The best thing ............

[JBarryDavison]

Well we seem to have have a wealth of talent, experience, and enthusiasm tuned in to the GT 40's, so how about we ignore old brown-nose Clarkson and his painful and inconsistent procrastinations and tell each other what is the "best", "worst", or plain "most exciting" car we have had the good fortune or misfortune to drive.
Real folk, real experiences please.
No prizes, but I expect that some good bragging-rights will be claimed.

If we get 10 offerings I'll show you a pic of the one that got my full attention !!!

Barry D.

 

[David Morton]

RAF MK6 Fire engine - 6 wheel drive 4 wheel steer, Pre select, 12 litre, centre driver position (did Mclaren copy that? !!) Maxaret brakes - went anywhere but could not be driven unballasted. Just an amazing machine. After that it was Mireille's 246GT (it was her dad's really)[well - sugar daddy really]

 

Most exciting: Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 - an uprated Nissan GB test car. It's not so much that it's the best car I've ever driven, but it has a G-Force meter on the centre mounted on the dash. The fun you can have trying to get the meter off the scale is immense!

Worst: Any courtesy car from Parker Fry Garages in Peterborough in the early-80s while the Jensen-Healey was in for warranty work (and it needed a lot). They supplied a brown Austin Maxi, an orange Skoda S110, and a turquoise Lada - I changed garages three courtesy cars too late ...

Best: Surprisingly, a rusty Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV Bertone - it had holes in the floor and filler everywhere but it had an ex-race engine, race suspension and the f/r balance was superb. Nothing could match it on twisty bits. I was so attached to this car that I've decided while typing this that I'm in the market for another...

Rob

 

[BenL]

Best (other than a GT40): A friends late 60's Corvette. If you looked at it quickly you probably wouldn't be impressed, unless you noticed the huge racing tires. It was painted (where it had paint) several different shades of blue, with some purple and yellow patches. The popup headlights had been replaced with fixed headlights that didn't fill the openings. The interior had been gutted and the dashboard had been replaced with a piece of sheet metal (and a few instruments). But the 400hp engine was very impressive and very pretty. The owner was having fun playing with the drive train and he didn't care about the exterior appearance. He removed everything from the car that wasn't need to lighten it (that's why the popup headlights and dash were replaced). He asked that I drive the car from the restaurant (and bar) back to the hotel because he had a bit too much to drink.

Worst: Fiat Punto rental car.

Most Interesting I'd like to try piloting: Hovercraft

 

Best: My current Sierra Cosworth – goes link stink, sticks like glue, looks like any family sedan (have yet to drive a 40) or a Group A Fiat Arbath 130TC.

Worst: Holden Kingswood HQ (the Aussies and Kiwis will know what that is). Terminal understeer and geared so inappropriately that it would hardly pull the skin off a rice pudding.

Most interesting: Hard to choose – a 5 man submersible at 1000ft down or a Haaglunds. Haaglunds are amazing Mercedes powered tracked vehicles designed for carrying troops around in the high Arctic (although I’ve driven them in the Antarctic). Unbelievably hot, noisy and uncomfortable, but man, do they go anywhere!

 

[Ian Anderson]

Best car (in a straight line)Triumph GT6 Mk1 but the engine had been worked. Straight line top end if all the instruments were correct and no slippage in the clutch etc. it got to over 150mph (7000 rpm in overdrive) Around corners it was a handful but then in Africa there are a lot of straight roads and back then not too many speed checks.

Worst car is the currrent daily driver - a Fiat Punto. The front end slides out in the corners - especially in the wet (Roundabouts are a different experience not knowing what lany you will exit them in), the power cannot be put down on the road - it spins the left front continually (It is front wheel drive) Clutch has been replaced twice in 16000 miles - they pack up and judder, fuel consumption is hopeless, ABS has packed up and been replaced twice, ECU has been replaced, the doors sag and rub on each other and onto the body removing paint and starting rust, the windscreen wipers have a mind of their own and seem to work at different speeds before they snag on each other and bend double - not much good to see the road. Fiat's response is silence or send it to a main dealer and we will fix it - fo far it's been off the road 12 weeks in the first 2 years - IT's BEING SOLD!

Ian

 

[Ken Mason]

Ford Escort Mexico Mk1 with 1750 crossflow on Webers. Best balanced car I have ever had. Never driven so far soooo sideways! And it made a lovely noise too.

Worst: company Morris 1100 back in the 1970s. By driving it foot to the floor in second gear I eventually managed to put it out of its misery and get something better....

 

[Brett James-McCall]

Best: A development Mondeo, which never saw production. It was labbelled as ST250 (old shape Mondeo), but in reality was a 3L V6 supercharged lump pumping out over 300BHP, you really have to love those SVO guys. The needle span all the way round to 10,500 and was there in a instant. Mad rush, especially on test track with no one else around /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Worst: The Corsa I had to drive recently when my car was in for repair. Nuff said.

