if ya gotta have an Austin Healy

Post #21,569 by boxley 12/14/01 11:57:44 PM Reply	if ya gotta have an Austin Healy ya might as well have the one I saw in the mid 80's 460 cid ton in 1st gear, dont try to take a sharp curve :) Mini Cooper? me like :) tshirt front "born to die before I get old" thshirt back "fscked another one didnja?"
Post #21,579 by Ashton 12/15/01 4:44:40 AM Reply	Re: if ya gotta have an Austin Healy Nahhh... it's the difference between staccato and largo, tweezers and a sledge hammer .. a Hog and a real motorcycle; lighter is better. Besides that A-H prolly handled like a truck and was too fast for the brakes n'stuff. Sprite was prolly the cheapest fun of the lot, with a few goodies would stay with an AH-100. I drove mine across US once w/no real stops except to sleep. That's not its best use. Sorry.. had a few rides in multi-pony Detroit iron and always felt it was like trying to move a 5-room house down the road. (One exception - the 5000# '70 Buick Riviera I owned briefly (and mentioned before, so won't go into how I happened onto it). Now that behemoth would stop, start and go around corners. I had to eat some Detroit-bashing after that one.. But as an eco-disaster: today it should be crushed; makes a UAV look like an econocar. :( Mini-Cooper sounds just right. Be glad to handle the long term testing for the zIWE* Auto Club. Long as it's in BRG (British Racing Green). Hmmm zIWE - should our mascot be a Kiwi? (Do they get along with penguins?) Ashton Fittipaldi Nuvolari
Post #21,580 by Ashton 12/15/01 4:45:48 AM Reply	Omniscient LRPD sez: "My other car is a blancmange."___:-\ufffd
Post #21,734 by boxley 12/17/01 2:06:27 PM Reply	big sled that corners? 72 New Yorker smush anything that it comes into contact with, can turn on a dime, go up on 2 come down on four and durned near impossible to roll on the flats. 440 under the hood. thanx, bill My Dreams arn't as empty as my concience seems to ne
Post #21,742 by Silverlock 12/17/01 2:53:27 PM Reply	Reminds me of my old land yacht '78 Olds Delta 88. A boat on wheels, but still one of my all time favorite cars (of those I have actually driven). When I visit the aquarium, the same thought keeps running through my mind; Leemmmooonnn, Buuttteerrr, MMMmmmmmm good!
Post #21,746 by cforde 12/17/01 4:07:13 PM Reply	another entry in the yacht club '76 Chevy Impala. I used to take great delight in backing into parking spots designated for Small Cars Only. The huge grill hanging over that sign always made me smile. Yeah, I know it was childish. Driving something as uncool as a beige land barge led me to fits of rebellion. On the other hand being able to take 5 friends and all our gear skiing in one car was pretty good... Have fun, Carl Forde
Post #21,749 by Steve Lowe 12/17/01 4:35:42 PM Reply	66 Pontiac GTO Previous owner had removed the Tri-power 389 and replaced it with a Ram Air III 400, had Muncie M-21 4-speed and power(!) windows. After breaking 3 rear ends, I replaced the Poncho 10-bolt with it's weak 'cone' locking device with a 12 bolt Chevy, boxed the lower control arms and added a rear sway bar. (why DeLorean didn't like them was always beyond me...) Updated the front suspension with polyurethane components and topped it all off with a nice set of Koni shocks. The best one was passing a 911 in Turkey Creek Canyon west of Denver... Never shoulda sold that thing. ----- Steve
Post #21,752 by CRConrad 12/17/01 5:02:28 PM Reply	For very Merkin values of "cornering", you mean? Da Ox: go up on 2 come down on four and durned near impossible to roll on the flats. Well, real cars don't "go up on 2 come down on four" in every corner -- they keep all four DOWN. And honestly, most manufacturers after about WWII would be fucking embarrased to even have to MENTION that their product won't roll over on level ground. I think my 1953 Volvo PV 444 would run rings around most of you guys' guzzler barges... BTW, Bill, is that a typo in your .sig or is it intentional -- "as my concience seems to ne"? Pedantically yours, Christian R. Conrad The Man Who Knows Fucking Everything
Post #21,759 by Ashton 12/17/01 6:03:38 PM Reply	He meant.._______ni As to cars and avoirdupois - as I'm sure you grok by now, Muricans don't got to worry 'bout no stinkin Physics! See.. with the wide-open spaces (air-conditioned deserts like Las Vegas to show full disdain for stupid-'ol Nature).. when we make a performance car, it's gotta be the longest widest heaviest atrocity the world has ever seen: Because we Can and rilly love flauntin it. It's a deeply ingrained part of our National Humility in all things. (I recall a late nite conversation with a guy who wanted to race his SEMI! (tractor alone, that is) against a Vincent -- from SF --> Reno. Why that little thang I'd eat fer a snack..) {sigh cackle} Ashton
