The dream remains a common one: wind in the hair, throaty exhaust, a pinch of chrome. European machines have defined the roadster genre for decades, cementing motoring memories for enthusiasts young and old. They’re the cars good enough for hometown heroes and Hollywood heartthrobs alike.
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Had a TR-3A, TR-6, 1500 Spitfire, Alfa 1600 Duetto, and Alfa 1750 Spider. None of them could hold a candle to my 1979 TR-8 (especially with the Holley 390 added).
In reply to Larry Larson : my list of British cars is long too: Mini, TR4s, MGB Roadster and GT, Midget, TR6. I have long eyeballed the TR8 but never driven one. Also the Stag remains interesting to me. But the comments here about the Alfa are intriguing. I will have to revisit that car.
I have driven the TR8s in both versions (I prefer the injected cars) and they aren't the pocket Cobras that some people think they should be when they hear those magic words "V8". With only 133 bhp (carb) and 148 bhp (late injected) they were slower than the MGB GT V8 which only had the 133 bhp version of the engine. They did feel pretty tight and comfortable, which the early TR7s certainly did not.
I have significant experience with both and for me this isnt even close. I would take the Alfa every time
In reply to MotorwerksMarketing :
I own both of these cars and while i kind of thought I liked the Alfa better, until we drove them back to back, I didn;t realy know. Now I do.
Now make it an Alfa Montreal and that might change minds. That small (displacement) but also large (territory) engine looks really cool.
In reply to Larry Larson :
A TR8 is hardly within the same comparison reference frame. If you're going to take that approach, going V8 against V8, I'm sure an Alfa Montreal would like to have a word with it.
We're talking sports cars, right? A beautiful alloy twincam against a tractor motor? The decision is easy.
When I used to lead the Day Before The Britcar Day tours in Silicon Valley, a friend let me drive his TR6 home from a run through Niles Canyon and the hills in the East Bay. I think I've only owned two cars with a better exhaust note than his TR6, one of them my '51 M.G. TD with an 18" glass pack installed by the car's longtime previous owner. The other was my '66 330GT 2+2, which had the kind of exhaust note that my wife observed caused every male within earshot to crane their necks to see what was making That Sound.
This particular TR6 had chassis-to-body bushings that, as the Brits say, were perished. Likewise, the suspension bushings were similarly absent. But that sound... Lovely car.
For all that, I have owned a 1974 Alfa Romeo Spider -- last year with the stainless bumpers and no smog gear other than the Spica -- since the late '90s. I'm currently lining up shops to do a cosmetic freshining-up -- I live on the Oregon Coast, have no garage, and a mud pit for a driveway, so it's not something I can do at home.
The Spider was my daily commuter the last time I had a daily commute, and after moving to Oregon in 2001, it was my regular spring-through-autumn car on the required trips back to Silicon Valley to remind my employer what I looked like and that I really, really appreciated the automatic deposit every two weeks, thankyouverymuch. Driving through almond orchards north of Thunderhill in the Spider taught me that almond blossoms have a scent, a combination of jasmine and amaretto, but you need about ten thousand trees to be able to smell it.
Even after I bought the black Miata in my profile pic, every time I drive the Spider I find myself asking, "So why EXACTLY do I have any other cars than this one?" The coastal Oregon climate (and the effect it has on cars built before the regular use of electrophoretic primer) helps provide an answer to that question, as did the three little people who used to rely on me to take them places like school and out for ice cream, but who have now grown up and moved out. I *still* have a Miata, this one an NC, which is a better long-distance tourer than either the Spider or the two much-loved NAs I used to have. And the trunk on the NC is big enough that my wife can bring enough clothing for a weekend trip.
But the Spider has always been a "sweet spot," a balance of all the things we care about in cars. I've had better handling cars (the 914 I used to own, followed closely by the black NA in my picture, which was set up for track days and autocross); I've had faster cars (the WRX "hybrid" with the 2.5L block and 2L heads); I've had cars that attracted more attention (the '63 Volvo 122S, in its own way, is a tie with the '66 Ferrari). But when it comes to "power under the curve," so to speak, the Alfa still sings to me.
We're planning to take it to Monterey this year, as the theme for 2022 is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And while the other marques in my stable (two old BMWs and the NC Miata) are all from manufacturers who have achieved overall victory at La Sarthe, four in a row in the Thirties is a pretty good pedigree.
Too bad you didn't find a nice Datsun 2000 for the comparison. 135-150hp; 5-speed and race-proven by the likes of Bondurant, Brock and Sharp among others. I have a 1970 SRL311 I might be talked into loaning. ;)
Coupefan said:We're talking sports cars, right? A beautiful alloy twincam against a tractor motor? The decision is easy.
The TR6 was not in any sense a tractor engine.You must be thinking about the TR2-4 as that 4 cylinder motor, derived from the Vanguard sedan had versions that were also used in Ferguson tractors as well as marine applications.
The Alfa is definitely easlier to load onto the flatbed tow truck. That's good since it will be there far more than the tough little TR6.
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