For my recent birthday I have been given a gift voucher towards the hire of a classic car from a company in Newcastle.
The range of cars available is:-
BMW 2002 Targa 2.0L 1973
VW Karmann Ghia Coupe 1973 (LHD)
Porsche 911 E 2.4L Targa 1973 (LHD)
MGB Roadster 1.8L 1975
MGB GT 1.8L 1975
Jaguar E-Type S2 Roadster 4.2L 1969
Jaguar E-Type FHC 4.2L 1970
Triumph Stag 3.0L 1972
Jaguar S-Type (Mark 2) 3.8L 1966
The car I really want a drive in is a Morgan (and may treat myself sometime, one is available in Keighley, not too far away) and I had an MGB GT for 12 months as a daily driver many moons ago.
So from the list above what would the panel chose and why?
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They're all more or less tasty but I'd choose the Karmann Ghia for sentimental reasons (remember one from Africa), or the Jaguar S Type for a bit of ooomph. The 4.2 engine had grunt but was a bit pedestrian somehow. The 3.8 was the one.
Hire is awful though, you have to give the thing back.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Wed 2 Dec 15 at 20:44
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Have to be the '69 E Type for me, one of the iconic cars of my youth.
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>> Have to be the '69 E Type for me, one of the iconic cars of
>> my youth.
From that lot, definitely.
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>> >> Have to be the '69 E Type for me, one of the iconic cars
>> of
>> >> my youth.
>> From that lot, definitely.
..and me.
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E type for me.
As for wanting a ride in a Morgan, there are more than a few firms hiring one.
Morgans themselves:
www.morgan-motor.co.uk/hire/
Berrybrook in Devon
www.berrybrookmorgan.co.uk/morgan-sports-car-hire
Richard Thorne in Berkshire near Reading
www.rtcc.co.uk/hire
and plenty of others, that's just the first three, throw 'Morgan hire uk' into Google for quite a few more.
Last edited by: Slidingpillar on Wed 2 Dec 15 at 22:35
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Thanks SP,
I knew the Morgan hired them out. Defiantly an ambition to follow up.
I have wanted a drive ever since I had a ride in my uncles 4/4 4 seater when I was about 16. My uncle was a Morgan fanatic and also owned a +4+ ( tinyurl.com/q46gud6 for those not familiar) and a three wheeler family model (I think it looked like the 1930 one here tinyurl.com/5w49d8w ) at various times.
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I would take the BMW on the basis that whilst I would like to drive any of those vehicles, that is the one I am least likely to ever buy/own even given the opportunity.
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>> The car I really want a drive in is a Morgan ...
If you spend a weekend in the cotswolds (always a good thing) you could do a tour of the factory and have a drive.
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...although you might waste a lot of time looking for the factory:
www.morgan-motor.co.uk/contact-us-2/
};---)
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How long for? A day, a week, half an hour?
Stag's fun, and I've owned one in the past.
But a drophead e-type would be my choice in your position.
Buit no point if it's not a sunny day.
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All those cars would be fun for a day or more Clifford. I have fond memories of all of them, having worked on and road tested them afterwards. Maybe it's the thought of the throb of that V8 engine that seduces me, but certainly not the over light PAS. I'm starting to have visions of a yellow Stag in preference to the other colours available.
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Stag.
Would have to trim my beard down to sideburns first.
E-Types are for poseurs, Stags are for proper hairy blokes with twigs in their beer.
I've driven MGBs, Jag MkII are dreadful to drive by all accounts, Karmann Ghia is a Beetle (had one, it broke lots), BM 2002 - meh who cares. That leaves Stag and 911. The latter of which is also a Beetle.
So, Stag. For which I have always held a candle and is near the top of my list for owning should finances allow one day.
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>> Stags are for proper hairy blokes with twigs in their beer.
>>
I associate them with the film Blow-up, and a car load of lovelies in swinging London. Twiggy rather than twigs.
It didn't stop me owning one, but I always felt it was saying something I wasn't.
Hairy blokes and real ale are AH3000, Daimler Dart, or that enormous Jenson CV541 or something, with a shabby fibreglass body ?
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T- Junction - would you share the name of the company (if allowed). This is something I might be interested in.
Oh and the Stag for me!
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Surprised nobody's picked the 911. Nothing would get me into an MGB, and I wouldn't want to be mistaken for the kind of person who drools over 1960s Jaguars. I've got a two-door BMW on the drive, so for a bit of mid-century continentalism, it would have to be the Porsche, even in LHD form - especially if it was in Norén-spec lentil green.
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>> I wouldn't want to be mistaken for the kind of person who drools over 1960s Jaguars.
I am. [the kind...]
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Erm, yes. Saves us squabbling in the same queue, anyway.
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Who minds what anybody else thinks? The BMW 2 litre 2002 was a landmark car, but about as interesting to me as an award-winning cooker.
The fact that a disproportionate number of poseurs are drawn to the E-type doesn't put me off at all.
It would put me off buying one because they are stupidly expensive (owing to the poseurs I suspect) compared with other interesting machinery.
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I've driven most of them including a V12 E Type with the top down.. I've been round the Morgan factory when I delivered a car there in the days they were fitting CVH mills.
I'm with Willy the Beest...Porsche 911. Although I was once driving one from Harwich to Liverpool for onward shipment to the States in the middle of the night. I was cruising very nicely up the A1 at about 110 mph when I was passed by a blur of something....I had an idea it was a Rover SD1....Probably 3.5 and possibly a police driving school car !
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The Karmann Ghia VW was 'just a Beetle' under the skin, yes, but it felt quite refined. Main thing though was that the body had delicate lines, window surrounds and so on. It wasn't fast but it was very nice indeed to drive and to inhabit.
