Old car thread

Well, maybe up to a point, but it's a purposeful looking sports car rather than a pretty roadster

Jeff

 

Yes, as soon as you cut the roof off most cars it buggers up the handling unless the chassis is properly re-engineered. a downside of that is added weight.

I couldn't see Bullitt done with an MG soft top...

 

If Bullitt were made now, everyone would be in either Imprezas or Evos.

 

I can't imagine an American detective in an Evo or Imprezza. How will they fit?.

Sorry, that's a bit harsh.

 

Not clever enough to do pics but... this my friends is beauty!

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/49/Bizzarrini-5300-GT-Strada.html


Giotto Bizzarrini, the man behind some of Ferrari’s legendary cars and acknowledged as being the ‘Father’ of the 250 GTO said of this car,

“I started with the idea of the Ferrari GTO and wanted to improve on it.”


The ISO Grifo is seriously cool too, Very Vantage, more of a bruiser, okay they are powered by detroit lumps but who cares - real art.

 

The MGA was really pretty, always wondered why the MGB got the glory.
E-Type, okay, but not as special as the fuss made (rather like my opinion of the Beatles TBH)
288 .....mmmmmm lovely
250 GTO .....droool
Merc SL gullwing ....... dribble

 

Guys, we need more pics!!!

I wasn't that fond of E type. It was (is?) great, but after these beauties...





I can't remember why I liked the Iso Lele. Seeing the picture below the proportions look all wrong IMO.



I think it was Autocar that described the Espada as "dangerously attractive" because it could be a distraction for other motorists. I don't think it's that special now.



Am I showing a bit of an Italian bias?.

 

The latest Bentley






Sorry, I couldn't resist

 

If I could just add pics from my hard drve, I would be adding pics!

The GTO and the Dino - very pretty. Next 2 though you can keep. Gawky IMO

 

Not sure as I wouldn't have put it the other way round!

The front never did it for me.

It looked as thoiugh (to me) some one had tride too hard with it.

The had top was ok.

In think (in its day) it hit the right notes for being comparatively afordable performance........and got those engines of course.

The 5.3 (IIRC) was the fastest but not the best for thar car; 3.6 or 4.2.

I've always liklkes mercs sports....they have a charm.

 

Not made for Elephants (sorry, watched In Bruges last night).

A friend of mine's dad had an Espada back before the first oil shock... Believe me, it was a very, very special car - both inside and out.
My dad also drove an Italian car at that time.... A FIAT :JOEL:

Another great automotive beauty, the SM

A beautiful "cubist" rear cluster that looks like it was designed by Georges Braques.



And the stunning interior...

 

You need to upload them to a hosting site and then link to them here. I.e. click on the button that looks like a post card and paste the link in. The link must end in .jpg. You won't see the buttons in quick reply.

Yes, I agree, time has been kinder to the Ferraris than the Lambo or Iso, which I guess shows what a great design they were at the time.

Anyway, aren't we due a picture of the Interceptor?



or 2?

 

Defo

i'll sort the odd Bristol later.


http://images.google.com/imgres?img...w&prev=/images?q=bristol+cars&um=1&hl=en&sa=N

 

Joel, I always thought the SM was a striking if quirky design rather than beautiful. The engineering was simply fantastic at the time. The magic carpet ride thanks to hydraulic suspension. Actually hydraulics controlled everything like seat adjustment, headlamp steering, brakes. IMO it badly needed ABS. I wrote off a GS after panic braking on slippery road. The brake pedal had no real travel or weight. I was afraid of Citroens after that.

 

Too complex?

 

A teacher at my old school had an Interceptor FF. It was indeed a beautiful motor and an amazingly high-performance car for the time: 4WD, discs all round with hydraulically assisted braking and steering. Unfortunately, as with many other cars, the first oil shock did for it.
IMO, the SM is a genuinely beautiful car. It recaptures the elegance and esprit of the great pre-war GTs. There is no doubt, however, that it is both very fragile mechanically (thanks in part to its great complexity) and extremely difficult to drive. The steering does not re-center itself, which means that if you let go of the wheel, the car carries on in the direction it was going! Think about that for a second...
Food for thought that (for instance) a Subaru Legacy GT massacres either of these icons in terms of performance and ability (and indeed quite a few other classics from not so long ago).

 

Just realised that we haven't yet seen a picture of the Daytona (official name 365 GTB/4), so to make up for it here are 2.

 

In fairness, there are many modern hot hatches that will outperform classic sports cars and even supercars, but that's not the whole story.

I know that I could spend far less on a newer car and get a faster car than my NSX, but I would miss the whole sense of occasion and feel good factor, and the whole feeling of driving something a bit special that you don't see too many of.

Some of the classic italians, those that drive them know they are not great cars, they don't perform especially well, they often have quite poor engineering, are inefficient and unreliable - but they look stunning and make people smile.

I sometimes go on some of the organised drives with one of the Ferrari owner groups and when you drive through a village (nice and slow) with the burble of all those older carbarettors, V12s or V8s ahead - then you see people stop to watch the nice cars go by and they smile, wave, children grin from ear to ear, or even run alongside for a while ..... they do bring a little bit of sunshine out. & trust me, not one of the owners cares that a sub £20k modern hot hatch will outperform them.

 

I get fed up with bumping into chavs in souped up corsas or middle aged men in anonymous rice rockets, or even recently vulgarians in Cayennes trying to burn off my 944 turbo all the time. I just say turn the other cheek old girl, you could probably trash them or give them a wake up call, but you were born in 1987, so deserve a graceful retirement... and petrol costs 50p a yard! ...and yes samantha - I like the idiosyncracies too.

 

older bentleys - remember seeing a lovely coupe with gorgeous bulging wheelarches that made me feel quite rude.
or a late 80's turbo-r.
american muscle of varying sorts - probably a pontiac superbird or dodge of some sort. mustang is a bit passe.
an original sierra cosworth one of the 3 doors with the monster wing, big turbo and big injectors.
an ex rallycross metro 6r4 bi-turbo (ex will gollop by preference)
and a jag xj220 the most gorgeous car ever imho.