The cars you have loved, or are in love with. Tell us your car history and what each one taught you

[Ron Resnick]

When I was a teenager my father used to recycle the same couple of thousands of dollars, and he purchased a series of fun, little, used sports cars. He had an Austin Healey Sprite, and then a Triumph TR6, and then an MGB-GT. I decided then that I was going to work hard enough in school and later at a job to be able to afford someday a red Ferrari convertible.

In college I felt like I needed some additional incentive to maintain my academic discipline to get “A”s while most people were going to parties and having fun. During a school break I asked my father to take me to Wide World of Cars in Spring Valley, NY, our nearest Ferrari dealership. It must have been a slow day at the dealership because the sales manager there, Joan Milano, offered to have a salesman take me out for a test drive in a Ferrari 308. Of course driving a Ferrrari for the first time was for me a religious experience!

After the unbelievably exciting experience of sitting in a Ferrari convertible — let alone driving one! — once back at the dealership I told Joan that someday I would return to Wide World to order a red convertible. She shook my hand and said “sure kid, good luck.”

In 2001, twenty (20) years after the test drive, I went back to Wide World of Cars in Spring Valley, NY. Joan Milano was still the Sales Manager. I introduced myself, and reminded her of my visit twenty years earlier. She remembered me, or so she claimed. I ordered a red 360 Spider with tan interior and red piping on the seats.

Bellini was born in July of 2003. I will never forget the day, almost two years after I placed the order, that I returned to Wide World to pick up my car. I saw the 360 gleaming in the distance. I experienced sensory overload. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.

It wasn’t until many years later that I had a proper private garage at a house in Los Angeles, and I was able to move Bellini to her natural habitat.

 

[Kingrex]

Haaaa Ron, I know you didn't mean it, but you said a Ferrari natural habitat is a garage. Us Porsche guys drive our cars

 

[Ron Resnick]

Haaaa Ron, I know you didn't mean it, but you said a Ferrari natural habitat is a garage. Us Porsche guys drive our cars

I believe you interpreted it that way. But I understand your interpretation. Those were disjunctive clauses.

Her “natural habitat” is driving in Malibu on Pacific Coast Highway, as per the photo.

 

[Gregadd]

When I was a teenager my father used to recycle the same couple of thousands of dollars, and he purchased a series of fun, little, used sports cars. He had an Austin Healey Sprite, and then a Triumph TR6, and then an MGB-GT. I decided then that I was going to work hard enough in school and later at a job to be able to afford someday a red Ferrari convertible.

In college I felt like I needed some additional incentive to maintain my academic discipline to get “A”s while most people were going to parties and having fun. During a school break I asked my father to take me to Wide World of Cars in Spring Valley, NY, our nearest Ferrari dealership. It must have been a slow day at the dealership because the sales manager there, Joan Milano, offered to have a salesman take me out for a test drive in a Ferrari 308. Of course driving a Ferrrari for the first time was for me a religious experience!

After the unbelievably exciting experience of sitting in a Ferrari convertible — let alone driving one! — once back at the dealership I told Joan that someday I would return to Wide World to order a red convertible. She shook my hand and said “sure kid, good luck.”

In 2001, twenty (20) years after the test drive, I went back to Wide World of Cars in Spring Valley, NY. Joan Milano was still the Sales Manager. I introduced myself, and reminded her of my visit twenty years earlier. She remembered me, or so she claimed. I ordered a red 360 Spider with tan interior and red piping on the seats.

Bellini was born in July of 2003. I will never forget the day, almost two years after I placed the order, that I returned to Wide World to pick up my car. I saw the 360 gleaming in the distance. I experienced sensory overload. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.

It wasn’t until many years later that I had a proper private garage at a house in Los Angeles, and I was able to move Bellini to her natural habitat.


View attachment 100034

I love the formula one racing Ferrari. To me that car will always personify the Ferrari brand.

Porsche. Not bad for a souped -up Volkswagen.

 

[infinitely baffled]

When I was a teenager my father used to recycle the same couple of thousands of dollars, and he purchased a series of fun, little, used sports cars. He had an Austin Healey Sprite, and then a Triumph TR6, and then an MGB-GT. I decided then that I was going to work hard enough in school and later at a job to be able to afford someday a red Ferrari convertible.

In college I felt like I needed some additional incentive to maintain my academic discipline to get “A”s while most people were going to parties and having fun. During a school break I asked my father to take me to Wide World of Cars in Spring Valley, NY, our nearest Ferrari dealership. It must have been a slow day at the dealership because the sales manager there, Joan Milano, offered to have a salesman take me out for a test drive in a Ferrari 308. Of course driving a Ferrrari for the first time was for me a religious experience!

After the unbelievably exciting experience of sitting in a Ferrari convertible — let alone driving one! — once back at the dealership I told Joan that someday I would return to Wide World to order a red convertible. She shook my hand and said “sure kid, good luck.”

In 2001, twenty (20) years after the test drive, I went back to Wide World of Cars in Spring Valley, NY. Joan Milano was still the Sales Manager. I introduced myself, and reminded her of my visit twenty years earlier. She remembered me, or so she claimed. I ordered a red 360 Spider with tan interior and red piping on the seats.