I suppose people are right to prefer the Porsche, a solid reliable beast and quick with it even if the 2.4 engine wasn't the best version. Jaguars less solid and not that reliable, but that 3.8 engine was a gem. S Type probably much improved by very expensive chassis fettling although it was still something of a monster handling wise.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Thu 3 Dec 15 at 15:33
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Wasn't impressed by the 2002 when I drove it, but didn't have long enough to stretch it.
The BL Stag small V8 was reputedly weak and short-lived if driven hard. Some owners replaced it with the much more solid Buick-derived 3.5 litre V8 used in the Rover S1. That was a decent unit. Always fancied a Daimler-badged S type with that engine (black of course, with fine coachlines).
Tchah! Dream on, mo'fo...
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But the Daimler had yet another different V8. A very good one reportedly, dropped by Jaguar in a fit of 'not invented hereism'
Of the choices above, drop head E type for me, thought the BGT would be a close second due to childhood memories of my caddish uncle Alan.
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Every single Daimler V8 I worked on used to burn oil like it was going out of fashion. Don't ask me why as I never stripped one down, valve guides mayhap.
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Don't see any problem (mods can always remove it if it is). These people northumbriaclassics.com
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I've always thought the Mk II the most stylish car ever to roll off a production line. [It's not the E type I'm after.] I'm not really that fussed with cars beyond lusting inconsequentially after something classic. The idea that anybody would bother paying to drive a 13 year old BMW is a bit odd to me. It's just an old barge, isn't it? The sort of car I've spent most of my life driving... £1000 out the back of a big dealer.
Last edited by: Mapmaker on Fri 4 Dec 15 at 11:44
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I'm sure you're just pretending, MM, but 2002 is the model (predecessor of the first 3 series); the year it dates from is 1973.
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Nice 2002 Targa ... I must have 'a thing' about yellow jamjars.
cartype.com/pics/3783/full/bmw_2002_targa_72.jpg
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My next door neighbour recently bought a Califorian import Mk 3 E Type roadster V12. LHD of course but he's going to convert it to RHD in time.
Now, like most car nerds I've always wanted to drive one on a country road with the top down and much to my delight a few weekends ago he let me have a go of his and I was able to do just that.
The very thought of what I was doing was of course a thrill but they do say you should never meet your heroes and in some ways I feel that now about the E Type.
It was a nice experience of course but not nearly as good as I had imagined. Quick enough I suppose but not blisteringly so, handling was just ok but very much that of a nearly 50 year old car. Bit disappointing in truth. Pity really.
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>> Bit disappointing in truth. Pity really.
We're so used to wafting around behind a couple of hundred bhp with a well damped ride, precise steering and foot-wide tyres that it's easy to forget that cars weren't always like this.
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O.K. just to round this up. Finally got around to my birthday present from last year, much delayed due to family and work commitments (including a daughters wedding in the summer).
Yesterday drove the Stag from Newcastle up to Berwick up the A1. Had lunch at Chainbridge Honey Farm www.chainbridgehoney.com where, despite the name, there is an interesting collection of old tractors, other vehicles and household artefacts (cafe is in a double decker bus) as well as the honey farm visitor centre. Return was down the Coastal Route after a detour to Holy Island and Lindisfarne Priory.
Why did I choose the Stag? The V8 engine and my first car was a Triumph Herald, so brought back memories, and the gift voucher I had nicely covered the cost.
On picking the car up it looked good with lustrous deep green paintwork and a new looking hood.
The weather unfortunately was rather mixed so we didn't risk putting the hood down. The first impressions on getting moving were to compare it with the modern car we had just rolled up in.
Visibility was better than expected, despite the hood, due to thinner windscreen pillars and smaller door mirrors.
Noise, there was so much noise. At lower speeds there was the burble of the V8 but as you got over 40 then wind noise became more intrusive, I think from the exposed wiper arms and blades and the top of windscreen to hood join. (I found this seal to be lacking as rain blew in here at one point)
Performance felt similar to the 2L diesel I drive though not as sure footed and braking needed a heavier push than I am used to.
Minor niggles were the oil pressure gauge and rev counter not working and door locks a bit vague in operation so had to double check doors were locked when leaving car. And the hood, maybe the new hood fitting needs revisiting as there were one or two gaps.
All considered though, a very enjoyable day, the most memorable thing being the sound of that engine.
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>>my first car was a Triumph Herald
Same 'ere.
>>The weather unfortunately was rather mixed so we didn't risk putting the hood down
Ah, that's a shame.
>>the oil pressure gauge and rev counter not working and door locks a bit vague in operation so had to double check doors were locked when leaving car
A British Leyland car was it :)
>>All considered though, a very enjoyable day, the most memorable thing being the sound of that engine.
That's the main thing of course.
One thing I didn't like about the Stag (apart from the overheating) was that I found the PAS to be too light and lacked road feel.
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Gimme a TR6 anyday.
Any colour. 150BHP British car. Not the piddling 125 the yanks got.
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>>One thing I didn't like about the Stag (apart from the overheating) was that I found the PAS to be too light and lacked road feel.
The first car with power steering I had (Austin Ambassador) suffered similarly. The steering was also high geared. It was a long time before I could drive a straight line down the road without weaving from side to side.
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Saw an MG RV8 in Buxton, the star of the MG owners display on Broad Walk. Looked impressive, and the engine was a derivative of the Buick 3.9 V8, so quite potent. Only a couple of thousand made apparently. Could live with one of those I think!
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>> Triumph Herald
>>
>> Same 'ere.
My crystal ball tells me that was a 948cc 2+2 Coupe with twin pots, probably around '59 vintage?
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You have a photographic mammary CS ;)
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Classic car hire - Armel Coussine
