Car Lovers?

I'm definately an enthusiast. (But I think you knew that already )

Do you own quite a few cars Tony?

Between me and Mrs T we have three cars...
MG ZT saloon with a 2.5l V6 and 190bhp (about the size of a Jaguar X-Type)
MG ZR hatchback with 1.8l 4cyl and 160bhp (Honda Civic sized pocket rocket)
and the MG F with 1.8l 4cyl and 120bhp (the soft top pictured elswhere)
None of these were sold in the USA by MG. They may sound small by US standards but are considered to be pretty quick in the UK and are set up for enthusiastic cornering rather than comfy cruising and outright top speed. That said, the ZT saloon would crack 140mph.

We also have my son's VW Polo and his G/F's Ford Fiesta (both small hatchbacks) on the drive.

Past cars for me include another MG saloon, an Alfa Romeo, a Mitsubishi Lancer and a various others. Given the lottery win that we all pray for, I'd buy an Aston Martin V8 Vantage. I drove one last year and fell instantly in lust with it.

I'm a big car nut, but right now I'm perfectly happy with the two plain, reliable cars we have. Both are paid for and that makes them a lot more fun.

My sports car was a meager 1991 Toyota MR2 on the outside, but was a 1998 JDM (Japan only) MR2 on the inside. The JDM version was rated at 261hp (the higher of two quoted outputs) but was under-rated so as not to have too great an impact on Supra sales in Japan - actual factory HP was believed to be higher still. I made numerous handling, power, and weight-reduction modifications. Also had some custom made (one of a kind) modifications. At the time I sold it, it was capable of over 300hp to the rear wheels and that was only limited by the small turbo.

Was a fun car.

That's a pretty common difference between European cars and Americans, no? You guys have all those cool corners and tight turns so you want handling. We have wide open spaces so we (used to) put in giant engines and go to town.

Where's Vettelover in this thread! He belongs here, it even says so in his name!

Tony: As I understood it, Ford was a pretty popular brand in the UK. Did the threat of bankruptcy affect their popularity there?

LifL: A paid off car is my favorite kind of car too! Did you put a big coffee can exhaust pipe on your MR2?

Brad, it was a 3" turbo-back titanium exhaust - straight through with no cat. That was one of the custom made one-off parts.

About Ford in the UK - [url=]case in point[/url].

Brad,
Ford have been in the top 3 of the UK sales charts for longer than I can remember, helped by the most popular models being built in the UK leading to them being percieved by many as a UK brand. Most of their European manufacturing has been moved to Spain/Germany now though. The parent companies financial probels have been largely igored by the UK press as other home brnads were having bigger problems. I think a large number of people buying the cars had no idea how close they were to bankrupcy.

LIFL,
The RS200 rally cas was an incredible peice of kit. Have you seen it's old sparring partner the Metro 6R4?
[url=][/url]
I had the pleasure of a passenger ride in a 6R4 a few years ago. It was a 'clubman' spec with a mere 350bhp but the grip and accelleration was out of this world.

OK here I am to make an "appearance" I just hate to get started because I can get carried away with my love of cars in general especially Drag racing cars AND especially my fondness of Covettes and I realize that I can be boring by repetitious talk and pictures, so I would be happy to talk about my "babies" if someone has any specific comments or inquiries. Especially my own personal cars.

Tony, I wasn't familiar with the 6R4, but I watched several videos and am now. I really like cars like that that look dumpy, but go like the wind. I always thought the Suzuki Swift was a cool car to upgrade for that reason.

Every time he tries to get out, someone pulls him back in!

OK you guys asked for it!!! Thought I would add a picture of the race car that I was involved in for quite a few years. This is the last of several versions and update As I have stated before I did NOT drive it I only worked on the crew. Again not to bore you I will leave it as a picture only but if anyone has any questions about it I can answer just about anything.
PS yes it's FAST!!

We live 5 miles from Santa Pod, a WW2 US bomber base that is now the UK's premier (and only FIA approved) drag strip. Because of this our town council and Santa Pod organise an annual 'Parade of Power' to promote both the town and the drag strip.

We have some of the top British drag race competitors completing up to 5 laps of the town centre with burn-outs aplenty and even more noise! Then they park up in the town square to allow the public a close look at the cars and to meet the drivers. Last year it was estimated that 10,000 people were at the event.

We are also only 20 miles from the Rockingham Motor Speedway, the UK's only purpose built superspeedway capable of hosting ASCAR (like NASCAR) events. It also has a twisty infeild circuit used for 'real' racing. Today they hosted a round of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) which is the top saloon car series in the UK. Of course we were there.

As if that wasn't enough, we are 20 miles from Silverstone which should be familiar to any Forumla One fans, we've been there more than a few times but we've not made it to an F1 race yet. Oh and 50 miles from Donnington Park, another famous British circuit.

And I wonder why I like motorsport???

One question Vettelover -- Why is there a cannon mounted on the hood of that car!

Tony, is ASCAR popular at all? I've never heard of it.

To be honest, 'roundy roundy' racing has never really been popular this side of the atlantic. There have been a few attempts to establish race series, but none have succeeded. The ASCAR series has evolved into the European Late Model Series (ELMS) and now visits as many twisty tracks as it does ovals.

Incidentally, Ben Collins who won the series in 2003 is better known now as Top Gear's Stig.

Ahhh, the Stig.

I've never really understood the appeal of turning all in one direction anyway. I guess if you're racing "stock" cars, then it can be interesting to take out some variables, but I've never understood why it wouldn't be more interesting with more interesting tracks.

I've never heard the term "roundy roundy," but I think I'll see if I can use it to rile up some NASCAR fans. Of course last I read it's been losing popularity quickly so maybe I'll have to look hard to find some.

You can use it to wind up Indycar fans too

How many of you guys can work on your own car? That's always been one of the reasons I stay with my cheap, reliable car is because I'm useless as a mechanic.

I didn't start learning how to work on cars until well into adulthood. I was fortunate enough to have a friend in Nashville that helped me do most of the major work I've done. We performed most of the upgrades to the MR2, and swapped an engine in my daily driver. Wasn't long ago, I was pretty useless under a car.

I'll do the odd simple job but don't have the facilities to take on servicing or anything serious, not that I'd have the ability for most jobs anyway. For most modern cars, the amount of electronics and requirement for special tools prevents a lot of DIY work.

Tony -- do you get the National Public Radio show "Car Talk" in the UK? I know one of the hosts has an MG and loves it.

I've not heard of it, so have no idea (off to check now)

That's a cool show, but I don't get to listen to it much.

"Car Talk" is impressive. Much like "Top Gear" they can make it interesting, even to someone who really isn't that interested in cars.

I found a good gift for you guys!

What a great gift idea!! Are my eyes deceiving me or is that a V-12 WOW

Twelve Valves and 40 proof!

Speaking of gifts. I didn't even know this place was coming to DTD. Apparently it's called "RideMakerz" Did I just miss this?