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Looking for a car.....
- Thread starter mm1ut1
- Start date
Is that powered by the POS Northstar? (or whatever it was called)Step up to the pump and buy one of these and a pallet of extra strength Excedrin.You`ll need the Excedrin for sure.
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The Fox body Mustangs are a good call. All kinds of power, not too 'spensive and thriving aftermarket as well as a future classic.
^Great car and you won't lose money. I swapped mine for a Cherokee since I needed 4-WD at the time. The guy I sold it to bought it for his son. The son wrecked the father's pickup a week later and the father confiscated the Mustang. He immediately sold it to a racing garage that was turning it into a dragster. I was over there with him for something, maybe to sign something. It was kind of sad and weird to see. They were used in professional drag racing at the time, maybe still. Usually they use the Hatchback for that. Lots of styling variations from convertible to...hatchback.
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I've always been a fan of Volvos...
In case you're not keen on wagons...1997 Volvo 850 T-5 R..250HP and 258 ft lbs torque @ 2400 rpms..FWD 5cyl Turbocharged...Fun car...
The Spit felt really weak and thin and insubstantial, and extra tiny, that coming from an MGB owner at the time... But the TR6 and TR7 were more substantial and reliable. Old classic look (6) or modern look (7), take your choice. All were common where I was living. The 7's wedge shape looked funny at the time, but it was ahead of its time and looks perfectly fine now.
you guys still car talkin?.. okay, 600 more great fun miles on this Zoom over last weekend. Plenty of very rainy dark high way (high) speeds ,Mornin' frost, Wide open Blue sky too
! Doesn't carry much stuff 
So glad to fit in this MX-5 with the seat etc maxed out. Gotta weekend travel back up the Columbia Gorge in the morning and Central Oregon, Whew, its a ride !
Jeez, my eyes!
Sex on a stick.
Meantime, my own personal classic is slowly turning back into its natural parts in the yard.
One of these, but nothing like as good as this one.
reliant scimitar se6a
Same colour as that one, so that gives a good idea of what it was like.
Someday I'll do a strip and rebuild of it, now it's old enough to get ultra cheap tax and insurance on it.
Meantime, my own personal classic is slowly turning back into its natural parts in the yard.
One of these, but nothing like as good as this one.
reliant scimitar se6a
Same colour as that one, so that gives a good idea of what it was like.
Someday I'll do a strip and rebuild of it, now it's old enough to get ultra cheap tax and insurance on it.
If Italian is your cup O tea
Girls or cars.
txxs
XS650 Addict
Like to have one of these
CaseyH
XS650 Enthusiast
My Datsun 240z Bought it and restored it 10 years ago
Couldn't afford to do that now
That Toyota is worth mega bucks
Couldn't afford to do that now
That Toyota is worth mega bucks
Uh oh.. 220 miles from home. We'll see how this goes maybe tomorrow
...and that is the point. If you really want a car in which you can jump in and go - without worrying over whether you will arrive, I suggest avoiding Europeans (ANY of them) due to electrical issues which they all share - because the parts that often fail are common to all EU manufacturers of any nationality.
The problem isn't the devices or the wiring itself, it is the harness connectors. A pal of mine was VP-Engineering for a major manufacturer of automotive wiring connectors and some years ago, they had extra mfg. capacity in their EU plants and were bugging the NAM division to flog the parts to North American automotive OEMs. The problem was that NONE of the European connectors could pass the North American durability standards - particularly for water ingress and corrosion. My pal (who is German himself) told me that, based on their tests, a $17,000 Ford Focus had much better wiring system integrity than a $150,000 BMW 6-Series. He said, "Ask your friends who own EU cars how they like them and if they have any problems...
...And so, over the past 15 years, I have been taking an informal poll of people I meet who own BMWs, Jags, M-B, VW, SAABs, Volvos, Porsches, Audis etc. (they ALL use the same connectors - no OEM makes their own) - and sure enough, a very clear pattern has emerged:
- when these vehicles are factory-fresh, they are wonderful cars;
- mechanically, (with a few notable exceptions) - they all love the car, how it runs, sounds, drives, etc. and mechanical durability seems fine - although servicing is beastly expensive;
- fit & finish and especially paint are generally excellent - although any parts you do need to replace as a result of wear and tear or a collision cost the earth;
- BUT...when the cars get to be 4-6 years old (i.e. around when they come off-lease and start to become affordable...as a toy), they begin to display wonky electrical systems (power windows that are balky in the wet weather, hard starting, transmissions that aren't happy, bad alternators / starters / ECUs etc.) - and these problems are REALLY expensive to diagnose and fix.
As a result, there is a very plentiful supply of 5-15 year old used EU cars around here and they are relatively cheap - and for good reason. Some lucky owner is about to get a very large repair bill juuuussstttt after buying the car.
In my area I see all sorts of 20-something hipster-d!ckheads bombing around in their BMW 3/5-Series (invariably black, with dingly balls and furry dice hanging down around the inside of the windscreen and very loud crappy rap music blaring) - and every summer, some of these stupid little pricks wind up on the shoulder of the road broken down, if not rolled over in the median as a result of trying to race without the skills.
Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys....
In 2010 bought a 2006 Miata MX5 with 44,000 km on it (about 27,000 miles) and it now has about 168,000 km (around 104,000 miles) and I have never laid a wrench anywhere on it except to change the oil. Now, granted I remove the battery every winter when it goes into storage in December - but every spring, I plop the battery back in and go - no worries at all. I have several friends who drive their Miatas all winter and (ground clearance aside), they seem to have no reliability issues at all. My earlier 1994 Miata was bought in 2000 with about 70,000 km on it and sold in 2012 with 325,000 (more than 200,000 miles) - same record of dependability - and that car is still on the road as a daily driver.
Ask any Toyota / Honda / Mazda / Subaru owner and you'll likely find the same thing. What the cars may lack in drama and soul, they more than make up in dependability and economy of maintenance and repairs.
In conclusion, if you want a car to fiddle with, buy anything, but if you want a car on which you can rely and not go bankrupt owning, my advice is for a cheap sporty car - go either American (big iron - no turbo fours) or Japanese. They are the Eveready bunnies of fun cars IMO and experience. I like working on stuff, but I only have so much time and I choose to spend it on my old bikes, not on my cars.
That Celica does look awfully nice, especially if you need a four-seater....and it likely still runs just like it did when Aunt Mildred and Uncle Wilbur bought it new - and it still will five years from now when it is 20+ years old.
Pete
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