Notable car sighting thread

[TD]

Another...

[Sharp11]

Originally Posted by TD

It's tiny.

Triumph Spitfire - lovely. This was a popular sports car when I was a kid. In fact, two-seaters were quite popular back then - this would've been considered a nice one, along with the TR6.

Cars like the little Triumph, MG's, Fiats, Alfa's and even Volkswagen's Carmen Ghia dotted the landscape as daily transpo for many young people. Rudimentary cars, no doubt - many of them had solid rear axles that were leaf-sprung (although this Triumph has an IRS), leaky tops you had to snap into place, uncomfortable, drafty, noisy and really, really unsafe!!

But man were they fun to drive. I had a girlfriend who had an MGB back during the summer of 1973 - that thing was incredible to drive - every sensation was tickled (or maybe it wasn't just the car) - great exhaust, steering - the glove-like feel when you got into it.

It was quite a different world back then ...

[TD]

Originally Posted by Sharp11

Triumph Spitfire - lovely. This was a popular sports car when I was a kid. In fact, two-seaters were quite popular back then - this would've been considered a nice one, along with the TR6.

Cars like the little Triumph, MG's, Fiats, Alfa's and even Volkswagen's Carmen Ghia dotted the landscape as daily transpo for many young people. Rudimentary cars, no doubt - many of them had solid rear axles that were leaf-sprung (although this Triumph has an IRS), leaky tops you had to snap into place, uncomfortable, drafty, noisy and really, really unsafe!!

But man were they fun to drive. I had a girlfriend who had an MGB back during the summer of 1973 - that thing was incredible to drive - every sensation was tickled (or maybe it wasn't just the car) - great exhaust, steering - the glove-like feel when you got into it.

It was quite a different world back then ...

I followed it for about 5 miles (about 10 minutes). The second pic was a decent distance from the first.

You could get a good idea from watching it go down the road just how unfiltered the driving experience must be. And the sound was pretty cool too.

[Sharp11]

Originally Posted by TD

I followed it for about 5 miles (about 10 minutes). The second pic was a decent distance from the first.

You could get a good idea from watching it go down the road just how unfiltered the driving experience must be. And the sound was pretty cool too.

Tom, probably the worst car I ever remember driving back then, so much so that is scared me to drive it, was the little Fiat rear-engined 850 - that thing was awful!

[kognito]

Originally Posted by Sharp11

Tom, probably the worst car I ever remember driving back then, so much so that is scared me to drive it, was the little Fiat rear-engined 850 - that thing was awful!

I had an orange one of those 850's while I was in college. 45-50 MPG's was great in school, but 0-60 was always a question as to if it would get there!!

heat sucked too!


In the early 80's I owned a Triumph GT6+ (coupe version of the TR6) That car was incredible when it was running right. I blew the doors off a Camaro Z28 one evening on a country road.

The biggest issue to having it run right was that the engine was basically two 3 cylinder engines with one crankshaft! there were 2 distributors, 2 coils, 2 carburetors. One distributor for the front 3 cylinders, the other was for the rear three cylinders, same for the carbs.

Balancing everything was a 30-45 minute operation that needed tweaking every 2 months or so. At least with the way the front hood and fenders were all one piece of metal, you could open the hood forward, sit on the left front tire, right foot down by the bell housing, left foot up by the radiator, and sit there and adjust everything till it was purring.


Edit: funny, my spellchecker wants to replace Camaro with Camry!!!

[Josh (PA)]

I'm in LA for work this week. I saw a new McLaren MP whatever. It was a pretty shade of red, but definitely not a soul stirring exterior design.

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by TD

It's tiny.

I saw a Triumph that same day on the way home. But it was in horrible shape.

I've seen a few other cars this week:
- A MG T (probably a TF) drove by my office (top was up though)
- A RR Silver Ghost (i.e. the Rolls 7er) parked when we went out for pizza the other night
- An R8 cab was behind me on the way to work today. First time I'd seen one in person, actually...

Next week is Auction Week out here -- so there will be a lot of great cars out and about. Unfortunately, I'll be in NYC for most of the workweek...

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by Josh (PA)

I'm in LA for work this week. I saw a new McLaren MP whatever. It was a pretty shade of red, but definitely not a soul stirring exterior design.

I haven't seen one in person yet, but I'd agree. Not that its bad looking -- but for that kind of money, I'd want something with a more emotional design...

[ZBB]

This was parked near my office today...



Oh - and it apparently belongs to the Stig ;-)

[TD]

WTF, that looks unsafe.