Simply, learning to drive in EC6186, my dad's HR X2
mrfxit,
Dec 2, 10:42am
My Sunbird was a Burnt Orange. Roomy & comfy but still a good handling car for it's age.
Rust got it in the end
cjohnw,
Dec 2, 12:05pm
Fond memories and wish I still owned it now.
1972 Torana XU1.
socram,
Dec 2, 12:12pm
Probably too many to list! - in either category, but lasting impressions.
Passenger:
Dad's 1934 Singer 9 Coupe Brough Superior Convertible (Dad's boss) Modified Triumph TR2 Best pal, riving his brother's Jaguar Mk 2 Same Pal's MGC GT - Nottingham to St Ives Ford Escort Mexico at Brands Hatch - pro driver MG Magnette - before the owner became a UK police driver! Alvis special BMW (625?) - 220kph. TVR 3000M Race prepped TRiumph 2.5 PI Modern Cooper S JC Works - Mike Eady at Pukekohe Porsche safety car at Hampton Downs - Tony Rutherford Vintage Bentley MGB Sports - Pukekohe - Derek Prior Ford Capri Perana V8 - Neil Tolich TVR engined Triumph Stag - Mal Clark - also a short drive
Driven: Mk 2 Ford Zephyr - first ever long distance drive Aston Martin DBS Vantage Rolls Royce Silver Cloud Daimler Sovereign XJ6 Elden Formula Ford BMW 2002 Full rally prepared 1320cc Cooper S (owned briefly) MGC GT - as above Lotus Elite Climax MG L6 Magna Morgan +8 MG Montego Turbo (owned) MGB (own) Marcos 3 litre (own) Mini Cooper S supercharged (owned) MG Magnette V8 (own)
Probably several more. But each made an impression.
tony9,
Dec 2, 12:58pm
Mistral (not suv) Early Mini VG Valiant Ute XB Fairmount GS 351 (covered much of Aus in that)
buyit59,
Dec 2, 1:24pm
My nice old 37 Buick straight 8. was my daily driver in the early 80's for nearly a year . Travelled length of the South Island in it . got a lota smiles .
apollo11,
Dec 2, 1:44pm
Austin Maestro van. God it was awful. but we had so much fun in it. It was often packed with friends and camping gear.
matarautrader,
Dec 2, 5:31pm
My P76 could beat 289 Mustangs. Like to have another one
lythande1,
Dec 3, 12:48pm
Our 1963 Austin Cambridge (A60). That thing could drive through brick walls. Got hit up rear by a bus in Akld CBD - damage, nothing. Smacked into a Valiant - he'd pulled out of drive, me doing 30mph. damage, a coin sized dent in overrider. His valiant was totalled. Big steering wheel, no power steering, no ABS or anything, it was gutless, but you learned to actually drive, the first Jap car I had after I hated. Steer with little finger, brake with big toe, no noise, it scared me. Even more after I crashed it.
bill-robinson,
Dec 3, 1:13pm
and you now drive what make?
