Which car are you buying this year?

[AnthonyH]

Speaking of lambos

The car I’m watching on eBay right now

View attachment 478980

Given the cost of new cars right now £60k isn’t all that bad

LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO 5.0 V10 2006 | eBay UK

This beauty has been enjoyed by seven previous keepers to date, with the current vendor owning the Gallardo for around 9 months. Apart from its stunning looks, this fine example is noted for its very modest 25,000 miles to date and a fastidious service history.

ebay.us

Though my wife just reminded me of the Ferrari 458 Italia I drove earlier last year and how I liked that a lot more than the gallardo but I’d be happy with either. The Ferrari isn’t £60k

Also I’m delusional to think I can afford any of them right now

Looks nice! I prefer the Miura for the shapes, the BHP won't get near the Gallardo though, it'd pull some g's! I imagine the leather in the Miura would be expensive or impossible to replace.

I'm following Fiat 500X's on auction sites, i'd like another, but i'll probably end up buying another Grande Punto or EVO to bring my "fleet" back up to 3 when my current EVO goes off to the great scrapyard in the sky. There's no real rush to buy though, i've got until the summer. I'm slowly getting used to the 500X and its foibles.

 

[AnthonyH]

The only ‘old’ supercar I’d have is a Dino or GT4…I like little stuff that surprises, in a good way, and big stuff that will go over anything…oh, and stuff you can fix with a hammer

From what i can gather a GT4 is a sports car built from any production based car. So for example there is a Porsche GT4, BMW GT4 etc. which production car thats been souped up do you want?

There might even be a Panda GT4 out there somewhere...

 

[AnthonyH]

I googled Panda GT4 and it brought back the Fiat Panda Super in the computer game Gran Turismo 4. Apparenty the Super is known for the ease of its unconventional modifications.

The Fiat Panda Super model from 1990 had these specs.

Specification

	Details
Engine	1.0 L Inline-4 (Fiat FIRE engine)
Power	45 PS (44 bhp)
Torque	7.5 kgf·m (54.2 lb·ft)
Drivetrain	Front-Engine, Front-Wheel Drive (FF)
Weight	730 kg (1,609 lbs)
Top Speed	Approx. 91 mph (146 km/h)
0-60 Time	23.1 seconds

 

[PuntoHowTo]

From what i can gather a GT4 is a sports car built from any production based car.

I’m going to guess in this instance he’s talking about the Ferrari GT4 as he mentioned it in the same sentence as a dino. That being said there was the original v6 dino and then the Dino GT4, but that could mean the 208 or the 308 gt4 and to be honest aside from the original Ferrari Dino, the 208 and 308 were bland and ugly and didn’t sell well at all. The other notable Ferrari of that time was the 308GTS, still low on power by modern standards but a far better looking car. I seem to think the “4” of GT4 came from the quad cam engine.
The other thing about these cars was the pretty terrible performance, only just breaking 250hp in a quad cam 32valve V8

I think the Porsche 930 turbo from the same era had more power and less cylinders.

Mean while these days a golf GTI has as much/more power in an infinitely more practical and less fragile package.

Going back to the Miura that was a work of art and not something you’d want to drive daily, where as the Gallardo I’d have no concern driving and enjoying it… also you could probably buy a lot of Gallardos for the cost of one Miura

The Gallardo is also 4wd so good for this snowy weather we’ve been having.

 

[AnthonyH]

If you believe this page

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403227844799

Then there were only 338 Miuras made. And this lovely purple one is for sale at £2,000,000.

I can't say i've ever seen one in person and the one pictured looks like its had some AI enhancements?!

I can't imagine taking it to the coop to buy some milk either

There's about an inch of snow here, its been a few years since i've seen this much.

 

[The Panda Nut]

I'll probably get another Punto this year. My EVO needs a fair bit of work to get through its next MOT in June, and it may not be worth fixing it.

The 500X i bought last year is going through its handover to me, with a few problems, those will pass because its a good car. I've mostly been letting the wife drive it locally so if/when it has issues its not far away from home.

and of course she can push it home LOL

 

[The Panda Nut]

View attachment 478999

If you believe this page

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403227844799

Then there were only 338 Miuras made. And this lovely purple one is for sale at £2,000,000.

I can't say i've ever seen one in person and the one pictured looks like its had some AI enhancements?!

