Fantasy Garage

What would be in my fanatsy garage?

In no particular order:

• Porsche 911 (turbo/convertible variety)
  
• Datsun 240Z Samuri variant
• Nissan 350Z Nismo variant
• M5
• X5 (for my wife)
• one of the UFO vehicles please

Mike

This week:

92 Alfa SZ
74 Lancia Fulvia 1600HF
74 Porsche 911RSR
86 MG Metro 6R4
65 Lotus 7 (with reg. KAR120C)

J

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Assuming you have a BMW 530d Touring parked outside for daily use, what vehicles would be in your Fantasy Garage ?

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To me a 530d station wagon is a nightmare (big, diesel and, well, a station wagon). But, anyway:

1. A second hand 1990:s formula 1 car (can be bought here http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/f1s.htm ). To use a supercar like Maranello, Gallardo or whatever, anywhere near it's limit you need to go to a racetrack anyway. So, why bother with the roadgoing capability. You also need a fulltime mechanic, but this is a fantasy.

2. A big truck to haul the F1 car.

3. Something topless for the summer. Don't know what since I haven't driven the expensive ones, but something between a 360 and an AMG SL55 will probably fit.

4. Something four wheel drive for the winter. Mitsu EVO something will probably do.

5. A vintage of some sort. Bugatti type 35 maybe?

JohanR

I forgot to add a bike for the sporty bits:
A Merlin Cielo with Campy of course. Ultimate in design. Carbon fiber with titanium lugs.
Merlin in close up

(Tilff-Bastogne-Tilff this weekend)

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Originally posted by MichaelC:
Steve

If not worse, but at the very least a tie for the very worst was my first ever car - the Morris Ital.

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I don't recall ever driving one of those, however a friend had a Morris Marina 1.3 saloon as his first car and I recall it being really, really bad - with handling similar to the way you've described the Ital.

Dodge Viper SRT-10 to pose and make a lot of noise!
Dodge Ram SRT-10 as above but to carry:-
some form of Paris Dakar type m/bike.
Cayenne/VW equivalent. For the country(Sloane Square pavement).
Maclaren/merc SL55 for the euro tours.
Full spec mad Lotus 7 type thingy for track days etc.

Howard

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Originally posted by JohanR:
1. A second hand 1990:s formula 1 car (can be bought here http://www.race-cars.com/carsales/f1s.htm ). To use a supercar like Maranello, Gallardo or whatever, anywhere near it's limit you need to go to a racetrack anyway. So, why bother with the roadgoing capability. You also need a fulltime mechanic, but this is a fantasy.

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I was flicking through a classic car mag last night and there were quite a few F1 cars for sale - "ideal trackday car".

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My dad had a Maxi for a while and I thought it was a great car! It was a long, long time ago though.

Possibly the worst car (for looks and everything else) I've ever driven was an Austin though - a 1.1 Allegro. *shudder*

The first corner I encountered (at a fairly slow pace) I thought I was going straight off the road as I'd never encountered that much

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I once drove a Allegro "Sport", which was nothing more than a bog standard Allegro with a 1750 Maxi engine fitted. Be afraid, be very afraid if anyone offers you a lift in one.

Paul.

The original Marina prototypes handled so badly that one car magazine refused to drive them. BL managed to make small improvements but they were always dreadful. The front suspension and steering came from the Minor - with all of the problems associated with trunnions etc. While the minor was renonwed forr its good handling it was designed in 1948 and weighed considerably less than the Marina.
Lord Stokes has a lot to answer for.....

Any other cars out there to rival the Allegro and Marina/Ital as being truly the worst???

Mike

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Originally posted by MichaelC:
Any other cars out there to rival the Allegro and Marina/Ital as being truly the worst???

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Austin Princess/Ambassador: I drove one of those for a while - terrible gearbox

Fiat Panda (the original one): wife had one - what a rustbucket and the seats! Great fuel economy though.

Metro: *shudder* - awful, just awful.

Maestro GT (the original carb on): I quite liked the Maestro (I had a 1.3HLE for a couple of years) but the first sporty one was terrible and had loads of carburation problems.

Polski-Fiat: Awful

And my new vote for worst car ever:

Lada Riva: We did PDi's (at my uncles garage where I worked in the summer) for the local dealer and they were really really bad. Perhaps the worst handling car I'd ever driven - worse even that the Allegro. I think I'd blanked these from my memory because the Allegro, while bad, was nowhere near as bad overall as these.

