Any Tractor Guys Into Sports Cars Too?

[beppington]

No I did not make this; Did a Google search:

 

[RoyJackson]

Some people I've met have poked fun at the car since it's engine and transmission are off the shelf toyota units.

I don't think Lotus ever built their engines and transmssions complete. They did tuning, mostly. I remember the old Europa used a Renault engine. I think the early Elans or Lotus 7's used Coventry Climax engines.
Toyota and Nissan build great engines (just traded off a Nissan Frontier with that 4 cam all aluminum V-6....super engine, sounded great above 3000 RPM)...but, to me, their sports cars (and most newer sports cars I've seen) have no soul.

 

[N80]

A few comments:

Miata owners have got to face it, its a chick car. Maybe THE chick car. Its a perception that is unlikely to go away, despite the fact that it may well be the most raced car on any given weekend around the world and that it is a great roadster and handles superbly. The MX-5 might break out of the girly car perception.

And who cares about perception. Look who is driving most Corvettes, Infiniti coupes and various others: middle aged divorced women. Automatics in sports cars have ruined the image.

Roy, not sure what you mean about the soul thing. If you mean the smell of motor oil, uncomfortable rides, deafening engine noise, leaky rag tops and always having a fire extinguisher close at hand, then yes, I get what you mean.

But, in a way, I guess I do know what you mean. Traction control. Antilock brakes, etc etc. Automatics and flappy paddle gear boxes. There are a lot of things that take away from the pure experience. And those older cars are still out there for those who want them.

But, these improvements, especially in engines and suspension, make the performance of these cars staggering compared to their 10,15 and 20 year old counterpoints.

It was probably close to the 1990s before Ferrari or Lamborghini made a car that could stack up to a $30,000 370Z you can pick up in any town in the US. And despite that lack of soul, my gosh, the level of performance available to the average joe these days is staggering. And for the above average joe the Nissan GTR provides performance at or above super cars that cost 3, 4 and 5 times as much.

If I were buying a sports car right now, with the kind of money I could scrape together if I was just a little nuts, it would be a Porsche Cayman S. It wouldn't be a Boxter S simply because I abhor convertibles.


However

 

[farmboy12]

I did the muscle car thing in the 60 / 70's - 327 Chev, 409 Chev, 426 Hemi.

By the 80's it was time to give sport bikes a try. Had a couple of 1100's - one of which hit 148mph before I gave up and blinked. Got rid of that when the younger boy started saying "I could ride your bike Dad"

For the 90 / 00's it was Corvettes - 84 hardtop, 1993 40th anniversary and 2003 50th anniversary roadster. Smoked the tires and had great fun with the 84. By the time I got the 03 - drove it like a little old lady for 7K miles in 8 years.

Don' see any more speed toys for the future.

My grandfather also has a 03 convertible in that nice limited edition grey! He's not far behind you, just clocked 10.5k the other day!


Kyle

 

[Bird]

I couldn't afford Corvettes in my younger days, but when I had that 1962 Austin Healy Sprite, my best friend and co-worker had a 1960 white Corvette convertible, two 4-bbl. carbs, 4 speed manual transmission. It was a blast to drive. I've seen 100 mph in 3rd gear and squeak the tires on the shift to 4th. But it was a bear to maintain. I don't remember how many miles it had on it, but he bought it used. Anyway when the Stingray coupe came out, 1963 I believe, he traded the 1960 for a new Stingray coupe with the 327 cu. in. engine and single carb. It was still a manual transmission and more power than anyone needed. And then like so many, he got married. A year or so later, the first baby arrived, as did a VW to replace the Corvette.:laughing:

 

[xtn]

If I were buying a sports car right now, with the kind of money I could scrape together if I was just a little nuts, it would be a Porsche Cayman S.

As a guy who has driven lots and lots of modern "sports" cars (most of which I consider to be GT cars really) due to being an instructor at the local road coarse, I can say that the Cayman S is an excellent choice. One of the greats in my opinion. Not as fast as my car by a good little ways, but very good at all things sporty while being a superbly well mannered street car as well.

Nissan's GT-R is the fastest piece of lame, boring crap I've ever driven. It's so hard to teach a GT-R owner to drive one well because it does everything for you and has almost no feeling. Lame.

The newer C6 Vettes are a marvel of engineering and fast as almost anything. But they're still big and heavy. Not nearly so lame as the GT-R but they do lean a bit more in that direction than a real sports car. Still pretty dang good.

Newish Mustangs can be decently configured for track work with seven or eight thousand dollars worth of mods, but are still clunky. Meh.

Miatas are the best you can get on a low budget. Sure lots of people view them as girly cars, but certainly nobody who frequents a road course thinks that at all. Unless you're well trained in your 500hp Vette, some new kid in a Miata is going to pass you. Full of win right there!

xtn

 

[xtn]

I don't think Lotus ever built their engines and transmssions complete. They did tuning, mostly. I remember the old Europa used a Renault engine. I think the early Elans or Lotus 7's used Coventry Climax engines.
Toyota and Nissan build great engines (just traded off a Nissan Frontier with that 4 cam all aluminum V-6....super engine, sounded great above 3000 RPM)...but, to me, their sports cars (and most newer sports cars I've seen) have no soul.

That's right, but most folks don't know it. People see my car and ask what kind of V12 it has in it. They look a little disappointed when I tell them it's a Toyota 4 cylinder.

 

[om21braz]

For something a little different, check out this link to a quite different Camaro.

Culture Shock Camaro SS 2JZ 1,000HP DYNO + Quick Drive Fastest 6 Cylinder 1967-1969 Camaro!! - YouTube

 

[toy]

Here are a couple of pics:

Looks pretty.....much like a midlife crisis doesn't it?

My son used to have an infinity g35X and traded it last year or year before that and got an infinity g37 it is all wheel drive also. It is fast and it hangs the road like glue. Myself I am an old foggy, I miss my old Pontiac it would melt the tires yea and I was the idiot buying the tires. I miss the Plymouth brand, I had a Duster that was pretty fast too but when I got married the wife said that she couldn't see out of it to drive so I traded it and got a Maverick. Latter on the wife was talking and she said she couldn't see to back up the Duster but since she had learned to back up using the mirrors that wouldn't have been a problem now. I had a Grand am GT 2003 year model and it was fast and handled well but I blew a head gasket at 60 thousand miles and those service tecks with the disposable gloves managed to mess the engine up trying to fix it and I got a new engine to put in it and they managed to mess that engine up also and I traded it off. I have been thinking about getting either a Dodge Challenger or a Dodge Charger, but I don't know how well they run but they sure have a refreshing look compared to all those European wind tunnel cars that all look the same.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've been able to hang onto a few... most of my cars date from the 1920's and 30's...

Depending on how broad the definition... my Current Sports Cars would be 62 Corvette, 74 Triumph, 75 BMW and 68 Mustang Convertible.