Chilli's classic car thread.

sinbaadi

It's a thing of beauty, and a pokey enough engine to be fun.  

Mind me asking what one of those, in such clean nick, is worth these days?

TTony

chillidoggy said:

The missus has just done this compilation of the cars we've had over many years.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/imagejpg1_zpsd210f6d8.jpg

Lotus.  Bravery award.

Cobra.  Poseur award.

Stag.  Taste award.

Scimitars.  So close award.  Awards.

240z.  MiJ cool award.

I'd take 4 of those (I'm not brave, and have never owned a pair of white jeans).

TTony

Bucket said:

http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/af347/ConnorF1995/Car show/Jaaaaag_zpsab5d0f05.jpg

I sat in a mk1 a few weeks ago.

Long story short, it was in a small barn on a farm.  I was there for something completely unrelated, started talking about cars, farmer said "I've got something you might find interesting in the barn over there", unlocked the padlocks and there was an ancient US pickup.  And a Harley.  And the mk1 E-type.

They're really quite small.  And difficult to get into/out of.

Niallmo

Given a budget of a couple of grand and already having  a Mondeo 2.0 TDCI for family stuff My current CAS list is:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Mazda_mx-5_na_europe.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Smart_Roadster_Brabus_05-3.jpg

On the fantasy list:

http://img.infocoches.com/img/bmw/1992-850CSi/bmw_1992-850CSi-002_4.jpg

http://images.pistonheads.com/nimg/27677/fordcapri3-L.jpg

http://gomotors.net/photos/4a/95/ford-escort-rs-cosworth-car-specs-octane_4df80.jpg

Although I'd happily have almost any Ford RS.

chillidoggy

TTony said:

chillidoggy said:

The missus has just done this compilation of the cars we've had over many years.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/imagejpg1_zpsd210f6d8.jpg

Lotus.  Bravery award.

Cobra.  Poseur award.

Stag.  Taste award.

Scimitars.  So close award.  Awards.

240z.  MiJ cool award.

I'd take 4 of those (I'm not brave, and have never owned a pair of white jeans).

I'm assuming you've never had any of these cars? Perhaps a précis would be of interest:

1. Esprit - not sure about it yet, as I haven't driven it since I bought it. It's got 300 bhp, and goes like stink, and would not be too far behind the Cobra through the gears, plus it has a higher top speed. Needs a new fuel tank on one side, and a clutch. Engine and box out soon for that, and I've got a very nice new performance exhaust manifold to fit. It will require careful maintenance, but I've got the scissor-lift now, so at least I can get to everything. Watch this space.

2. Cobra. Oh my God, we're all going to die straight-line performance. Staggering torque, and ultimately bloody frightening. Forget it in the wet, leave it in the garage because you WILL have an accident. Poseur? From other people's perspective, definitely yes. From my viewpoint it was about getting it home without shitting my pants. Think sitting in one of those driving simulators, being battered by a wind-tunnel fan whilst at the front of a Motorhead gig, and you're somewhere near. Sadly missed, but at least I'm still alive. Brown jeans were preferable.

3. Stag. The height of British Leyland's incompetence. Looked gorgeous, sounded beautiful. Steel hard top, and soft top, plus four seats. What's not to like? Well, it drove like a pig with three legs, awful handling, dire performance, poor mpg, and dreadful reliability. I couldn't wait to get rid of the thing.

Scimitars - Wonderful beasts. The convertible had a suspension package, and handled like nothing else I've driven, it was so predictable. The green one was a beauty, too. Sad to see them go, but needs must because they had small back seats, and son was getting bigger by the minute.

Datsun 240Z - Superb mechanics, brilliant Mercedes 2.4 engine, handling was fantastic, good performance, and they looked so nice. The downside was the standard brakes were shit, and they were made out of recycled drainpipes, so the bodies practically fell off them in front of your eyes. Fond memories of them, though.

Out of all of them, the Scimitars were the best for me.

stickyfiddle

My Dad used to work for Lotus - oversaw much of the Elise mk2 project among other things. He's terrified of owning an Esprit as it's now very hard to get new gearboxes, which they need regularly... 

Awesome cars when they work though.

I don't have any classics myself but my Dad has this in the garage (actual car, in bits...)


http://www.rs2.co.uk/lvx941j.jpg


And one of these, which I'm hoping to inherit at some point

http://motoburg.com/images/austin-healey-3000-gt-02.jpg

TTony

chillidoggy said:

I'm assuming you've never had any of these cars? 