With regard to current pump prices my choice
would be any new model fitted as standard with all those gizzmos that are advertised that guarantee to save you 10% on your fuel bills with enough of them fitted I could drive around all day and have the surplus fuel spilling out of the tank.
Or have I the wrong idea about this thread?
oldie.

Surely the Lada Riva was one of those cars that was just so lumpy it was almost cool. I could see a grungy student in a Lada and getting away with it, but not an All-agro.
I had a boss who bought a new Princess. Boy did we rip the piss out of him for years.
I wonder who designed the look of the rear end?

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Originally posted by Rasher:
Surely the Lada Riva was one of those cars that was just so lumpy it was almost cool. I could see a grungy student in a Lada and getting away with it, but not an All-agro.

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Have you ever driven a Lada Riva though? They are really, really bad.

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I had a boss who bought a new Princess. Boy did we rip the piss out of him for years.
I wonder who designed the look of the rear end?

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I think it was supposed to be a hatchback but they bottled out.

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Originally posted by oldie:
Or have I the wrong idea about this thread?

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Would you get a GPS based speed limiter fitted as well so that you'd never exceed the speed limit and therefore always be "safe"?

Stevie Dempster, I am shocked and stunned that an MGBGT is not on your list!

ricolist:

1. Porsche 993 Carrera 2S, although unlike Steve's mine would have to be white. Okay, maybe pearlescent white.

2. Muscle car: 1973 Plymouth Roadrunner, or a 1969 Chevelle SS, or best, a 1975 XB Ford Falcon 351GT Coupe - it would have to be either sky blue (or was that only a 1976 colour?), or canary yellow.

3. BMW e30 M3 evo - just for fun.

4. Toyota Landcruiser. Maybe a rangerover, but I'd need to be convinced.

5. A big-arsed comfy car for 5 or 6 for long drives with friends or family - Merc S500? Bentley?

Anyone ever seen that MTV show "pimp my ride"? That 1978 Caddy was a hoot.

And oh damn, there's no room in my garage for a Datsun 1200SSS, or a 32 Ford Highboy roadster chopped and chanelled, with a big block, dump tubes, and a C6.
What about a 240Z? A Mk2 escort RS2000 and matching Mk3 capri 3 litre (for those bodie and doyle days), RX7 rotisserie (or hey what about an RX2 - maybe dump in a 20B rotary for hoots, and give it brakes and handling to match?), Alfa Romeo Spyder, or Fiat 124 spyder. Holden Maloo, or a Ford Lightning? 1984 Chevvy Suburban with big block and 22" rims? Lamo Miura SV? 1967 Mustang GT390 Fastback? Oh dear the list goes on.

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

PS - what about an Alfa Romeo Montreal? Or for something outrageous, Citroen SM? Mercedes 600pullman? a 1977 Merc 450SEL6.9?

[This message was edited by Rico on Thu 27 May 2004 at 13:10.]

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Originally posted by Rico:
Stevie Dempster, I am shocked and stunned that an MGBGT is not on your list!

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Well OK, a '74 chrome bumper GT V8 in either damask red or sage green (sans webasto roof) would be nice

Steve

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A Mk2 escort RS2000

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Surely if you're going to have an Escort it'd have to be a Mk1 with a twin-cam engine?

Steve,
could be!!

Today I would be driving a Mini Moke

"A Mk2 escort RS2000"

Nah, that's just a Cortina engine! The best ones are the Mk1 RS1600 and the Mk2 RS1800, both of which had Cosworth BDA engines. Incidentally, Mk2 rally prepared Escorts can go for silly money - £60K+ for the right spec.

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Originally posted by Rasher:
I had a boss who bought a new Princess. Boy did we rip the piss out of him for years.
I wonder who designed the look of the rear end?

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In 1975/76, I worked nights on the Princess production line at Cowley (final assembly: rear axle and brake pipes). Anyone who lets me anywhere near the moving parts of a car is a moron, and I was far from being the worst offender. They were dreadful cars, designed by idiots, built by people who didn't care, supervised by people who didn't understand.

A little later, I worked briefly at the old MG plant in Abingdon (pusher of trolleys). Most of the people there actually took some pride in what they were doing. For all the good it did them - they were all fired anyway.

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Originally posted by Bhoyo:
They were dreadful cars, designed by idiots, built by people who didn't care, supervised by people who didn't understand.

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......and bought by?....