Shock and horror

[Valve Bounce]

I have always dreamt of great cars like the 300SL Gullwing, or the Porsche 356B Carerra, or the Ferrari 250 GT. Blinding acceleration and mind boggling speed came to mind. Now I am really stunned, horrified, shocked to find that a Volvo S60 T5 can out accelerate my dream cars, and probably leave some of them on the road in a straight line as well. (not the Ferrari, thank god!!) What is this world coming to?

[Ray Bell]

I don't think this would prevent me taking a 300SL Gullwing home if it was on offer... or if there was a choice. What a car!

Road & Track stunned the world by backing the Supra turbo as the quickest car around (I don't know what the parameters were, but it was up against Porsches and Ferraris) a few years ago.

[Valve Bounce]

Originally posted by Ray Bell
I don't think this would prevent me taking a 300SL Gullwing home if it was on offer... or if there was a choice. What a car!

Road & Track stunned the world by backing the Supra turbo as the quickest car around (I don't know what the parameters were, but it was up against Porsches and Ferraris) a few years ago.

Ray!! I knew a guy, Arnold Glass I think, who lent his girlfriend drive his 356 Carrera and she rolled it and it was totalled.

Nothing would prevent me from taking any one of the three home with me if I had half a chance - I think there was only one RHD Gullwing ever in existance, numbered SL300 and owned by this guy down at Surfers Paradise. You go surround him, I'll drive the car away.

[Ray Bell]

Jack Jefferys had one and there was another in Adelaide, I'm sure they were both RHD. Arthur Rizzo describes in an article he wrote for our Newsletter how he was converting one when a M-B guy walked in and wondered why they hadn't thought of doing it that way... something like that.

I went off the 300SL a little when I first saw a 504 Coupe, which is a prettier car, but I'm still interested.

Yes, and I'd be interested in the Supra, and lots of other things, too...

One of the most fun cars I ever drove was a Daihatsu 800 Cabriolet (about 1966 model), and the early Corolla Levin with the 1600 twin cam celica gear was fun too.

[bella]

supras (esp. the 7 or 8 year old ones) are absolutely amazing. one of my friends has one, and we hit 90 on a stretch of road you normally do about 40 on, before braking heavily and putting me in the footwell (shows you what leather seats and no seatbelt does..).
amazing cars.

[KC]

Road & Track had an article a few years ago about this same subject. A lot of the writers would wax nostalgic on their favorite muscle car from the 60s and early 70s. The magazine has been around for a long time and has always maintained a huge database on the performance figures for the cars they regularly test. They found that the 1999 Honda mini-van could out accelerate and out brake all of the premier muscle cars of their day. They also note that tire technology is the largest culprit in this inbalance, not to mention the improvements in engine and suspension design.

[Valve Bounce]

You can have fun in any car, provided it doesn't have a propensity to roll over (like the early Beatles). I had a Lada 124 (equivalent to the Fiat 124) provided for me by the Cypriot Government for supervision of the construction of the Nicosia - Limassol Highway. During construction, much of the access was by an earth sidetrack, and it was just amazing fun to push this car along, sideways through all the bends, whipping up a huge cloud of dust behind. Then there was the 1967 Holden Ute provided by the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Authority: I used to drive this along the transmission line access track called Schlinks Pass between Guthega Power Station and Geehi Dam as well as the track between Talbingo towards Khankoban. Or the 1964 Falcon Ute I used power along ice and snow to supervise snow clearing. Then there was the Peugeot 403 I used to rally - what great fun. You really don't need an expensive muscle car to reach Nirvana - because if I had a Porsche Turbo or Ferrari, I would never dream of driving them the way I drove the above cars. You just need to be young and stupid.!!

[Ray Bell]

Yes, I've found the same pleasure in similar vehicles, the 403, 203s, old Holdens, Simca Arondes, all that stuff..

But hey, you didn't have to pay for a lot of it... no fair!

[DAVID PATERSON]

A wealthy car collector in Buderim has a 300SL gullwing which he occasionally drive to classic car shows.

Paul Cockburn of Wheels magazine, a devoted old car nut, wrote a very entertaining article on how the cars of today have no respect for the legends of the past. He listed many mediocre shopping trolleys of today and described, quoting facts and figures, how they would leave classic sports and performance cars in their wake.