Any Petrolheads Here?

lifelong humanist

My still-in JW wife thinks that I'm crazy to have just bought a new top-of-the-range Mazda MX-5 2L roadster (Miata, Eunos for other countries).

I'm 58 years old. Too old for a 'fun car', I'm told! I used to sell Subaru's, so I've driven a lot of very fast, responsive 4 wheel drive cars. My wife prefers practical saloon cars with 4 doors and a hatchback - yet she didn't really enjoy driving cars from the Subaru range enough to make me consider buying one.

With rear wheel drive, perfect 50-50 weight distribution, Japanese build quality, the Mazda offers a sublime driving experience. It doesn't have the stunning looks of Italian sports cars though.

Maybe I should have known better - I got the same grief when I bought a used lemon yellow Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider 2.0L in the early 70's and had a complete, expensive paint respray to Alfa red. When I sold this iconic Alfa a few years later, I actually made a small profit!

I had the same reaction when I was the first Fiat customer in Scotland to buy a new Fiat Barchetta not long after it was released in LHD only in the early 90's - front wheel drive and only a 1.6 L engine - but still a stunning looking car and a lot of fun to drive - though not especially quick.

Is this just a JW revulsion of fun 2 seater sports cars?

lifelong humanist

james_woods

I am one, LH - and I too have a Miata. (It is really my old ladies car, a 1999).

We also have a 1986 Ferrari Testarossa, a 1995 Rolls Royce Silver Dawn, and a 1996 Porsche 993 Targa.

I have owned sports cars all my life and have had a Porsche 911 during most of that time - the first being a 1969 911T Targa. Alternating once in a while with a Corvette.

The witnesses absolutely hated it; like your wife, they wanted their people to have the ugliest 4-door they could find. More than once I got a little talk from them about my choice of cars.

lifelong humanist

Oh, just in case anyone is thinking 'green' issues here, this fun car returns around 45mpg and the mileage will probably not exceed 2K miles per year!

lifelong humanist

BurnTheShips

It doesn't have the stunning looks of Italian sports cars though.

It also doesn't have the maintenance issues. Mazda hit a real home run with that little roadster.

BTS

james_woods

It also doesn't have the maintenance issues. Mazda hit a real home run with that little roadster.

Absolutely - we bought ours new in 1999 and it has been dead-solid reliable for nearly 80,000 miles.

BTW, the Ferrari has actually not been all that bad - if you overlook the approximately 5-7 year required major service with the engine taken out regardless of miles driven (for about 10K $ in the U.S.) - the timing belts are at the front and are critical if they fail.

lifelong humanist

james_woods

Thanks for your reply. That's quite a car collection that you are so lucky to have!

Ferrari's are jaw-droppingly fantastic, but totally out of my price range. I've only ever sat in one as a passenger, and that was a Mondial (the worst Ferrari ever?).

Porsche's are great driver's cars, especially water-cooled 911's - the noise just enthralls you! My oldest son was working in Germany when he treated me to a trip to their factory about 10 years ago - it was a fascinating visit. The tour guide fairly trashed Maranello throughout the duration, though (good-humoured, tongue in cheek). We weren't allowed to see the about-to-be-launched Cayenne, I recall.

I once had to drive around in a Mason's Black Bentley in the mid-70s to take customers out for 'hospitality'. Naturaly, with only an automatic gearbox, I wasn't over impressed! Other drivers moved out of the way, though. The car had such a lot of presence.

I've had over 15 Alfas, 20 Fiats, a few fast VWs and a Saab (turbo blew up). This is my first Japanese car - the build quality is superb!

lifelong humanist

BurnTheShips

Porsche's are great driver's cars, especially water-cooled 911's - the noise just enthralls you!

I just love those cars. One day.....

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mmentone

I love cars and have been really active with them most of my life. I currently have a 89 Alfa Romeo Milano, a 4 motion passat wagon and a 89 bmw 325is that I'm building into a race car for the chump car world series. When i sell the Alfa in a few years I plan on a getting a porsche 930 turbo. Once the wife sells her bike I'll build her a 914. Every car I own I have to do something to it. If I knew how to post pics I would throw some of my Alfa up.

james_woods

Porsche's are great driver's cars, especially water-cooled 911's - the noise just enthralls you!

True - my stepson has the water-cooled 997, but I am holding on to the air-cooled version for as long as I can out of tradition. The air-cooled cars feel much lighter and smaller than the 996/997.

Ferrari's are jaw-droppingly fantastic, but totally out of my price range. I've only ever sat in one as a passenger, and that was a Mondial (the worst Ferrari ever?).

Worst Ferrari? They are like sex or flying airplanes - the worst is still pretty fantastic. Actually, most of the Ferrari owners I know seem to think that the 348 cars of the early 1990s were probably the low point because of quality issues. They were improved by the end of the run before the 355. I think that the Mondial - particularly the late model with the 4-valve engine is a pretty good little car.

I probably will not be in a position to have another Ferrari in my life, so I made the choice of the Testarossa - which is the 12 cylinder, after driving several of the models. My 1986 now has 26,000 miles - so it is really a weekend car which should last a lifetime, as I am now 61.

BurnTheShips

but I am holding on to the air-cooled version for as long as I can out of tradition. The air-cooled cars feel much lighter and smaller than the 996/997.

Sorry, what I mean are the old school air cooled ones. That is what I want.

Worst Ferrari?

Owning a Ferrari seems to be like being married to a high maintenance super model. Smoking hot, but a pain in the ass. Would you agree?

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Any Petrolheads Here?

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