Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Hmmmm TVR for fun or something like a Westfield, I really need to rent that second garage and get some money for another car. Is it bad to have daily drive and two or three hobby cars?

No, you would be awesome. Women will dream about you and men will want to be you.

i have reached an agreement with the enemy that means she will sign off the forms for a new car when i finish my college course. the details have not been thrashed out, but i think it will mean that i have to get rid of the flying courgette - as much as i'd love to keep it.

so, in for the next two years i get to compile a shortlist of ~15k cars.

sweet.

That could be a longlist of ~15K cars! Theres tonnes of stuff that fit the bill. Feel free to give me a shout if you fancy finding out more on TVR related things.

That could be a longlist of ~15K cars! Theres tonnes of stuff that fit the bill. Feel free to give me a shout if you fancy finding out more on TVR related things.

a kind offer, mate - thanks.

already on the list:

MGA
r107 SL
older morgan (ambitious)
griff/chim
lancia flavia
cobra rep (again, ambitious for a good one)

GRIFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF.

Yes please. I can has drive when you buy it?

Fuck I am seriously disappointed with myself, I completely forgot about the Griff altogether.

On the Skoda note I am a massive fan of the Superb Estate - I have a real fetish for practical cars that eschew glamor for majoring on being a purely built for purpose mode of getting from A to B and the superb has that nailed.

TVR is something every petrol head should have in their garage at least once in their lifetime - mate has a Sagaris and it is hard to beat for a car that makes you feel like a little kid with the keys to the candy store

a kind offer, mate - thanks.

already on the list:

MGA
r107 SL
older morgan (ambitious)
griff/chim
lancia flavia
cobra rep (again, ambitious for a good one)

What model Flavia? Look at the hf2000 too, especially coupe.

So the throttle cable on my W123 snapped, and it was a three-week wait for one coming all the way from Germany... I needed a cheap car to get to work, and this is what I got:

Christ, what a shit car. It's a 1.8 and goes well enough in a straight line, but there's no torque and you have to absolutely rev the tits off of it to get anywhere. It understeers as you'd expect, but you can't actually drive it quickly because the ride is so atrocious. The driving position is complete shit - I'm only 6ft but the seat doesn't go back far enough, the steering wheel is minuscule and makes my shoulders ache after a couple of hours, the pedals don't line up with the seat which makes my knees ache. The headrests are too far back so they're uncomfortable, and you can't actually use them anyway because when you go over a bump they whack you in the back of the head. The visibility is terrible, the steering is heavy and the turning circle is a joke, so it's actually far harder to park than my W123 despite being considerably smaller. It also gets attention from all the boy racers. The fuel gauge varies depending on whether you're going uphill or downhill (the last car I owned that did that was a Morris Minor).

The plus points are that it was only £500, and I just put it through an MOT at my local well-trusted garage and it only needed rear brake pads. I won't have any problems selling it, since the boy racers love them so.

The worst thing is that it's not even black like the photo, it's BRG with a big dent in the door. Oh, and the wing mirrors flap at 70mph.

Is it the VVT?

Naw, just your bog-standard 1.8 K-Series - googling suggests that the ZS didn't come with the VVC engines as standard, but people have fitted them. Still does 0-60 in 9 seconds, which is more than twice as fast as my W123.

Styling.
On another note, I went to that place (The Gallery) on a euro trip last year. The amount of cars and the type of stuff they had was insane! It was like a museum!
http://www.thegallerybrummen.nl/en_EN/welkom.html

Front end is alfaesque.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Alfa_Romeo_1600_Zagato_Junior_red_vr.jpg

WIP. (slow)

http://www.lfgss.com/picture.php?albumid=1266&pictureid=13851

http://www.lfgss.com/picture.php?albumid=1266&pictureid=13850

who cares about reliability? i'd be bored out of my skull (maybe).

make mine a loud-as-fuck v8 in a 1100kg car and paint it in the ugliest colour you can find. the fact that it could bankrupt you at any moment only makes it more exciting! :P

i drove a chimaera, in the search for the mgb and was smitten with the whole experience. i had the money for a (very) average one, but not the balls. i should have saved for another year, really. it would have opened so many other options.

i'd take the risk, now

Griffith 500. Only.

At least the bodies don't rust ;-)

Granted they won't rust, but if you have a spill at a decent rate of knots fibreglass will fold like an egg carton.

Granted they won't rust, but if you have a spill at a decent rate of knots fibreglass will fold like an egg carton.

True dat. My mate's brother-in-law spent 6 months in hospital after fangling one into a motorway bridge somewhere in france. (not sure which model but it was a newer one)

Griffith 500 are cool.

Now we're talking...

Exactly.

The last ones aren't too expensive these days either.

A bit juicy though.

Now we're talking...

Totally! I'd still maintain that the Tuscan Challange in it's heyday was the best one-make championship ever! Fearsomely fast cars, great tracks and drivers. A proper spectacle. My dad is still kicking himself over selling his :-(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icl-0D1DRYo

This was from the second season when cars were powered by RV8's on Carbs. The race was at the Birmigham Superprix where they closed of the streets for a weekend. Could never do it now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQpEd_MLN2Y&feature=related

This was from 98 season. By this time cars had switched to TVR's own V8, the AJP, which was also in the Cerbera. 420BHp and around 900kgs. Awesome!

So fucking twitchy...

OOOOOOF. Harsh.

Jung. When's the car ready? We need an LFGSS meet before you and Bodie piss off abroad.

In other news the HLAs have started tapping. Looks like the Mazda is a 3000 mile oil changer.

@bodieanddoyle - do you ever take your car out?

Rarely. High days and dry days only.

Friday 28th September. Put it in your diary. Ace Cafe?

If it's ready...

Any one else got any love for this, i'd really like to think i'll have another one?