Probably only in 1/43rd size (not the Esprit, but I do remember a Europa have a lot of play time!)

chillidoggy said:

Out of all of them, the Scimitars were the best for me.

The "so close" award was meant as "so close ... to being a brilliant car" award.  Maybe it was the connotations of the brand, but you look at that today and still think "wow" ... how was it not a massive success.

[edit]

And surprisingly affordable today!

chillidoggy

The Scims were expensive to buy first off, and the early ones suffered from cooling problems, and catching fire due to the Weber carb inlet pipe falling out of the body. Usual story, bad rep crept in, which was daft because the factory issued a bulletin to pin the pipe, and the cooling was mostly down to poor maintenance.

But the hatchback estate concept was superb, and they looked so cool, too. And, no rust, which was a big point at the time they were produced. I nearly bought a Lancia 2000 HPE until I heard that my mate's car had its engine subframe literally fall out!

Travisthedog

It's funny - most of those cars are renowned for frying their inhabitants to a crisp

chillidoggy

I might be hot, but I'm not fried.

holnrew

The royals had Reliants, one of them had a Scimitar and I'm sure Anne had a Kitten. Shame they packed in, I drove a Regal once, great fun. I plan to get a Rialto and convert it to DC power someday.

chillidoggy

Not sure about a Kitten, but Princess Anne had eight Reliant Scimitars, and she also had a Middlebridge Scimitar.

Neil

Great to see all these old motors.

Back in the '70's I had a carburetter and tuning firm and many of those vehicles shown were my bread and butter. 

chillidoggy

Well, I've started. Car aficionados who are of a nervous disposition may wish to look away now -

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/Lotus/2014-12-28113448_zpsfdee689d.jpg

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee189/chillidoggy/Lotus/2014-12-28113509_zps331680a6.jpg

I cannot believe there's so much shite on this thing, fitted in no discernible order. I reckon I could get rid of 95% of it, re-programme the ECU, and it'd probably run a damn sight better.

Welcome to Lotus ownership!

Sambostar

At least you got loads of space in there and it is indoors.  I reckon 98% of my time with vans and cars is spent trying or figuring out a way of trying to get rusty nuts off that are completely inaccessible or discovering rust that needs welding or just plain old recovering from frostbite.

chillidoggy

There's room around the top once the boot liner is out, but not at the front, and that's where the coolant hoses are. I've also got the power steering pump, oil cooler pipes and air-con pump to remove before I can even think about the next step. :-S

Sambostar

Well still more room than in a Transit.  Just done doing the annual cleaning of the HT side of the starter motor solenoid and earth so it will start in the cold and the handbrake is starting to seize up again, looks like the cables as they enter the drum side as usual, so the drums will have to come off.  Still, at least they are still on there, usually get ripped off at the tip.  Spent the rest of the day with the wind up my arse trying to fathom why the trailer plug and socket won't connect properly so the brake lights don't work, even though the Voltmeter says 11.52V from the brake socket to earth socket.  Need a new socket I think, angle grind the old one off.  Everything is rusty and shit.  Doesn't matter how much copper grease you chuck on it, if it's connected to a Ford, it soon goes rusty and shit. My hands are like that of a lepered Rhino and I am looking at the potential welding that needs doing for March.

I hate commercial vehicles, parts last about a year on average, so every year you know what to expect and some..

Cold rusty and shit.  Rainy salted roads.  Must be time for a holiday ain't it?  Oh no, we just had one.  Think I will go jump off a cliff then.

Don't know where you find the motivation Chilli.

chillidoggy

Neither do I, but at least I now have a well-equipped double garage to use. Without that, I'd have either not bought the car in the first place, or simply set fire to it when I realised what I'd taken on.

Sambostar

Yeah, I have considered the set it on fire option many times I must admit.

Axe_meister

I'd love an esprit, one of my all time favourite cars, pity Lotus are now in such dire straights that the new Esprit is never likely to see the light of day.
Loved my S1 Elise (heavily modified to arount 170-180 bhp (depending on how I set the ECU).

My sold TR7 4.6 V8 was a handful but sounded like the the general Lee and blew flames out the exhaust

Living my current MG TF 160, which I'm slowly Turing into a GT style cruiser (currently working on interia toys, like USB connection mounter cleanly into the dash, leather seats and interior next)