Bellini was born in July of 2003. I will never forget the day, almost two years after I placed the order, that I returned to Wide World to pick up my car. I saw the 360 gleaming in the distance. I experienced sensory overload. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life.

It wasn’t until many years later that I had a proper private garage at a house in Los Angeles, and I was able to move Bellini to her natural habitat.


View attachment 100034

Good effort Ron?

a little daunting to try and repeat now for sure...not sure Ferrarris are on the cards in this lifetime. I guess for me the art of tuning is to compensate by providing the same performance in a more mundane vehicle. One that might cope with Scottish roads and weather
Regrettably recently Ferrarri have priced themselves out of the enthusiast market and firmly into status symbol territory. Porsche remains a more realistic goal for me. (Although Maserati gt prices are looking quite attractive all of a sudden)

But of the modern gt's it's the Lotus Exige that calls out to me the loudest

 

[Gregadd]

PS I still recall the Car and Driver article on how to purchase a Ferrai with a ballon loan. Basically you would pay interest until the appreciation covered the cost.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Back then even the eight cylinder 360 Spider was crazy expensive. Very few cars cost that much back then. Now there are loads of cars in the stratospheric price range, and beyond.

The new Maserati MC20 Cielo, which I think is one of the prettier new designs, is reasonably priced — relatively speaking. Still, to my eyes, it’s not as smooth and graceful and flowing-looking as the 360.

 

[morricab]

Good effort Ron?

a little daunting to try and repeat now for sure...not sure Ferrarris are on the cards in this lifetime. I guess for me the art of tuning is to compensate by providing the same performance in a more mundane vehicle. One that might cope with Scottish roads and weather
Regrettably recently Ferrarri have priced themselves out of the enthusiast market and firmly into status symbol territory. Porsche remains a more realistic goal for me. (Although Maserati gt prices are looking quite attractive all of a sudden)

But of the modern gt's it's the Lotus Exige that calls out to me the loudest

I wouldn’t call the Exige a GT…it’s pure unapologetic sports çar… Evora is a GT…both great cars!

 

[morricab]

Back then even the eight cylinder 360 Spider was crazy expensive. Very few cars cost that much back then. Now there are loads of cars in the stratospheric price range, and beyond.

The new Maserati MC20 Cielo, which I think is one of the prettier new designs, is reasonably priced — relatively speaking. Still, to my eyes, it’s not as smooth and graceful and flowing-looking as the 360.

A friend had a 355 spider that was to my eye prettier than the 360 but my Lotus outperformed it on serious mountain drives.

 

[morricab]

Good effort Ron?

a little daunting to try and repeat now for sure...not sure Ferrarris are on the cards in this lifetime. I guess for me the art of tuning is to compensate by providing the same performance in a more mundane vehicle. One that might cope with Scottish roads and weather
Regrettably recently Ferrarri have priced themselves out of the enthusiast market and firmly into status symbol territory. Porsche remains a more realistic goal for me. (Although Maserati gt prices are looking quite attractive all of a sudden)

But of the modern gt's it's the Lotus Exige that calls out to me the loudest

The bonus of an Exige or Evora is that the motor and gearbox are from Toyota…so they are RELIABLE!

 

[Kingrex]

Thats cool Willgolf. All the Mustangs. I always liked them. Friends had them. I never did.

Yes I mean all driverless. Watch Youtube and look for the shows on Tesla vs Invidia

I believe you interpreted it that way. But I understand your interpretation. Those were disjunctive clauses.

Her “natural habitat” is driving in Malibu on Pacific Coast Highway, as per the photo.

You have a point. A Ferrari gets a lot more attention in Malibu than a Porsche

 

[christoph]

I guess for me the art of tuning is to compensate by providing the same performance in a more mundane vehicle. One that might cope with Scottish roads and weather

But of the modern gt's it's the Lotus Exige that calls out to me the loudest

I think you and the GR (with it's perfect all-wheel drive with double torsen) would just LOVE those roads and especially in garstly weather because of the almost silly traction the GR (with Circuit Package) delivers

Not the slightest chance to follow GR in these conditions with the Lotus'es with their rear-wheel drive

To be really fast, I set the power distribution to 50% back and 50% front but if you are in a playful mood, you can easily change the power distribution to 70% rear and 30% front and have some serious fun

PS: for the first time since my childhood, I'm looking forward to have some snow (to plough around with the GR)

 

[christoph]

Back then even the eight cylinder 360 Spider was crazy expensive. Very few cars cost that much back then. Now there are loads of cars in the stratospheric price range, and beyond.

The new Maserati MC20 Cielo, which I think is one of the prettier new designs, is reasonably priced — relatively speaking. Still, to my eyes, it’s not as smooth and graceful and flowing-looking as the 360.

