Obtainable Dream Cars of Our Youth

B

Bumpy

Senior member
 Whitby, Ontario, Canada
Like some here I started out with a 1962 Morris Mini with an 850 cc motor.
I got that when I was 15 - Even before I was of driving age.
The guy I bought it from raced a Mini Cooper S and I was lucky enough to be welcomed to hang around his garage.

I enjoyed my Mini and learned so much with it.
But there were other cars that also caught my eye for future consideration.
I never obtained any of them, but I'm curious if some here actually did and what was there opinion.

First was a Lotus Europa. The John Player Version in Black and Gold would have been my first choice of colour. I saw several of these on the road back in the late 60's. One rich kid got one for his 16th birthday. I think someone said there was a Lotus engined version that was preferred to the Renault standard one.

I thought that the Triumph GT6+ was a totally amazing car. I just loved the body work on that one. Reminded me of a scaled down Mustang GT. I knew of several who drove Spitfires (even one painted like the Royal Air Force version - British Roundel on the door), but like our Zeds, the Coupes have their admirers.

Lastly was the Fiat X9. Tiny wedge of a thing with the motor in back (I believe). Pretty advanced styling but ..It was a Fiat so who would be crazy enough to buy one. A couple of friends actually did, but they aren't talking and it's been eons since I have seen any of those cars anywhere. Probably they all blew up and rusted away prematurely like most Fiats in North America.

So my fellow Zedsters. Anyone admire these ? Any worldly experiences ?

Cheers
Bumpy
 
I had a couple of fiat x19s , mid engined 1.3 or 1.5 , great handling little cars , or at least that's how I remember them . In reality they were probably rusty old heaps of crap !
For some reason fiat chose to make the front mounted rad pipes out of steel and box them in in a channel that was welded to the floor and ran back to the engine , I ended up cutting the box section open all the way along to replace them then welding it back together
 
My mate and I travelled miles in his GT6 Mk2. You are right about the looks (I always thought it looked like a shortened E Type) With 6 cylinders, louvres in the bonnet and overdrive it was a smooth and quite fast car for it's time. The half drive shafts at the back snapped I remember and we had to replace the diff with one from a Vitesse. . . .happy days!

I crashed my Dad's Triumph Spitfire! He was very happy about that as he'd only had it a few days (the turning circle was amazing but on full lock it didn't self centre and too late I hit a fence . . . ) A very basic and slow car in comparison to my Uncles 1600GT Capri.

Admired the Lotus and in the colours you mention they looked fabulous but I read they were very unreliable. The Fiat X19 was mid engine I believe and when it came out caused some interest but was under-powered.

My dream car at 12 was the Ford Escort Mexico - those stripes down the side, the slight wheel arch bulge and the 0 to 60 time of 10 seconds - at the time - Wow!

I can't believe the performance, comfort, capability and reliability of cars today in comparison. I find my Zed amazing in that respect.
 
I used to help a neighbour clean his different Lotus's most weekends from the early to mid 70's, he worked for Lotus and came home on Fridays with a current model. A blast to local garage to vacuum the carpets and 50 pence payment...joy. I was to small to see out of the windows though as you sat very low in them and I was only 9 or 10 at the time.

A friend of the family had a Jensen interceptor in the late 70's, what a nice car and quick too.
My 1st dream car at the age of 20 was a Triumph Stag, 1975 mimosa yellow, MOD, great sound track from the V8.

I have a Triumph GT6 MK3 in the garage (long term project), I also have a 1995 Toyota MR2 and of course my Z, so pretty happy at the moment.
 
Always modest I've had some of the 'dream cars of my youth'. 9 MGBs including 2 V8s, two triumph stags and currently a TR6.

Only 3 cars I've ever wanted and not had - yet. Morgan, E-type and cobra. I will have one of them in the next 5 years.
 
In descending order of a young man's drooling:

Lotus Elan Sprint in Gold Leaf colours (0-60 in 6.2 seconds IIRC) :) :)

Triumph TR4A - my second cousin passed his test on his 17th birthday and this was his present! (Never liked him much anyway! :x )

Triumph TR6 - a neighbour had one that was chocolate brown on the lower bits and gold on the upper bits. It also had Wolfrace wheels. Sounds aweful but looked great. :)

My brother in law has a GT6 which has been in his garage for over 20 years. It's supposed to be his retirement hobby, but that seems to be a long way off yet.

The V12 E Type final edition - black paint, saddle colour interior - bordered on the orgasmic, but was a dream too far for an impoverished young man :(
 
Same here. I started in 1998 with a 1983 998cc Mini, drum brakes and all. I aspired to my Dad's 1293 Cooper S. I did all the work myself nad the car ended up with: Mini Se7en 1040cc engine with stage 5 1275 head, full adjustable suspension, cage etc.

