Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) so what makes a car special these days

Reading the latest copy of Evo, I got to musing about what might make a car special these days.

In my youth when all your attitudes to such things get formed, an E type or a Ferrari or a Lotus Elan were special because they offered what the family car could not. When the family car was pushrod, they were OHC if not TOHC. When the family car had 4 gears they had 5. When the family car had a solid rear axle and drum brakes they had discs and IRS*. And above all, when the family car did 0 to 60 in maybe 15 secs, they did it in 7 or 8 or 9. In short they were special because they offered special engineering and performance - at a price.

Nowadays its quite common to get a family car with 500 bhp from an engine every bit as sophisticated as in a Lambo. And with saloon car bodies weighing much the same as an exotic sports car sp performance isnt much different either. Take the Nissan GTR, a souped up saloon car as an example. Or an M3/M4/M5.

So where is the market gap for the builder of special cars to fill. Is it only rarity?

* even then , none of the family saloons had sliding pillar front suspension

Good question. As far as performance goes, I don't think there's anywhere to go now. Pretty much any production car in the upper-bracket (I'm thinking Audi RS, BMW M, Mercedes AMG type stuff) can deliver performance which is far in excess of the capabilities of pretty much any driver, and certainly beyond the capacity of pretty much any public road.

So what's left? Super luxury? But then you end up with the kind of nonsense you see parked outside the Dorchester or Harrods. Not fr me, thanks very much.

Technology? There's certainly an appeal there for me, but cars in this category are more about the software than the engineering, I think.

Old stuff? That's where the money seems to be heading at the moment, but the problem is that buying an old car as an investment vehicle (no pun intended) more or less precludes it from actually being used. Plus of course they often aren't actually that brilliant to drive

For me, the last bastion of truly special cars is in hand-built one-offs: things like the recreations by Lynx, or the work of Bob Petersen. If I had a cartload of money to spend on a car that wasn't an Aero Supersport I think I'd be looking at a Beacham Jaguar.

As time has moved on the stakes have been raised, but perhaps more significantly the fun has had a lid put on it with the ever increasing number of speed reducing 'road safety' initiatives.

A hand made car is highly likely to feel special so that must be a key factor I suppose....although with the ever increasing capability of rapid prototyping/manufacturing technology, even the term 'hand made' or 'rare limited production...or even 'one off special' is becoming achievable without as much making/crafting by hand.

For a performance car today to feel special it has to (supposedly)have to make a loud noise, bang, pop and fart at the flick of an electric switch and have so many electronic gismos that you don't need to drive it to derive so called pleasure from it. You can start it up from inside the home or even when you're abroad and then you can tell everyone about how amazing and wonderful it is that you can do such a thing.

....but I think in all seriousness, the thing that makes any car more special than the family car is being able to put the top down and get the more raw feeling of pace without necessarily upsetting the long arm of the law or the tree hugging establishment. Throw in a bit of precise steering and brakes....a balanced distribution of weight and you've got the tool for the job.

um....Taking the performance a bit more seriously.....BAC Mono anybody??

You'll never see a Family car equivalent of an Ariel Atom!

Dare I suggest that the Morgan 4 seater being the antidote to modern family cars was it

But now gone

Not resting

Stone dead

Deceased

Bleedin' demised

It is an ex-Morgan

A replica gives the experience in a useable package.

And I do think that the current overheating of the classic market will revalue at some point.

Like it did once before.

I agree with the analysis and comments.

For me the Morgan, be it a 4/4 or a Plus 8 provides that essential "difference", though I also agree with Mark in that the Atom and its rivals also offer something very special.

I read various classic car mags, including Octaine, and whilst there are some nice objects of desire they are what they were as a 1964 Lotus Cortina road test made very clear indeed.

Perhaps one of the new body re-engineered MGB GTs, but they make a Super Sport look cheap....

So for now, I cannot see anything that I'd rather have than Tarka.
Or if I win the lottery a new build Tarka 2!

Peter

I have no idea what you're talking about

The Alpina is just loopy (530ps/725nm) - especially if you have to deal with any sort of road imperfection (water, bump) as peak torque arrives - but that ability to unleash so much power on a daily basis is something I can now tick off my automotive bucket list. (The Aventador dealt with the V12 Lamborghini bucket entry).

The 204PS/410NM X3 has more than enough performance for everyday driving - and 3rd gear proved to be hugely flexible in and around Davos 2 weeks ago.

I may compromise after the B5s and go back to a Disco.

Interesting thought.

Special is a subjective and will mean different things to different people. As you say, the 50's to the 80's saw the average shopper car being eclipsed by bigger engines and better performance, these days there's very little in it. So is it a performance thing?

Maybe not. I think my 4/4 is special to me but not for the performance, more for the history/charisma/overall 'feel' of driving it and most of all for owning it. It opens up a world of different people and characters and opportunities for extending my social experiences.

Owning a hyper-car is slightly different I suspect. It's more showing off to others, a flaunting if you will. But then again, humble 2CV Specials have that effect, so no difference there.

It's a hard one to pin down, but for 'special' read 'classic' and it's the same argument I guess. And THAT's always going to run..!

If I were to try and sum the question up, I'd say it's a feeling that you get from owning something very unique to you and if that leaves a warm glow, then it's special..

Like falling in Love if it doesn't give you that "special" feeling walk away, and that could be a Veyron or a little "proper mini" it depends who you are and what floats your boat.

Clearly for most of us here it is a Morgan in one of it's many guises