nice_lady,
Dec 3, 1:34pm
Mid 90's Hubby loved his 75 Regal. Fireball 318V8. Gentleman's car. Twin pipes which a lot of people didn't notice. Handled very well and wasn't slow. Best ride possibly was a Very Fast trip back from Kawhia one time. Fun 👍😁
bill-robinson,
Dec 4, 2:03am
heron V8, won port road sprint with it lyncar F1 after it won its first and only race i prepared it. m23 mclaren i prepped for 2 years m25 converted to an m23 raced like that once only by our team lotus 78 helped on preparation and won several races. Ferrari 512 bb drove it from madrid to heathrow new ferrari mondial collected from the factory and driven around europe for 6 weeks ferrari 208 twin turbo test mule driven on test track 308 ferrari collected from the works and driven to paris, put on a plane to the US gartrac G4 4wd turbo rallycross car that i built for john welch was the farstest car road tested by a magazine it 1985 0-60 2.9 seconds great fun all of them
bill-robinson,
Dec 4, 4:45am
an add to on #39 should have said 0-60 MPH for the G4. Also built the first road going gartrac G6, which was a Mk3 escort converted from FWD to RWD with a capri 2.8l v6 engine in the front. sneaky little road car that was. Ford saw that and drove it at boreham wood and were impressed'
bill-robinson,
Dec 4, 6:22am
the G4 0-100 mph time was 6.1 seconds
duncb,
Dec 4, 7:59am
I think I could write a book. First car Austin A35. First trip. Took girl to Royal Albert Hall to see Abba. Main bearings went. Just made it to see the concert. Her uncle towed me 85 miles home in the middle of the night. She of course was in the car with her uncle. Another A35 which I put an MG engine, gearbox and brakes in. Many MG Midgets/ Austin Healy sprites, Triumph Heralds (one was an estate that I unbolted the roof on and drove around forgetting that the number plate was on the tail gate connected to the roof) and a Vitesse convertible. Best car to drive that I had in that era was a Riley 1.5. In the 90s a Nissan Skyline GXE. Bought 4 years old with 220,000 k. Went to 400,000k with basic servicing. For the last 24 years a VW beach buggy which gets a smile everywhere it goes. (Although some years it doesn't go)
orphic1,
Dec 4, 11:47am
No Mals I can outdo you. I once drive an Austin Princess with hydrolastic suspension running on CNG and survived the experience.
richardmayes,
Dec 4, 1:27pm
I've honestly found something to enjoy about everything I've ever driven. Like they say about fishing, even a bad day out on the road with a gearbox is still better than working.
Even the worst, which was a rental Ford Econovan that I moved some furniture from Rotorua to Wellington, that gradually got hot on every uphill and cooled down on the flats.
Driving a good car you can just soak up its qualities. Driving a compromised car, the challenge of getting the best out of it that you can becomes the thing.
Most powerful was Mrs Mayes's workmate's WB ute with a supercharged smallblock and a TH350 trans. ruined by very dodgy steering geometry that didn't inspire confidence. but it had 900hp and I might have given it about 40% briefly?
Taught myself to drive a manual in a 1600cc Corolla while I was working out of the Chch branch for a month, that was a gorgeous little car, everything about it felt just made to go together.
Bang for buck Mrs Mayes' 1986 1.3l Laser was unbeatable, plenty of MUCH more expensive cars couldn't take the turns on the Rimutaka hill like that thing, and the gearchange on it was beautiful, like a musical instrument or an expensive pen.
Spent 5 years in an old inexpensive AU Falcon which did everything it was asked to do, far smoother quieter and better than you would think from all of the folklore you hear about what an outdated design those are and the reputation that their controversial looks generated. Had a week in a new BF XR6 rental car which was lovely too. When Ford bought out Jaguar they should have re-bodied Falcons instead of eurotrash to create the new generation of cheaper jags, they would probably still be on the road today.
Currently driving an 8 seat Toyota Fridge. It is SO MUCH smoother and quieter and better at its job in every way, than the awful Mazda tribute our friend bought to do the same job.
But my goal with cars is to get back to where I started, in a Triumph PI that starts every time and looks nearly as good as new. I've learned there's not much fun driving something that needs to be going 200km/h before it starts to feel alive, because in normal driving it's just doing all of the work for you and you're a passenger. Cars that were good in the 60s and 70s just feel right to me.
electromic,
Dec 5, 12:09pm
I really miss my triumphs. Even my Mk2 2.0 auto was nice to drive on the open road. I ended up repowering it with a 2.5 p.i. out of a tr5/6. That was a great car on hills and long straights.
nice_lady,
Dec 5, 12:15pm
Hubby's friend had a Humber Hawk. The boys loaded 9 kegs of beer into it once. They took out the back seats and chucked 8 kegs in there, (2 layers of 4 across the back), then threw the seats back on top. Number 9 went in the front footwell on the passenger side. The guys at the wholesale watched in awe. Apparently the car was a little down on the springs but traveled ok. The cops stopped them, shook their heads and left them to it.
Best car for trolling at the lights or defying expectation.
Very subtle badging not a rocketship, but point to point it was hilarious fuel cut was 300rpm beyond peak HP.
Should never have sold it
socram,
Dec 7, 12:22pm
Do you know the rego of the Heron? I'm sure I have a photo of the Lyncar at Mallory Park.
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