70mph without any need to press the accelerator. I was driving it on the motorway in the south of France when it first happened and very nearly demolished a peage station because I didn't realise enough in advance that it was going to take superhuman effort to get the wretched car to stop. Was quite an eventful drive home too as getting there meant taking the precipitous corniches above Monaco, which are fairly nervy in something with the size and roadholding of a classic Range Rover at the best of times, but particularly in one that constantly tries to gallop off into the distance at top whack. Smoke was pouring from the brakes by the time I reached the house and my nerves were fried. It's put me off having one ever since.What an excellent pic too, says it all.
Edited by RacingTeatray on Thursday 3rd December 10:12
RacingTeatray said:
The second nearly killed me after something went awry with the engine management system that meant if you took your foot off the brake it would accelerate to 70mph without any need to press the accelerator.
When I was little we had a Lonsdale, which was a Mitsubishi Galant imported via Australia to avoid the import restrictions on Japanese cars. I think.Anyway, there were only two of them in our area - ours would occasionally decide to run at idle regardless of how hard you pressed the throttle pedal, the other would apparently go to full throttle, just as you describe. On balance, I think we got the good one.
RacingTeatray said:
Garlick said:
Classy, cool, V8 powered, luxurious and getting rare. Forget a modern SUV and get one of these. I love mine.
What an excellent pic too, says it all.
Yes, lovely, but my parents had two - a 3.9 Vogue SE and then a 4.2 Vogue LSE. The first nearly killed my stepmother when she applied the brakes at circa 85mph on the motorway and the thing swerved uncontrollably into a neighbouring field owing to a latent fault in the suspension. The second nearly killed me after something went awry with the engine management system that meant if you took your foot off the brake it would accelerate from rest to 70mph without any need to press the accelerator. I was driving it on the motorway in the south of France when it first happened and very nearly demolished a peage station because I didn't realise enough in advance that it was going to take superhuman effort to get the wretched car to stop. Was quite an eventful drive home too as getting there meant taking the precipitous corniches above Monaco, which are fairly nervy in something with the size and roadholding of a classic Range Rover at the best of times, but particularly in one that constantly tries to gallop off into the distance at top whack. Smoke was pouring from the brakes by the time I reached the house and my nerves were fried. It's put me off having one ever since.What an excellent pic too, says it all.
Edited by RacingTeatray on Thursday 3rd December 10:12
The management system on a classic is basic to say the least,and there is no fly-by-throttle to further hamper problems.
Edited by BLUETHUNDER on Thursday 3rd December 10:26
It's what's making me hold back on enquiring on this: http://www.graemehunt.com/motor-cars/for-sale/1994...
It looks too similar to the one we had and a runaway LSE with a 'Vette engine might prove unstoppable!! Would sound epic in the process though!!
It looks too similar to the one we had and a runaway LSE with a 'Vette engine might prove unstoppable!! Would sound epic in the process though!!
BLUETHUNDER said:
RacingTeatray said:
Garlick said:
Classy, cool, V8 powered, luxurious and getting rare. Forget a modern SUV and get one of these. I love mine.
What an excellent pic too, says it all.
Yes, lovely, but my parents had two - a 3.9 Vogue SE and then a 4.2 Vogue LSE. The first nearly killed my stepmother when she applied the brakes at circa 85mph on the motorway and the thing swerved uncontrollably into a neighbouring field owing to a latent fault in the suspension. The second nearly killed me after something went awry with the engine management system that meant if you took your foot off the brake it would accelerate from rest to 70mph without any need to press the accelerator. I was driving it on the motorway in the south of France when it first happened and very nearly demolished a peage station because I didn't realise enough in advance that it was going to take superhuman effort to get the wretched car to stop. Was quite an eventful drive home too as getting there meant taking the precipitous corniches above Monaco, which are fairly nervy in something with the size and roadholding of a classic Range Rover at the best of times, but particularly in one that constantly tries to gallop off into the distance at top whack. Smoke was pouring from the brakes by the time I reached the house and my nerves were fried. It's put me off having one ever since.What an excellent pic too, says it all.
Edited by RacingTeatray on Thursday 3rd December 10:12
The management system on a classic is basic to say the least,and theer is no fly-by-throttle to further hamper problems.
Edited by RacingTeatray on Thursday 3rd December 10:30
Maybe so. But it really did happen. Besides, it would be an odd thing to make up. I remember it because it was one of the scariest things that's ever happened to me in a car. When I got the car stopped at the peage booth, it was straining hard against the brakes so stupidly I put it into N and the revs shot sky-high so I had to hastily turn the engine off for fear of it blowing up (I was 19 and not hugely mechanically literate). I then checked the carpet wasn't sticking the accelerator down somehow, but it wasn't that and the pedal seemed to be moving normally. It transpired that when you turned the car back on, it seemed ok and normal, but then as soon as you moved off, the problem would instantly return. Which is why I guessed it was something to do with electronics governing the throttle.
And yes, the HSE was far less reliable. It used to pee vital fluids with worrisome regularity and never ever felt like it had 4.6 litres of heft under the bonnet. It also blew some gasket or other at 100mph on the autostrada once - suddenly we became aware that behind us the car was creating its very own fogbank. That was the last straw for Dad who switched to the then new Audi Allroad and has stuck with Audis ever since.
And yes, the HSE was far less reliable. It used to pee vital fluids with worrisome regularity and never ever felt like it had 4.6 litres of heft under the bonnet. It also blew some gasket or other at 100mph on the autostrada once - suddenly we became aware that behind us the car was creating its very own fogbank. That was the last straw for Dad who switched to the then new Audi Allroad and has stuck with Audis ever since.
I'd go with Top Gear and, in biased mood, suggest you need to own an Alfa, simply to realise that you can have a family car that puts a smile on your face when you hurl it into a bend. Alfas are 'hope' for people with ordinary lives. Life infused with 'Essence of Maserati'.
I'm also tempted to say a 'Fast Ford' of some sort, if only to realise the rather staggering performance and handling potential of the most 'ordinary' of car 'recipes'.
I'm also tempted to say a 'Fast Ford' of some sort, if only to realise the rather staggering performance and handling potential of the most 'ordinary' of car 'recipes'.
I agree with Twinners, a fast Ford of some sort, if only for the hilariously cheap running costs.
Alfas do nothing for me, I'm afraid. All of my friends who have ever owned one from an Alfasud through to 147s and 156s were plagued by spaghetti build standard gremlins. That to me isn't characterful, its just irritating.
Alfas do nothing for me, I'm afraid. All of my friends who have ever owned one from an Alfasud through to 147s and 156s were plagued by spaghetti build standard gremlins. That to me isn't characterful, its just irritating.
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