For the price of the Maserati, you could also get the new Ferrari 296 GTB which is VERY pretty IMO

New 2021 Ferrari 296 GTB launched with 819bhp V6 hybrid powertrain | Auto Express

The 205mph Ferrari 296 GTB supercar is powered by an all-new 2.9-litre plug-in hybrid engine

www.autoexpress.co.uk

 

[rando]

PS: for the first time since my childhood, I'm looking forward to have some snow (to plough around with the GR)

Hello Christoph, as someone with practical experience yielding to my inner child.

A mechanic that knows how many warning lights they can turn on for you will be worth the expense. Better to know ahead of time what the odds of hitting limp mode by the time this gif ends are.

 

[christoph]

Hello Christoph, as someone with practical experience yielding to my inner child.

A mechanic that knows how many warning lights they can turn on for you will be worth the expense. Better to know ahead of time what the odds of hitting limp mode by the time this gif ends are.

The Yaris has silly traction
This gif is extremely cool

 

[rando]

The Yaris has silly traction

Yes, silly traction is a great way to describe ice.

 

[KahunaCanuck]

Silly traction indeed...



The STI was in it's element...two weeks after buying it we had it in a winter rally...later we rented a frozen lake track that ended up melting...that car was a lot of fun!

 

[Zeotrope]

Also a big car guy, past industry engineer and future industry entrepreneur.

First car I fell in love with was a Honda S2000. It was the summer of 2000 and the car had just been launched. I was driving on (ironically) La Honda road just north of Palo Alto. It's a fantastic winding road that starts in a forest of massive redwoods, then winds through open plains, and ends up on route 1 and the Pacific. Absolutely amazing, and probably the S2000 was (and still is!) the best car for that road.


I am not a fan of what Porsche is doing with the 911. It can be a great car, but VW is really milking that platform for profits, which is a massive turn-off. There are better cars for enthusiasts than the 992 911.

Not a fan of Tesla. I "should be", but I think it's an appliance that gets you from A to B in a nice high-tech package. And that's great, for non-enthusiasts. There is also a misconception that a Tesla (or any EV) will last "forever". Not at all. The battery has a finite lifespan - there isn't enough data to know how long, but probably at around 100K km or 5-8 years, it will need to be replaced. At that point, the cost of the battery will likely be greater than the cost of the car (even with a new battery), so it will not make sense to replace it. At that point, you have a very expensive "paper weight" in your driveway. There is also a complicated cooling and heating system to keep the battery operating, not to mention a ton of electronics -- all of which can, and will, fail. So it's a misnomer to think that because there are no oil changes, you have a car that costs $0 to keep running.

I think battery powered EVs are a stepping stone to the next generation, which will likely use hydrogen, or some yet undiscovered energy storage material.

It's sad that R&D for gas engines is declining -- if you look at how efficient and F1 car is (it's several times more efficient than consumer car), there's a lot of untapped potential. And last I checked, "Dinosaur juice" is a lot more "green" than all the chemicals and minerals used to make LiOn batteries.

Currently driving an AMG GTC and G550 (both 2019) and they are awesome. I think Mercedes is nailing it these days.

 

[infinitely baffled]

Excellent post Zeotrope.
Favourite roads deserve a thread all of their own, methinks

 

[Gregadd]

Also a big car guy, past industry engineer and future industry entrepreneur.

First car I fell in love with was a Honda S2000. It was the summer of 2000 and the car had just been launched. I was driving on (ironically) La Honda road just north of Palo Alto. It's a fantastic winding road that starts in a forest of massive redwoods, then winds through open plains, and ends up on route 1 and the Pacific. Absolutely amazing, and probably the S2000 was (and still is!) the best car for that road.
View attachment 101013

I am not a fan of what Porsche is doing with the 911. It can be a great car, but VW is really milking that platform for profits, which is a massive turn-off. There are better cars for enthusiasts than the 992 911.

Not a fan of Tesla. I "should be", but I think it's an appliance that gets you from A to B in a nice high-tech package. And that's great, for non-enthusiasts. There is also a misconception that a Tesla (or any EV) will last "forever". Not at all. The battery has a finite lifespan - there isn't enough data to know how long, but probably at around 100K km or 5-8 years, it will need to be replaced. At that point, the cost of the battery will likely be greater than the cost of the car (even with a new battery), so it will not make sense to replace it. At that point, you have a very expensive "paper weight" in your driveway. There is also a complicated cooling and heating system to keep the battery operating, not to mention a ton of electronics -- all of which can, and will, fail. So it's a misnomer to think that because there are no oil changes, you have a car that costs $0 to keep running.

I think battery powered EVs are a stepping stone to the next generation, which will likely use hydrogen, or some yet undiscovered energy storage material.

It's sad that R&D for gas engines is declining -- if you look at how efficient and F1 car is (it's several times more efficient than consumer car), there's a lot of untapped potential. And last I checked, "Dinosaur juice" is a lot more "green" than all the chemicals and minerals used to make LiOn batteries.

Currently driving an AMG GTC and G550 (both 2019) and they are awesome. I think Mercedes is nailing it these days.

Not to mention the Elon Musk,, Tesla owner is a jackass. Producing electricity is dirty too. That battery has to be charged.
Carbon fuel efficiency is a band aid.