Sports Cars - Looking Back

[Winchester67]

So of course the "Sports Cars Looking Ahead" thread makes me think back. While my first car was a 1966 Mustang my folks got for me when I was 14 so it would be ready when I was 16, this MG was my first "Sports Car". (My long suffering father taught me how to do body work and mechanical work on the Mustang, and when I was 17 I bought the MG for $275 and the car restoration lessons continued) The MG taught me how to drive; not enough horsepower to cover any sloppy driving, so precise lines thru the corners, proper braking, spot on shifting and most of all being smooth were required to make decent time on the back roads in Boone County Missouri. All still slow enough to be safe, even though because it was so low and the Monza exhaust was loud it sure seemed fast. I feel sorry for todays kids that miss out on the simple fun of a British Sports Car. I suspect more than a few of the Tribe had fun cars back in the day as well...lets see them!6273862739

[Jack Rumbaugh]

Ive had some fun cars.

1971 AMX
1966 Corvette Stingray 427/425 HP (this one got me into loads of trouble)
1982 280ZX Turbo
1969 AMX
1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD turbo
2004 Volvo S60R
2012 Dodge Challenger R/T

[Crusader8207]

Ive had some fun cars.

1971 AMX
1966 Corvette Stingray 427/425 HP (this one got me into loads of trouble)
1982 280ZX Turbo
1969 AMX
1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD turbo
2004 Volvo S60R
2012 Dodge Challenger R/T

When I was on the job I treated myself to a 1992 Eagle Talon TSi AWD turbo. My tag was COP N OUT. ;) That was one badass little car.

My other favorite was a 2011 BMW 335d that I had deleted. That was a sleeper. LOL Amazing fuel mileage and ridiculous power.

[Faramir2]

So of course the "Sports Cars Looking Ahead" thread makes me think back. While my first car was a 1966 Mustang my folks got for me when I was 14 so it would be ready when I was 16, this MG was my first "Sports Car". (My long suffering father taught me how to do body work and mechanical work on the Mustang, and when I was 17 I bought the MG for $275 and the car restoration lessons continued) The MG taught me how to drive; not enough horsepower to cover any sloppy driving, so precise lines thru the corners, proper braking, spot on shifting and most of all being smooth were required to make decent time on the back roads in Boone County Missouri. All still slow enough to be safe, even though because it was so low and the Monza exhaust was loud it sure seemed fast. I feel sorry for todays kids that miss out on the simple fun of a British Sports Car. I suspect more than a few of the Tribe had fun cars back in the day as well...lets see them!6273862739

That really does sound fun to drive. Certainly sounds like there's something to starting on something lower horsepower to have to learn how to really drive. I wouldn't mind getting behind the wheel of something like that one day, to get the other end of the sports car spectrum from the Ferrari 328 GTS I've driven before; that thing had a pretty powerful engine (for its time) but was a ton of fun to drive as one of the last truly analog vehicles. Love it.

Thanks for starting the thread!

[Winchester67]

The Mazda Miata is the reliable modern distillation of the concept. The Lotus Europa I had was marvelous to drive, but dreadful to own. (pictured here still in primer as I ran out of time before a scheduled vacation, so we took it from Missouri to the ocean in Texas before it was completely painted. Like only a couple of 20 something guys would think was a good idea) Despite Weber carburation and a Kenny Harmon Cam, it was low on horsepower but since it was basically a race car with plates, it only weighed about 1350 pounds, or 1053 pounds LESS than a Miata. So the steering was wish quick, the brakes direct and fade free and gearbox like stirring a barrel of ice with a baseball bat. Mid engine design made shifting a real Tinker Toy linkage affair that was really a shame. It was on my list to re-engineer that with heim joints to take the slop out, but it left me in a trade before I got to it. Still, a fun car even as flawed as it was. (closest Lotus dealer was in St Louis and he had no parts...was shocked it was still on the road. A dealer in Pennsylvania was the closest parts source in those pre interweb days) Little things like that. But hey, James Bond had a Lotus. It played pretty well with the crowd here in the Ozarks; practically a space ship!

[45Smashemflat]

‘78 Triumph Spitfire, 1500. British cars need you more than you need them.. :)

Great fun, learned a tremendous amount about driving and mechanicals. I still recall some of the gems hidden in the repair manuals…

In the bleeding brakes section, “obtain a suitable jelly jar…”

In the transmission section, “While character building to ignore, one should pay attention to the directional inscription on the clutch plate during installation…”

[Winchester67]

The Brits know how to turn a phrase, and the fact they work a sentence like that into the instructions on clutch replacement shows they knew that owning a British Sports Car required a wink and nod and you could not take the cars too seriously. They were built for fun, and they provided that in triplicate. The MG Midget was fun, but I am 5 foot five inches. The MGB is closer to a "real" car. More room, bigger engine. Probably what I would get today, since I have put on some weight since my Midget days. I had one of those too, and it was a good sport car. Big difference between American Think and British Think in those days...notice the size of the '68 Ford T-Bird with the 429 Interceptor Engine vs the tiny MGB that sipped gas. Both fun, but at opposite ends of the driving experience.

