Any Tractor Guys Into Sports Cars Too?

[PILOON]

Well I also am back to my second childhood!
Last summer I bought a mint TOYOTA MRE SPYDER and have been having a blast.
1600 cc rear engined balanced about 50/50 makes for great handling and lots of fun.
Top down and breeze in your face--that's living!
Also makes me feel 20 again.

[1026R owner]

I have a Lotus Elise, and some vintage cars from the '50s and '60s, including some sports racers. Why? Because they're so much fun! The everyday driver is a Super Duty and I enjoy long tows with it. Sort of like cruising around the farm on the tractor!

[RobertN]

We had a '94 XJ6 for 10 years. Great car. Had it less than a week, when the wife opened it up to 145. It was smooth as silk.

Since reading your post, I am tempted to do same. We sold our with about 250,000 miles; still ran good and was in excellent overall condition.

For the last few years, I've been driving a Jaguary XJ6. I'm a high mileage driver so I'm on my third one - I buy them inexpensively with about 60,000 miles and take them up to 150,000 to 200,000 miles before swapping it out. It's a great touring car, good handling, a big 4.0L straight six, and lots of getup-and-go even at freeway speeds (I really like the acceleration between 60 and 90 mph). It's comfortable with lots of room and I can still haul my kids with sports equipment around when needed - a good compromise.

[N80]

I have a Lotus Elise, and some vintage cars from the '50s and '60s, including some sports racers. Why? Because they're so much fun! The everyday driver is a Super Duty and I enjoy long tows with it. Sort of like cruising around the farm on the tractor!

Sadly, as I have started enjoying driving a sports car I have started hating driving my 2003 F150. Until I got into sports cars I'd never driven anything but trucks. And while I haven't driven any late model trucks I find so many of them to be wallowing, unresponsive land yachts that do not excel on or off road. I think that is the fault of the American consumer who wants car-like trucks with car-like ride and safety that at least make a pretense at being good off road as well. Thus, they do neither well.

Trying to steer my 2003 F150 XLT SuperCrew 4x4 is more like making a suggestion, stopping it is a vague but sometime desperate hope, and getting the big slush box to shift properly is like playing the lottery.

What I wouldn't give for a full size truck with a manual transmission, enormous brake pads and rotors, firm and beefy springs with firm responsive shocks and most of all, precise steering with at least a vague feeling that the steering wheel is in some way connected to the front wheels.

I'm assuming I'd have to build this mythical beast myself.

[superbear]

I am an old motor head back in the 60' & 70's I had everything from cobra's to GTO's and about everything in between, then the responsible me came to be and I went to Harley's and Corvettes and in my mid 60's now I still have the need for speed so currently I have a 2003 50th Corvette with only 9000 miles.

[nybirdman]

In 2004 I sold my 1994 25th Anniversary Pontiac Trans Am with 16,500 miles to purchase my first new tractor!
Had a Plymoth Duster,Dodge Charger,Mustang,Mercury Capri(Euro).That Pontiac wouldn't pull a two bottom plow fer nothing.

[MBTRAC]

I reckon if you're into tractors/earthmoving gear, there's a good chance you've gown up with sports/GT cars & still own or appreciate them.

Currently own: -
- Jensen Interceptor (pictured below & after close on 27yrs never fails to put a on my face: much modified to substantially increase performance 440 Dodge Magnum motor, Six pack Carbs, Manualised Torquefite, 3" tuned exhaust....sounds akin to God clearing his throat...)
- A few other Interceptors in various states of restoration/deterioration
- Toyota Supra Twin Turbo highly modified & incredibly quick

Some favourites I've owned over the years: -
- . Datsun 240Z ( Didn't appreciate how much fun & how good it was 'til I sold it......dum things you do when you're young )
-. Boss Mustang 1971 351 Mach I (Only owned for c.3 months, couldn't afford to keep it then & sure wouldn't pay the price they're bringing now.....the clutch sorted out the men from the boys & no redeeming features, apart from the sweet sound & performance !!!... )
- . Studebaker Golden Hawk (One cool early '60's car which turned heads in the '80's looked great in black, unfortunately the paint was about the only thing holding my rust bucket together, still long for another)
- . Australian Built Valiant RT E49 Charger (look 'em up on the net - incredible performance : 265 ci Hemi straight 6, rev'd like there's no tomorrow & triple 38mm Webbers.....stock pulled 14.2's 1/4 mile & as modified mine did a lot better than that ....paid S/H $4380 & I was very happy to make a profit by selling @ $6250 ......now worth $100k+.... how times have changed.....)
- Bolwell MkVII (an Australia kit car @ c.700kg with a backbone chassis & 202ci 6cyl a very quick & balance car for it's time, as pictured below even in the NSW snow fields !!!! )

[PILOON]

I confess to also suffer from this ailment.
In my youth I was a MG fan having had a 1/2 dozen MG TD's and a couple of MG B's.
As a 'retirement toy' I wanted another 'B' but either found project cars or ridiculously priced (to me) restored ones.
In my searches I happened upon a 2000 TOYOTA MRE Spider, nice Florida car with 60,000 klicks in top rust free condition with everything but the clock working, LOL,
Superb handling, agile fun sporty 'toy' (and it gets 36 MPG).
The MRE Spider is rear engined with that magic 60/40 wt distribution and is in fact a mostly a Corolla with the engine at the other end and sports 5 on the floor.
And it has Air Conditioning that which MG,s never came with.
Great to be young again! (or pretend to be)

[dfkrug]

Hmmmm...I thought 'MRE' was what they served you to eat in the US Army. Here is my
2000 Toyota MR2 Spyder, which I have had for about 10y. It is fun, practical, reliable,
and the power windows actually work, unlike in my 308. It also weighed 1000# less.

I have also had the MR2 1st generation, an 89 Supercharged, and a 2nd gen 91 MR2 Turbo.

[PILOON]

OOPS, said MRE should read MR2 LOL