My dream cars have always been the TVR Griffith and Mk2 Lotus Elise, both of which I have been lucky enough to own.

I remember being 12 and seeing the pictures of the Griffith prototype in the paper and I thought it was the coolest car I had ever seen. It had light covers!

10 years later I bought a TVR S3, I kept for 2 years and then a friend decided to part with his Griffith, which I got at 23 (which I still have). he still regrets selling it! I've had it for 11 years now.

I got an Elise S1 3 years later, which I lost in a fire, and I made the decision to go to an S2, which was awesome. A bit tamer than the S1, but so much easier to live with and it looked the nuts!

The only coupe I really liked was the Z4, which I got 2 years ago now and still have.

My dream, dream cars I will never achieve are: Lambo Diablo and XJ220 (proper 90's super cars).

I've also been lucky enough to own my dream bike, an MV Agusta F3. I saw it when the prototype debuted (the clay model) and thought wow!

As the miles go up on my Z4 and the gf may get a company car, I have been considering selling up the Z4 and trying for an Exige, but they are going up in value and miles and I know the ins and outs of Lotuses well, plus I am liking my comfort as I get on in age. A Cayman does attract me, but would it be worth the extra running costs over the Z4?
 
My dad had a blue MGC , a red Alfa 2.0 GTV which i adored and was a great car , while my my Mum had a maroon Lancia Fulvia .One uncle had a white Alfa spider ,a white Lancia Flavia and a blue Elan Sprint all of which i remember fondly . Another uncle had a white Jensen interceptor , a white E type coupe V12 and a white Corniche . Of those it would always be the Alfa i would like to own the most .
 
Wildfire said:
Same here. I started in 1998 with a 1983 998cc Mini, drum brakes and all. I aspired to my Dad's 1293 Cooper S. I did all the work myself nad the car ended up with: Mini Se7en 1040cc engine with stage 5 1275 head, full adjustable suspension, cage etc.

My dream cars have always been the TVR Griffith and Mk2 Lotus Elise, both of which I have been lucky enough to own.

I remember being 12 and seeing the pictures of the Griffith prototype in the paper and I thought it was the coolest car I had ever seen. It had light covers!

10 years later I bought a TVR S3, I kept for 2 years and then a friend decided to part with his Griffith, which I got at 23 (which I still have). he still regrets selling it! I've had it for 11 years now.

I got an Elise S1 3 years later, which I lost in a fire, and I made the decision to go to an S2, which was awesome. A bit tamer than the S1, but so much easier to live with and it looked the nuts!

The only coupe I really liked was the Z4, which I got 2 years ago now and still have.

My dream, dream cars I will never achieve are: Lambo Diablo and XJ220 (proper 90's super cars).

I've also been lucky enough to own my dream bike, an MV Agusta F3. I saw it when the prototype debuted (the clay model) and thought wow!

As the miles go up on my Z4 and the gf may get a company car, I have been considering selling up the Z4 and trying for an Exige, but they are going up in value and miles and I know the ins and outs of Lotuses well, plus I am liking my comfort as I get on in age. A Cayman does attract me, but would it be worth the extra running costs over the Z4?
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Is your Griff the rare big valve 4.3 -these precats are going up in value all the time -i agree they look amazing and sound epic .
Have done the TVR thing and it hurt my wallet too much, so not good memories for me im afraid,but can def see the attraction for anyone wanting tio sctratch that itch .
 
No, sadly I "only" have 4.0. It does have V8 Developments Stage 4 heads and bunch of modifications (ACT Carbon trumpets, carbon plenum, triple throttle bodies, mapped etc.) I think I have been relatively lucky as I have done 35,000 miles in mine and only had one time I had an issue and that was self inflicted as I was messing around in the fuse box and dislodged the fuel pump relay (although I do expect a chassis refurb soon, as she is 21 years old). I do 90% of the work myself to keep the costs down. She needs TLC this summer though as a few niggles needs sorting, nothing that is terrible, just little things.

Just wish I had more time to drive it and work on it!



 
My obtainable dream cars from when I was lil amounted to a DB7, an E36 M3, a supra and a 911 and I've ticked them off now in some similar shape or form, vantage, z4m (its a stretch but similar engine wise I suppose), two supras and a 911. There are only three cars that I want to tick off now but they're made of unobtanium so aren't in the immediate future just yet but they'll happen, hopefully within the next couple of years
 
Wildfire said:
No, sadly I "only" have 4.0. It does have V8 Developments Stage 4 heads and bunch of modifications (ACT Carbon trumpets, carbon plenum, triple throttle bodies, mapped etc.) I think I have been relatively lucky as I have done 35,000 miles in mine and only had one time I had an issue and that was self inflicted as I was messing around in the fuse box and dislodged the fuel pump relay (although I do expect a chassis refurb soon, as she is 21 years old). I do 90% of the work myself to keep the costs down. She needs TLC this summer though as a few niggles needs sorting, nothing that is terrible, just little things.

