John .... maybe the original testers weren't too untruthful ... the standards have changed ... the 'razor-sharp handling and good brakes' of back in the day that seem poor when revisited as a Classic are now being compared to a landscape where half the cars in Tesco's carpark would kick the butt of firebreathing classic supercars.
Lowebird ... you need more interesting girlfriends! ... if you're not scared they're not the one! 🙂
DaveW ... totally agree ... I might replace the Rover 75 estate (spiritual successor to the 2000 in the express-armchair stakes) with a bland-mobile as the niche it fills is 'everyday hack' ... but I'm not inspired to buy much that's about new for interest.... and those (like the Alpine) that look interesting are all too complicated and costly to tip my hand.
K
K, I prefer economical, as journalists still to this day require access to the manufacturers and their cars for their job. I've not lost sight of the improvements over the years eg when I had an ABS equipped car and most others on the road weren't and the difference in braking distances especially when braking sharply at higher speeds on the motorway, I was very aware of not collecting someone up my backside., as I could brake much shorter distance.
I was fortunate to know (thru my father) the owner of the local Jaguar dealer, who collected racing cars and traded in supercars and had many a test drive in some of the great classics of the day from Ford GT40's , Ferrari's and Lamborghinis etc. and the most overriding memories are hot cockpits, poor visibility, fragile and temperamental heavy gearboxes and engines, with the very occasional and exceptional ride, but overriding unsuitability for urban conurbations and their dense traffic even back then, which many of us spend much of our driving life on, Not many of us don't spend our lives doing fast cross continental tours many of these cars were designed for, so an issue of correct in part horses for courses
I don't mind some of the technical advances over the years, I'll take a fully synchromesh gearbox or a modern automatic over some of the earlier gearboxes requiring double declutching or fitted a Borg Warner 3 speed auto. I don't miss the 3000 mile service intervals or possibility of having to decoke an engine, or cross ply tyres.. Where I do agree is the modern electronics built in obsolescence of modern cars, can frustrate extending the economic life cycle of a car, which would be serviceable otherwise..
Nothing changes in the past it was poor body protection from corrosion that saw many a car off.
