Jay_W
SuperDork
12/17/22 11:33 a.m.
I dailied my 323 gtx when not rallying it for awhile, which was every bit as ridiculous as it sounds. There were maybe a thousand AWD Mazda Proteges in the US and I had 3 of em, incuding Lil' Treasure, the 300hp GTR swap. I got to drive a 1936 Buick that was an entrant in the great american race, a x country TSD rally my old man was hired to compete in. He won it in the owners' 1914 Dodge but I didnt get to drive that one. We had a 308 Ferrari for a short while when the market went crazy, juuust before that whole market crashed that I and my ol' Paw drove down hwy 101 from Seattle to SF, and my current daily is just an e55 but its one of maybe 4 in the country where the first owner took it to Brabus and had them do the full K8 thing to it. Oh yeah I have about ten minutes of seat time in a 2016 gt3 with that amazing pdk gearbox... That's about it for wierd stuff. I feel deprived compared to most of y'all..
My Triumph GT6+, I suppose. It's not odd, but I'd say fairly obscure. Even "British Car" guys I sometimes would talk to would always say "oh yeah, those are great, I loved my TR6." Most of the time I mentioned the GT6 to anyone who lived in the 70s, they'd usually think I was talking about the TR6.
When I was 16, I drove my Grandfather's 1977 Cougar Villager station wagon.
One year only, and I've never seen another one.
I can't even find a picture of one online in the same color scheme.
CWR67
New Reader
12/19/22 11:14 a.m.
I've driven several Model Ts, a full race prep Jaguar XKE Series 1 vintage competition car, and a late 1980s Volvo 240DL patrol car...yep equipped with a roof top light bar and door decals. FYI - Best patrol car I ever drove!
Over the years I've owned a variety of the strange and unusual from a 1980 Porsche 924 Carrera GT to a 1978 Ford Pinto to a 1990 Eunos Cosmo ... and just added a 1995 Mitsubishi Pajero Mini to the stable.
Right now I'm also building a couple of Smyth Performance UTE kits....a 2006 Audi S4 to keep for myself and a pair of Beetles (a manual 6-speed Turbo S and a manual 5 cylinder) to sell once complete.
Guess my current "collection" is pretty obscure, 1980 TR8, 1976 and 1977 Lancia Scorpions, 72 Porsche 914 and the most obscure of all, a 1972 Citroen SM, which I have not yet driven yet, so technically that one does not count.
wspohn
SuperDork
12/19/22 11:59 a.m.
Love the Citroen SM, but never had the guts to own one - the electrical and hydraulic complexity of the cars stumped even Citroen mechanics back in the day; today finding anyone really well acquainted with them would be a miracle. Manipuler le champignon is a far cry from the American car 'floor it'.
They are the antithesis of the simplicity of a 2CV which could be fixed at the side of the road pretty much using a handy rock and a screwdriver.
PS - did the SM still use the champignon shaped accelerator?
Had to pull a picture from ebay as I am not home at the moment. Agree the car is rather "complicated" but also seems to be worth the efforts, mine is a running/driving car that was just taken off the road a few years ago due to rust in the tank, so not a basket case to be restored from scratch, which would be almost impossible. Hydralics work great, wiring yet to be determined.
In reply to dherr (Forum Supporter) :
For what was a fairly low production car, it's rather surprising at how many TR8s are still around. I guess given the purchase cost at the time, few were used as daily drivers and most have led fairly easy lives.
Woody (Forum Supportum) said:
When I was 16, I drove my Grandfather's 1977 Cougar Villager station wagon.
One year only, and I've never seen another one.
I can't even find a picture of one online in the same color scheme.
A Cougar Villager wagon is my "holy grail" of collectible cars. I have only seen pictures of one - in Michigan - forest green with fake wood sides.
In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :
TR8 was always my "dream" car for so many years. Now that I have one, keep kicking myself for not having one sooner. Agree that many have survived, as I think most people knew they were special as they were not cheap in 1980-1981. Last and best of the breed.
In reply to dherr (Forum Supporter) :
It wasn't my dream car, but I am glad I bought one. With a few changes and upgrades, it could possibly replace my R53 MINI (really needs cruise control).
Just catching up on this thread. I see I am not the only one who has had a Turner, mine pictured below, but the most obscure things I have driven, and on the street too, are a 1925 Amilcar CGS, and a Daimler Sovereign 4.5 V8, the last of the before Jaguar chassis engineering, which it desperately needed!
wawazat
SuperDork
12/19/22 9:30 p.m.
I've driven both RHD and LHD versions of a 1992 Subaru SVX. We owned the LHD version and a friend and owner of the RHD Japanese import in Ireland let me drive his when we visited.
wspohn
SuperDork
12/20/22 11:56 a.m.
I guess this one that I used to own was fairly rare - 267 made.
And this - 100 made
or this - 70 made
or this (276 made)