I can't imagine taking it to the coop to buy some milk either

There's about an inch of snow here, its been a few years since i've seen this much.

Blimey. I remeber in the very early 70s being on a Townsend ferry from Calais after a european holiday. On the foredeck were half a dozen Lambos. Miuras, and a Couple of Espadas My brother and I were captivated and spent the hwole trip staring longingly. I was watching The Italian Job a couple of nights back and observing the driver of the Miura in the opening scene working the wheel round the alpine bends. It looked OK moving, but I wouldnt want to try parallel parking one. They just dont make stuff that beautiful today more is the shame,

 

[AnthonyH]

and of course she can push it home LOL

I thought that the EVO chucked a lot of dashboard warnings, the 500X is worse, the moment something little happens its like the Blackpool illuminations, then gone as fast as they arrived...

 

[AnthonyH]

Blimey. I remeber in the very early 70s being on a Townsend ferry from Calais after a european holiday. On the foredeck were half a dozen Lambos. Miuras, and a Couple of Espadas My brother and I were captivated and spent the hwole trip staring longingly. I was watching The Italian Job a couple of nights back and observing the driver of the Miura in the opening scene working the wheel round the alpine bends. It looked OK moving, but I wouldnt want to try parallel parking one. They just dont make stuff that beautiful today more is the shame,

I just had a watch, its been a long time since i saw The Italian Job. Triffic



And here is Top Gear recreating the classic scene above

 

[The Panda Nut]

I just had a watch, its been a long time since i saw The Italian Job. Triffic



And here is Top Gear recreating the classic scene above

Days like this is on my memory stick for driving that road!

 

[AnthonyH]

They had a top speed of 180mph and 0-60 in 6 seconds. Not that useful on British motorways but...

 

[rmjbn1]

Sounds about right. Amazes me the value some people put on classic cars nowadays, used to be about selling them to someone who was gonna do right by the car thus letting them have it for a sensible price. Those days are long gone unfortunately though

Hear hear it's utterly bonkers
Even in mid-2000s there was some great stuff you could get sub £5k
I always promised myself either one of these 1300 beauties

Never imagining they would suddenly jump up in value and away over the ever-receding horizon of possibilities

Now I'm just waiting for the wealthy owners to get bored or snuff it so us poor folk get to play with them again

 

[PuntoHowTo]

They just dont make stuff that beautiful today more is the shame,

The 60s was a very special time for cars, I'd say most of the most beautiful cars ever made, were made in the 60s..... then the 70s happened.

I mean you only need to look at the Lamborghini GT Coupe, the Miura and then the Countach.

The Ferrari, 250 California. The 330GTC and then the Ferrari 365 GTS (which was perfect for holding open a door)

The original Porsche 911, versus the later porsche 914 (technically still 60s but very 70s styled) and the 924 and 944 of the 70s and 80s.

Really it was only by the end of the 80s begining of the 90s that good looking cars returned.

the Porsche 959, Ferrari F40 and 348/355. The Lamborghini Diablo. The Jaguar XJ220. There was a pretty bad period for good looking cars from the early 70s through to about 1987/88.

 

[porta]

From what i can gather a GT4 is a sports car built from any production based car. So for example there is a Porsche GT4, BMW GT4 etc. which production car thats been souped up do you want?

There might even be a Panda GT4 out there somewhere...

A Dino 308 GT4

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

If they weren't so ridiculously expensive over here, I'd love to get a kitted out Jimny to replace my Jeep!

View attachment 457720

Being a bit of a Land Rover lover - "proper" Land Rovers that is, not the modern ones. This look is very appealing to me. However in practice they are often not very practical with poor ride quality etc. Having said that I'd love to take a conventional estate car body - maybe one of the large Volvos? - and build it onto a Baja Trophy Truck type underpinnings:



Problems with traffic calming humps and potholes would truly be a thing of the past!

I've been thinking quite a lot just of late about what we might get to replace Becky when the time comes. I've recently done a quite detailed appraisal of her condition and although, thankfully, there is probably a few years of life in her body still, she's got a lot of age related problems with componentry generally. This really means I need to spend quite a bit on renewing stuff like brake drums (they are probably approaching being dangerous due to metal loss through corrosion) various brake pipes, the radiator is looking decidedly scrappy and she's loosing coolant very slowly but I haven't, so far, found the leak - takes a bit less than half a litre per month to top up. I could go on listing non terminal problems but when all added up it just goes to say she's simply wearing out - she is 15 ears old after all - Oh, and don't forget she needs a new back axle and will need a timing belt done this year.

