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

Don't actually agree with the concept of having too much power, accelerators work both ways as they say. OK if your chassis can't put the power down there is not much point in piling on more and I have always thought that driver training is probably more effective than buying more BHP. It's all a personal thing but I would rather have 150BHP in a light car than 500BHP in a heavyweight but having spent many years chasing more and more power I must admit I get more satisfaction these days from trying to drive what I have to its maximum effectiveness......I well remember being told by a pro rally driving instructor that going fast is not about how much time you spend at high speeds, it's about how little time you spend going slow. Wise words I think. ;-)

"What new cars are special?" is perhaps a better question - especially after 18,374,218 posts on how much better and more special cars were before the advent of the internet.

Cars are "special" to people for a multitude of reasons but a common theme is what had a "wow" factor when you were young and/or is relatively rare and/or has history.

The Volvo 850 T5-R will remain vastly more special than the 850R - but you'd need to be a Volvo nerd to really spot the difference. The E30 M3 was special, so was the E46 M3 CSL and the GTS - but the rest of the M3s aren't. A 911 isn't special, unless it wears a GT3RS badge - and more special if that is suffixed with 4.0

I was informed by the guy who runs Cars and Coffee over here that Alpinas are special, but the truth is unless you drive them or really know your cars, they're not.

The Volvo V70R feels special with a manual gearbox and feels boring without. Astons feel special even if the dash layout is scattergun. Lots of leather and lots of stitching makes a car feel special.

I admire the E-type but nothing stirs in me at the thought of owning one. I'll take a garage with a Lotus Carlton, E30M3, 190-Evo2, 850T5-R, Morgan Supersport, Morgan Aeromax, 911 GT3-RS 4.0, Z8, E61 M5, RS2, Passat 2200GT, XR4i, Carlton GSI, Lotus Sunbeam, 205 GTI 1.9, 306 GTi-6, Firenza 2.3, Interceptor, DBS Vantage Volante, Saab 9-3 2.8XWD, VW Passat R36 and on and on and on.........

So STILL waiting ?

Some interesting classics. Quite a garage!

]

To paraphrase Chief Brody in Jaws "We're going to need a bigger garage"

Might as well as some storage at the same time Giles!

Ken - why is the 850T5R more valuable than the 850R ?
I realise the T5R was the model based on the saloon car racing success but the R was built in fewer numbers.

Anything that brings a smile to your face when you look at it.....and if it makes your heart skip a beat when you use it so much the better.

Sorry, can't agree there. There are cars that are special and cars that you look like a tit whilst driving......this is the latter.

+1

It's amusing how there are very many cars where the owner clearly thinks they are in the 'Special' category, whereas everyone else thinks they are in the 'Tit' category, and this doesn't appear to be cost-related either. It goes from knackered Saxos with bean-can exhausts to Kahn-body kitted Range Rovers to gold-wrapped Bentleys. Still, it gives the rest of us a laugh