Many years ago, I ventured into true GT ownership, now whether a GT might be thought of as a "luxury" vehicle or not for the purposes of this discussion..?
The vehicle in question was not one of the more usual Cortina GT`s and the likes, but a Jensen Interceptor, 6276cc of American muscle powering along hand crafted English coachwork skills all put together in Birmingham.. In general most folk were confused by it, in that they had no idea of what it was, and as my day to day transport of the time was a rather rotten old Mini van with a Cooper S engine, I was rather confused by it too... never more so when on a very rare occasion putting the boot to the floor eyes peeled on the road ahead expecting to hear the auto box change up.... I never ever heard that process... and it did change up, if you had the courage to take your eyes off the road during that sort of acceleration, and watch the rev counter needle..!!! The Interceptor was equipped with a Chrysler Torqueflite auto box which was the same as that used by Rolls Royce at the time thus perhaps another luxury linkage..?
BTW, I have a Rolls Royce key ring holding my Morgan`s keys... do I get points for that..? Though in all honesty it was a present, and a product of the Aero Engine division and not vehicle related.. (-:
Jensen interceptors had legendary overheating issues, perhaps more so as they aged (now where have I heard that before) more than likely due to lack of use given the fuel thirst of that huge carb who`s pump jets created a the look of a petroleum waterfall on occasion... I owned my interceptor during the seventies UK fuel crisis... Duh!
As for my Lambo acquaintance, I suspect he could have as many vehicles as his heart desires, but he likes Lambos, however he does have a Porsche 928 which is kept in perfect condition. He has full race a Dodge Viper which he uses in some mad cap US road race where the road is closed specifically for the race and the speeds attained are quite scary, he lost control rolled it and ended up against a huge rock.. he had the car totally rebuilt to as new... Yup very wealthy guys can be as mad as any petrol head on a budget I know.. (-: As Neilda typed my acquaintance also has cars for other more usual tasks, an Escalade or two for family business duties his wife has a Cooper S and daughter has a top line Merc soft top...They like their cars.. (-:
Me... I was born a petrol head, matters not a jot to me if you have oodles of cash or not, to have the opportunity to see and hear an interesting vehicle is quite a special occurrence, perhaps that I am not the envious type also helps in that regard. While driving on one of the very many and narrow roads that cut through the Northumbrian countryside at the weekend I came across a bespoilered viper green 911 Porsche GT coming towards me, I thought it looked rather out of place perhaps more suited to wide roads with a far more open outlook.. none the less it provided a few (if that) seconds of pleasure to see and hear it... each to their own..?