The thing is though, what to replace her with? Another newer 1.2 Panda is the obvious choice and will probably be what we end up with. However we had a Suzuki Swift in the family a few years ago and it was a car I liked driving which was also mechanically very dependable and easy to maintain. Eventually it rusted out pretty much all over - like the old Mk1 pandas used to. On that basis I'm intrigued by the Celerio which looks nice and simple. Maybe I should take a look at a couple. The spares situation will almost certainly not be as good as the Fiats though. It needs to be small, not turboed, have port type injection, and the less tech in it the better.

 

[AnthonyH]

Being a bit of a Land Rover lover - "proper" Land Rovers that is, not the modern ones. This look is very appealing to me. However in practice they are often not very practical with poor ride quality etc. Having said that I'd love to take a conventional estate car body - maybe one of the large Volvos? - and build it onto a Baja Trophy Truck type underpinnings:



Problems with traffic calming humps and potholes would truly be a thing of the past!

I've been thinking quite a lot just of late about what we might get to replace Becky when the time comes. I've recently done a quite detailed appraisal of her condition and although, thankfully, there is probably a few years of life in her body still, she's got a lot of age related problems with componentry generally. This really means I need to spend quite a bit on renewing stuff like brake drums (they are probably approaching being dangerous due to metal loss through corrosion) various brake pipes, the radiator is looking decidedly scrappy and she's loosing coolant very slowly but I haven't, so far, found the leak - takes a bit less than half a litre per month to top up. I could go on listing non terminal problems but when all added up it just goes to say she's simply wearing out - she is 15 ears old after all - Oh, and don't forget she needs a new back axle and will need a timing belt done this year.

The thing is though, what to replace her with? Another newer 1.2 Panda is the obvious choice and will probably be what we end up with. However we had a Suzuki Swift in the family a few years ago and it was a car I liked driving which was also mechanically very dependable and easy to maintain. Eventually it rusted out pretty much all over - like the old Mk1 pandas used to. On that basis I'm intrigued by the Celerio which looks nice and simple. Maybe I should take a look at a couple. The spares situation will almost certainly not be as good as the Fiats though. It needs to be small, not turboed, have port type injection, and the less tech in it the better.

I think another Panda would be a good choice, they're supposedly more reliable than a 500. Whenever i've thought about buying a swift they've been in such poor condition that now i won't even look at them. They're in worse conditon than a Punto even!

I should get rid of my EVO really, thing is i know the clutch, front subframe, brakes and exhaust have been done. If i buy another inevitably those will be falling off or failing.

 

[AnthonyH]

A Dino 308 GT4

Nice!

 

[AnthonyH]

A Dino 308 GT4

I don't think the red does the car justice so i went to look for a better colour and could barely find one, maybe they wanted the 1960s colour schemes, but anyway the best i could find is yellow, yes really lol

 

[AnthonyH]

a Baja Trophy Truck type underpinnings:



Problems with traffic calming humps and potholes would truly be a thing of the past!

I like the way they carry two spare tyres on the back of the truck !!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I like the way they carry two spare tyres on the back of the truck !!

If I had the money for some real exotica - never going to be - I think the Alfa 33 Stradale is just drop dead gorgeous:



Only ever seen one in the flesh and it was parked in a driveway just up the road from out rented cottage in The U.S. - couldn't believe it was actually a real one!

For many years I've harboured a secret longing for a Pantera GT5 model:



Again, never going to happen and completely impractical.

One of these would be quite nice for our trips down to the "deep south" from time to time:



don't know if I could afford to insure it though, let alone keep it in fuel?

Ok guys and dolls, dream time over, better get looking for a Panda replacement because I just went out to melt the windscreen ice and warm the engine up on Becky as Mrs J needs her for a hospital visit and I noticed there's a bit of input shaft bearing noise in the gearbox - slight rattle type noise with clutch driving but in neutral and no noise if clutch depressed. I've heard them before and know exactly what this is. So, coupled with all the other things I know need attention, I think it's time for her to go (says he choking back the tears and feeling like a traitor).