Just wish I had more time to drive it and work on it!



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t
I had a griff 500 for just less than a year , got it out of my system without to much hassle . Only car I've ever bought of a main dealer and then been told at the handover that it will leak in and don't trust the fuel gauge after a quarter of a tank :lol: porsche owners don't know what they are missing out on :rofl:
 
When I was younger my dream car was an R33 skyline, ended up buying one a few years back although sadly not the turbo version but it was still an amazing car. After that had a lot of boring cars until the Z
 
Presuming age 23 still counts as a "youth" (I am now 75 and still feel youthful when driving my Z4 or my Mazda Miata MX-5) I had dreams of purchasing a new XKE Jaguar when I left Canada for three years with NATO in Germany in 1961 but as a single young soldier found that I could not afford it so instead I purchased a lightly used 1963 Morgan 4/4 with the 1340 cc Ford 109E engine. After modifications at the Morgan Works in Malvern Link, performance was much improved, and I enjoyed some success rallying with a sports car club in Germany. I shipped it to Canada but had to sell it before I got married in 1966. The photo is from a copy of a scanned 50 year old print so it is flattering to neither the car nor myself.
MORGAN%20SCAN_zps3xwjufk2.jpg
 
brightonbimmer said:
Presuming age 23 still counts as a "youth" (I am now 75 and still feel youthful when driving my Z4 or my Mazda Miata MX-5) I had dreams of purchasing a new XKE Jaguar when I left Canada for three years with NATO in Germany in 1961 but as a single young soldier found that I could not afford it so instead I purchased a lightly used 1963 Morgan 4/4 with the 1340 cc Ford 109E engine. After modifications at the Morgan Works in Malvern Link, performance was much improved, and I enjoyed some success rallying with a sports car club in Germany. I shipped it to Canada but had to sell it before I got married in 1966. The photo is from a copy of a scanned 50 year old print so it is flattering to neither the car nor myself.
MORGAN%20SCAN_zps3xwjufk2.jpg
Click to expand...

Wow ! Great looking Morgan.
That land looks so flat, must have been in Essex County.
Back in 1970 a teacher at my High School and her husband returned from teaching with the DND in Germany and brought back with them two brand new MB sports cars. Apparently they even toured the MB Plant to take delivery. Their plan was to sell one in Canada, but liked them so much they kept both.

Cheers
Bumpy

ps If that Morgan was located in Essex County then I think I saw it back in 1978 cruising Hwy 18 between Leamington and Harrow.
 
The photo was taken at the end of Carnforth Road (#108) in Toronto in the spring of 1965. I sold it in spring 1966 to Bill Brack of Sports Cars Unlimited in Mississauga, and I know it sat on the lot for almost a year, but I do not know where it went after that. I think I spotted it once later in Toronto on Eglinton near Yonge, but am not positive. The poplar trees in the background have all long since died, as has the business where the photo was taken, but I am still going strong.
David
 
My friend's first car was a '67 MGB - he looked at quite a few other brands, but the MG was the only one he could get his 6'6" frame into easily and not look like he was driving a Noddy car. That inspired me to get a 78 x/19 - so underpowered compared to the 1500 5 speed version, but it handled great and was heaps of fun. It was an ex-California LHD so got even more looks than usual as I piloted it from the wrong side of the car... but the good news was thanks to the climate it came from it had no rust to speak of. Unfortunately it also came with the god-awful USA spec picket fence bumpers. A local couple shoe horned 2 litre Lancia engines into their X/19's and raced them at the local track. They had the Abarth snorkels/air intakes and looked pretty cool. That pretty much 'scratched the itch' for nearly 25 years, and now I have the Zed.
 
Paulwirral said:
I had a griff 500 for just less than a year , got it out of my system without to much hassle . Only car I've ever bought of a main dealer and then been told at the handover that it will leak in and don't trust the fuel gauge after a quarter of a tank :lol: porsche owners don't know what they are missing out on :rofl:
Click to expand...
TVR`s certainly are a big test of patience and you need a very good sense of humour, I had my Cerbera for just over 6 years and it gave me many highs but plenty of lows too, I still miss it though and hanker after another and it just seemed to get really under my skin whereas nothing else I have had since has.

Foolishly I thought with mine being a Coupe and not a Convertible that it wouldn't leak...silly me! :lol:

TVR`s sound the business though 8) and I had a Z4M and V8 M3 after mine and they both sounded piss poor in comparison...but they both worked and could be relied on so the lack of noise was a small price to pay. :D
 
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