Get the Ricochet app
Ricochet will work fine in a browser on your mobile devices, but for the best experience please download our app.
Some comments to my post on reading a car review prompts me to think we could have fun with the memorable cars Ricochetti have had. What car have you had that you remember fondly (your car, not a car you lusted after but never possessed), and WHY?
I have had several cars I have really liked, each for different (and often contradictory) reasons. I have a split preference in cars: Either large and luxurious or small and quirky.
My first luxury car was a used 1986 Jaguar XJ6 VandenPlas sedan.
(This is not my car, but it’s the same color. And this is the base sedan, not the VandenPlas.)
Gorgeous car. Big. Cushy ride but with excellent handling. The straight-six engine produced a distinctive sound that was a joy to listen to, and provided impressive acceleration in a car that didn’t scream “high performance” (i.e., a “sleeper”). I opposed the popular reliability substitution of a Chevy V8 engine, as that takes away much of the sound charm I liked in the car. I sold the Jaguar when I tired of its constant maintenance needs, and replaced it with an Infiniti Q45, which had many of the same driving characteristics as the Jaguar, but did not produce the interesting sounds and was more utilitarian in its aesthetics.
The other most memorable car was a 2005 MINI Cooper S (6 speed manual).
As the common description says, it has go-cart handling; instant response to steering input; supercharged engine that produced a great whine on acceleration, and made some interesting noises when decelerating (my wife could sometimes hear the supercharger as I was coming home before I pulled into the driveway); surprisingly roomy in the front seats. It was low-power (about 165 hp), so I could have fun pushing it to its limits in daily driving without much worry that the car would get away from me the way a car with 400 or 500 horsepower might. A sign of how much fun I had driving it was how many tires I wore through. It didn’t look fast, so the police ignored it. Very high fun-to-dollar ratio. Anything more fun to drive would have cost twice as much. I replaced it with a 2010 turbocharged MINI Cooper S. More practical (more reliable, better gas mileage), but it didn’t produce the entertaining sounds the supercharged version did.
I did enjoy the all-electric 2014 BMW i3 I had for a few years. My wife’s comment was, the MINI Coopers weren’t weird enough, so I had to find something even weirder.
Entirely a city commuter car; roomy open front seat area in the cabin. Clean, minimalist dashboard design. The instant torque of the electric motor and the very tight turning radius (I could drive in a circle inside my 2 ½ car garage) made it very entertaining ride in town. Silent electric operation meant I could find myself driving much faster than I intended, so I had to keep an eye on the speedometer. It had very skinny tires that turned out to be extremely helpful for driving in the snow of Rochester, NY.
Lastly, I’ll mention the 2003 Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. Yes, an actual former police car. Big and decidedly not luxurious. (I told you my car tastes are all over the place.)
A good bit of the fun of driving it was the reactions of other drivers, along with the quirks its former life gave it: inoperable interior rear door handles (so I had to remember to let my rear-seat passengers out); the secret under-dash switch to disable the transmission shift lever (useful as an anti-theft device); the operating spotlight on the A pillar; the rubber floor covering (no carpet) that simplified winter cleaning. Great acceleration but surprisingly good gas mileage on the highway (the engine is hardly working at all once it gets the car up to speed). The police suspension gave the car much better handling than the civilian version.
What car you have had that you remember fondly, and WHY?
Discussion (37)
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
1980 Triumph TR8. Small V8 engine, 215 cu in (called 3.5 Liter for Europe) originally designed and built by GM, aluminum block with iron cylinder sleeves, etc. Much more reliable than the domestically (England) designed V8 used in the Stag. The GM-designed V8 was also used in a lot of other vehicles, such as Rover. It later had reliability problems when operated at higher temperatures than originally designed for, but the original version seemed to be very trouble-free. (I also never had any trouble with the Lucas electrics. The Smiths speedometer though had to be replaced a couple times.)
Except for California, the 1980 models had dual Zenith-Stromberg side-draft carburetors. Fuel injection wasn't used in all models until 1981.
I bought it from somewhat-well-known driver Monte Shelton's
en.wikipedia.org
Open link
dealership in Portland, Oregon. It was otherwise new but had been modified with lowered suspension and improved exhaust system from Huffaker Engineering (now Huffaker Motorsports?) as I believe Shelton had originally intended to keep it for himself.
When the TR8 first came out, it was quicker than anything remotely near in price, and a Corvette of that time period only beat it while shearing off a pinion gear in the rear end. As I recall, it also beat the Porsche 928 of that time at everything but top speed.
It had very precise and sensitive steering too. When I was going to let anyone drive it for the first time, I made sure to point out that while they might be used to starting a turn some distance back, with the TR8 if they started turning before actually reaching the corner they'd be on the sidewalk. Lane changes were a small "flick of the wrist" etc. And while a joy to drive even at "regular" speeds, it didn't really settle down on the road until about 90mph.
The early test models of the TR8 were labeled as TR7 models and all had hardtop bodies and automatic transmissions. The switchover to convertible bodies also for the TR7 overlapped a bit, apparently they ran out of automatics before running out of hardtop bodies because mine was one of only fifty TR8s with hardtop and 5-speed ever made.
This photo isn't exactly of mine, but it's the same color, same wheels etc, and has a similar sunroof; it just doesn't show the lowered suspension.
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
One of my favorite cars was my first one - a 1973 Triumph Spitfire:
I loved that car - it was so much fun to drive! It was easy to work on, as well. The entire front hood lifted forward and up, and I could sit on a front tire to do maintenance. It was totaled when a delivery truck's parking brake disengaged, and it literally ran over my car that was parallel-parked in front of it. I replaced it with a 1964 MGB.
My cars after those were more sensible, family-friendly sedans. Now that my girls are all grown, I just got a Mazda MX-5. I'm back in a two-seater, manual transmission convertible!
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
I had considered a Spitfire at some times in the past, largely because of the maintenance thing.
But they're so dang small, even though I'm not all that big... And I really liked the V8.
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
Before settling on the TR8, I'd tried several other cars. I remember a 280ZX, Mazda 626 and RX7, Fiat X1/9 (kinda fun to knock around in, but very underpowered - definitely a "girl car" and later on I knew some girls who had them), Pontiac Fiero (too heavy for its size, bad shifter position...) and Trans Am (I think no manual transmission was available at that time) plus a Camaro (manual transmission but it was what some car magazine at the time described as a "gear-bag" and it didn't have any road-feel for the driver), and an Alfa Romeo GTV6 from Ron Tonkin's Gran Turismo in Portland. Ron Tonkin himself went along on the test drive, so I had the chance to thank him in person for sponsoring "Sinister Cinema" all those years.
I also tried a TR8 convertible at another dealer, but decided I wanted the hardtop.
Even without the enhanced exhaust system - but especially with it! - the TR8's rumble was pretty nice. It had an AC Delco A/C compressor, no surprise considering the engine, and I took it to a local Chevy dealer a few times for A/C service. The guys working on Corvettes up on lifts would look around, wondering where that sound was coming from...
To read this bio, please join Ricochet.
My wife likes the Mini Cooper S. I think she is on her third. They are a lot of fun. The new one has a leather seats, so it is a bit refined too. It is a bit quieter than the previous ones and a the torque is steer is less. I am on my second Mustang :)
You're seeing five of 37 comments. Sign in, or join for just $5 per month, to read them all and add your own.