Brett

 

[Paul Thompson 'Hooligan']

Best: Ford Escort - RS1800 (1860) twin cam. Revved and pulled like it was never going to stop and as Ken says - the Twin Webbers sound just awesome!

Worst: Lada Riva - loaned many years ago - just don't ask! 0 to 60 ish in about 30 seconds and a scary delay on both steering and brakes from requested input!

Most difficult: Metro 6R4 in clubman spec (300bhp) - Owner was trying to tell me how to drift-it (yeah right!) great fun on the straight but I had real problems in the corners for some reason. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif - happy days!

 

[Lynn Larsen]

I've had 4 cars that stand out in my memory.

1. '63 Corvette Stingray 350HP 327 but an automatic :-( Still the best, so far, even with the granny tranny. No car since has taken a corner like this car could, even being a 1963 model. There was a 90º right followed by an almost immediate 90º left near my house that I took at 60 mph one night. The Vette just gave a tiny bit more roll than usuall and then went right around those corners like it was on rails.

2. Boy this one is tough, but I'll have to give the edge to the '83 Datsun 280ZX Turbo. This was a very quick, good handling roadster. It was the last year of the big straight 6 and it had enough torque on its own that you didn't notice the turbo lag, but you sure new it when the turbo got spooled! Rear wheel drive gives this car a slight edge over...

3. '93 Dodge Stealth ES. This is still my daily driver and has been a great car. Even though it is NA, the 222 HP 24V DOHC still makes it a quick car even though it is quite heavy, especially when you keep the revs up in the 4k-7k range. The weight really makes it a touring car and it is a great one of those. Front wheel drive has some advantages, but still is, over all, a slight negative.

4. '65 Mustang with a HiPo 289 and 4 speed. Just a basic fun car for an 18 hear old. I had it all jacked up with big fat rear tires which didn't make it a corner carver, but the glass pack mufflers sure made it sound bad. Some said the motor was actually a FireBall Roberts 289 of which only a few were made. I don't know for sure if it was or not, but if it wasn't, it was one of those that just come out dead nuts on (in mass production this happens about as often as a true lemon of a car.) Wish I still had it along with the '63 Vette. Come to think of it, I wish I still had the '53 Harley Pan Head too. If I had known then what I know now, I'd be a millionaire like most of us my age

Lynn

Worst - '73 AMC Gremlin

 

I would have to say the very first car I bought.
I didn't have a clue about this car but it influenced
every car and bike I bought from then on.
It was a 1967 GTO I bought from an older kid down the street in 1970. It was a 3 speed, scoop on the hood, lots of dials and a Hurst shifter. I thought it was the most beautiful car in my little known universe. Nobody, I knew had a car like this. But a funny thing started happening. Guys with big engined cars kept pulling up to me and reving their engines. My Dad drove very conservative cars and I wasn't privy to the car culture so I just didn't get it.
Then I got this job and luckily for me they all knew about my car. In no time they were showing me how to smoke the tires and swerve around corners and make me into a real
pain in the neck to my Dad and the neighbors. I will never
forget the fun I had with that car and it cost me only $250.00. I think the guy was in trouble and went into the service or prison. (I know it's kind of the same). I sold it for twice that 2 years later. And to close the deal with the kid I sold it too I reversed and smoked the tires for a whole block. His friends were screaming at him to buy it. Damn that car was so fun.
Sigh /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
Any way I never turned back. I like to go fast. And it all started way back when.
I don't have a picture of my old car but this is how it looked.
Steve

 

It wasn't this new and did have some rust.
I live in Minnesota where cars lasted a total of 5 years before the rust ate through them. Now I have a garage but back then only Dad had a garage and we scraped the ice and snow off the paint with anything sharp. Sometimes you would
just beat it off..and the doors wouldn't open and the sound
of a cold engine wrwrwrwrwrwrwr wrrrrwrwrwrwr click wrwrr
wrrrrr click click pump pump pump. Www WWWrrr VAROOOOOOOOM
VAROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. And then fish tail off to school on ice and snow. RRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR rrr
I was a dumb kid.
Still not the brightest star in the sky. But I'm learning.
Steve /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

I found a picture of my car. 1967 GTO
Where it all started.
Steve

 

[Joe T]

Best: Homologation Special V8 Manta/Opel 400, didnt seem to need a gearbox!!
Not sure they all had V8's in as standard, as never seen one since, plus I reckon it was turbo charged as well but could not see the much under the bonnet as was packed with management equipment covers etc.

Worst FSO Polski Fiat, nuff said