[CLEANDEAN]

6276062759

My ride in 1970 was this. Merc. That ‘68 XR7 was a little more nimble than the T’Bird. Still no match for the MG on winding two lane blacktop country roads .
My sidekick at that early 70’s era had access to MGB cars.
We took a long ride to Baltimore to pick only one that arrived at the docks . His Dad owned a VW dealership , but did a deal with a foreign car outlet to get a English car once in a while.
We both were lucky to have the freedom of youth & some very generous parents.

[Winchester67]

Lot to be said about the reliability of American Muscle Cars. Never had a Cougar, but several Mustangs. Not the fastest one but one of my favorites, a 1973 convertible with a 351 Cleveland motor I bought from the original owner in 1987. Sold it to a friend of mine since grade school to buy my first house at age 22. Which means I have been trying to buy it back for the last 34 years because I quickly realized my mistake! Smarter than I, he still has it.

[steve_k]

The only sports car I have had was a 1st gen Toyota MR2... At the time I was doing part time work for a speed shop so I was able to dial it in with suspension and a few performance bolt-ons. It was a pretty fun car.... But try getting a Little Caesars pizza in that thing. It ended up on the rear deck and held down by a couple bungee cords to engine vents.

[45Smashemflat]

I autocrossed a 1 gen MR2, a great handling car. Great fun and ‘Yota reliable. I do recall some goofiness about not running it less than 1/4 full of gas or there was a fuel starvation, OR flammability issue, depending on if you were taking high g left or right turns. ��

The 1st gen Lotus Elise had a lot of shared bits.

[45Smashemflat]

Old 240s, 260s, 280s nice!!

[steve_k]

Old 240s, 260s, 280s nice!!


The original Z series were and are still classics.

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[Solar]

My ride in 1970 was this. Merc. That ‘68 XR7 was a little more nimble than the T’Bird. Still no match for the MG on winding two lane blacktop country roads .
My sidekick at that early 70’s era had access to MGB cars.

Nice and under-rated car of the era. Like you say the suspension was the weak point.

[45Smashemflat]

Sweet! I drove, didn’t own, a Triumph GT6. It really wanted to be a 280 with a British accent.

[Backwoods Drifter]

I have to admit, I'm thinking hard about the new Z. It looks to be a modernized version of what some of us car guys were turning our Zs into years ago.

Found an old pic of mine. Lots of good memories in that car.

https://i.imgur.com/cfUhcxDl.jpg

I'll be looking hard at the new 400Z as well. I've liked every generation since the original 240 and this one indeed looks promising.

[coastalcop]

Loved and owned the 240,260,280 z including a scarab Z with a 350 shoehorned into it. Hated the 280zx. Loved the 300z and thought the 350 and 370 were ok but didnt trip my trigger like the originals. The new 400z looks very promising, though after all the miatas the XO would have to approve the passenger seat.

I use these cars either short distance, sub 100 miles for dinner, etc. or 500+ miles to go see interesting things. The passenger seat has to be "ZZZZZ" tested for the longer trips (she gets to sleep through the boring stuff, then get woken up if things get interesting) . I dont mind though, a quiet drive lets me clear my head.

[Cody C]

I had a 240z in my early 20s. My father was a Nissan master tech. Car was way more reliable after swapping to Weber carbs from stock. I’ll have to try to find pictures.

I find it interesting most people don’t know what that car is but many here have owned one. I guess we all here tend to think alike more than we would admit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[David Bowman]

I spoke about my Mitsubishi Eclipse in the other thread and about how I wanted that one back. I found a photo of this one on the internet and I had this exact model and color.

AWD, Turbocharged 2.3 liter I4 with a 5 speed manual. Had this car when I met the wife. She lived 350 miles away and I used to leave at 10 pm after I got off swing shift (hoping for no paperwork to do) and drive that distance to get to her apartment and spend the weekend with her. One night, left at 10 pm and was pulling into her driveway at 3:30 am (with 1 gas/pit stop on the way). That thing would have flown if it had wings, and it still got 22 MPG highway at a cruise set for 85 to 90 (ish).

Nowadays, there is a ton of aftermarket speed parts and mods that can be done to get legit HP and Torque out of them and they are becoming a legit classic since Mitsubishi turned the Eclipse marque into a urban XUV.

I hadn't had a fun car like that since then until I bought the new sled (2012 SS Camaro) a few months ago, but it is always fun to think of the good times I had in that car.

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