Secondly, I'm not a ffan of the 'stackable' roof on the later models. HAving to 'do a meercat' in the aero to see over the rear deck is for me a pain in the backside. The S1 doesn't suffer this - the rear view mirror shows me what is behind - and thats a major benefit during continental touring
I was also interested by this comment but Andy beat me to the post.
Rich, we're similar in height and yet I found the S1 I drove suffered from worse rear vision (with the top down) than the S3 (which truth be told made me do the 'merecat' as you perfectly named it!
). All I can assume is that the S1 I drove had one of the revised roofs and the seats were lower (iirc MMC changed the S1 roof very quickly and there are numerous revisions (3-4 on the S1 again iirc)).
This then moves onto John's comment which a very valid one - the S1 and early-S2 were really works in progress. I do not mean the cars were unfinished or lacking anything, because they are excellent vehicles, but rather because MMC kept changing the trim and certain minor aspects of the car (for the main this ended when the S2 entered full production).
For instance, as I stated above - I believe there are 3 or 4 versions of the original hood (each one made to make the hood easier to use, more water tight and afford less wind buffeting). Another example is the door panels - find 2 S1s and I'd be surprised if the door trim was the same. Again, I am not sure of the revisions but I have seen at least 3 versions - each allowing more or less elbow room (this was then addressed with the S2 and the 6" extra cabin width). The third example will throw people like John's 'light-bulb-guy' really off - the one-offs!
Take a look at Boshly's car and he has small air vents on the door (he is especially proud of these and always polishing them). I believe his car is one of the few to have these - perhaps the only one?
What does this all mean? Nothing other than MMC have the desire to refine and make their vehicles the best they can be. As with all change, some will be an improvement and some will be less effective. To my mind all the Aero 8s are great cars and the minor differences only endears me to all of them.
In a perfect world I'd have an S1, GTN, S2 and S3 in the garage (oh and a 100th Anniversary
...I'm still hoping!) but as I, and I'm sure most of us!, can't justify or afford that, we end up with the car that speaks most to us at the time of purchase. As a daily driver, the S3 is hard to beat. As a racer for the road, the S1 would be the choice. As a rare and wonderful track tool, the GTN is where to put your money. And the S2 is a nice blend of 1 and 3.
All great and all share the same core value - passion for motoring and sense of occasion.