Post #21,819 by boxley 12/18/01 9:15:48 AM Reply	typical euro mistaking racing fer safe murcan style of racing is a controlled crash and yes, give me any of your wee cars and I can put it up on two and roll it if I wish. Cant remember the movie now but in Italy a guy took a fiat while evading the police slapped it up on two wheels to get thru a jammed roadway. Havent rolled a Porche but have rolled a volvo. Idea of cornering is 60mph+ and making a hard turn into an intersection. Or like a buddy of mine used to do, he lived on a highway so would always lock it up sideways and effect the slide so when the vehicle stopped he would be perfectly aligned with his driveway and back in. Nerveracking with tractor trailers coming up behind him. thanx for the spell check :) bill My Dreams arn't as empty as my concience seems to be
Post #21,909 by Ashton 12/18/01 5:40:00 PM Reply	Don't ever grow 'up' Bill Ya'd make a lousy suit! Fortunately (fer you) :-\ufffd (Like when I got promo'd to Chief Honcho my boss said, Well Ashton, how's it feel to be a part of the establishment now?) Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. Cackle.. (He Did that.. I say, he Did That!) I said, OK.. but I'm still parkin my sickle in the Control Room - A. Nother un-suited one
Post #21,948 by CRConrad 12/19/01 8:39:28 AM Reply	More like typical Merk, thinking "corner" must mean "racing" Da Ox murcan style of racing is a controlled crash Sure -- but who was talking about racing?!? You must have been living in the land of the Interstate for too long, to have completely forgotten that over here on the twisted roads of the Crowded Continent, cornering can be a useful thing in just plain driving. (And that consequently, our cars tend to be built for it.) and yes, give me any of your wee cars and I can put it up on two and roll it if I wish. Sure, of course you "can" -- if that's what you're trying to do! Who ever said you couldn't? So can I, if I set my mind to it -- in one of our "wee" cars, or (and this is the point:) even more easily, in one of your wobble-barges! But how to make a car roll wasn't the point. The point was, that when you're not trying to roll the car, it preferably should not roll. And all I said was that as far as I know, our "wee cars" are better at that. Interestingly, you are nowhere actually claiming, explicitly, that your BattleGuzzlers are better at staying upright... So WTF is your, from the general tone of it "oppositional", post all about then? Did you really miss what we were talking about, or were you just trying to give the impression of having refuted my point while actually talking about something else? Cant remember the movie now but in Italy a guy took a fiat while evading the police slapped it up on two wheels to get thru a jammed roadway. Newsflash for Merkins: Movies aren't reality. Furthermore, are you sure that isn't the James Bond flick you're thinking of? Roger Moore, I'm fairly sure, I think not in Italy but -- Las Vegas, of all places! Can't remember for sure if it was in an Aston Martin or, believe-it-or-not, a Ford Mustang... (Again, refer to the "Newsflash" above.) But no matter: They're both pretty much "tractor-era" technology, with their separate ladder frames and live rear axles -- that Fiat would probably be much better than either of them, for this specific purpose. Havent rolled a Porche but have rolled a volvo. So? Wanna bet there's more people in the world who have rolled a Porsche but never a Volvo, than the converse? Idea of cornering is 60mph+ and making a hard turn into an intersection. No, that's not the idea of cornering -- that's more like the idea of jerky driving (or if you want, driving like a jerk). thanx for the spell check :) My Dreams arn't as empty as my concience seems to be You're welcome! (And to continue the nit-picking, "conscience" has an 's' in it. And only the 'o' from "not" is elided in "aren't"; the 'e' from "are" stays.) Christian R. Conrad The Man Who Knows Fucking Everything
Post #21,951 by boxley 12/19/01 9:14:13 AM Reply	If I was driving on the continent I sure as shit wouldnt be driving anything built over here unless it was a Lincoln on the autobahn. Like Alfa's Fiats and Citroen SM. The movie was a B euroflick circa 1976. Ya we do wierd stuff like taking my old 64 buick wildcat with 421 torque to 55 on the highway, drop it into low while hammering the accelerator then try to keep it straight. Miss that car. thanx for the s and e. thanx, bill My Dreams arn't as empty as my concience seems to be
Post #21,988 by CRConrad 12/19/01 3:05:41 PM Reply	Heh-heh... Yeah, drag racing is cool too, in its own way :-)

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