Oh yes I agree, unfortunately so many of the cars I grew up seeing have 10x in value and I've watched them drift out of reach as I am not able to catch up to them, even the old hondas are silly money, I'd love an old civic, but the reality is the car scene has changed so much
My first car started out with 38 horsepower, I did swap the engine from 848 to 1098 cc which gave it about 48hp. I agree with rmjbn1 about having more fun. I always the 1098cc engine was fitted to these cars and the car was so old - older than me - they werent interested and just put it in the 1100cc group which was the same as the 848 cc one. After a lot of years and miles its now clear that something more powerful would have been a bad thing! You really do need experience to learn restraint in the use of speed. Even with a few more years and miles you still make mistakes, but you are better equipped to deal with it. I used to do what I called stand off and charge motoring to make good progress. When you know the road you can hang back and then accelerate so you arrive at a time and place to facilitate overtaking.... It doesnt work as well today as there is just too much traffic. The Panda may be slow but its still quicker than those old cars and generally the brakes work better too. I can cover ground as fast in the Panda as in nearly anything else these days. I learned the lesson about powerfiul cars when riding as a passenger in a Saab Turbo. I was thinking why doesnt the driver overtake, I would have done, and another car arrived on scene round a bend. I wask quite shocked about the thought of what I would have done had I been driving the Saab, and thankfully it sank in deep. These powerful machines cost a royal fortune to run if driven hard, and they often pose a danger to other road users by inexperienced people doing so, You should have noticed that there are a lot of old farts on here driving Pandas because they really enjoy them, and we have all arrived at the same conclusion over this so there must be something in it. Quite a few have a Panda as a second car but admit they enjoy driving it more than their main car. I have regular thoughts about getting something much more powerful, I Fancy the V12 Mercedes Coupe, and I also think of straying to a Jag XJ or XF. My brother has a V8 diesel Range Rover, and its very nice.... up to a point. His road tax is around £600 a year, his insurance is nearly three times what I pay, and his fuel bills make my eyes water. He cannot keep up with the Panda on a narrow windy road either. OK he can power past on the camera infested motorways, at a cost but thats it.Aye, insurance is pretty mean on young drivers.
But it'll be absolutely crippling if you bolt any go-faster bits on it.
And if you don't tell 'em it's been modified then it'll invalidate your insurance, so don't do that.
There's really no way to win, you just need to be patient.
I'd guess most of us started out on low-powered cars. 2CV here, with all of 29bhp...
But you know what? I miss it terribly, had some of the most fun I've ever had in a car. Even overtook something going uphill once, but that was in snow
And I'd put the Panda in the same bracket.
Yes, you need to work it hard to get the most out of it, but that's part of the fun
Hi.
