Tag: Cars

An email from Reader Larry F asks:  “I know you love the Dino 246, but you also admit that they’re not that great to drive.  If you could have any recent Ferrari (produced since the Dino), which one would you choose?”

That’s actually an easy one.  The only Ferrari I’d care to drive today (other than the Dino 246) is the last model Ferrari offered with a stick shift, the 599 GTB of the early 2000s.

Here’s a comparison of the two:

I need to make a couple of points, though.  One of the things I love about the earlier Ferraris like the Dino is that they’re small and nimble.  After that they started growing and growing, until we finally arrived at elefanti  like the 599.  Here’s the comparison between the Dino and the 599 (l-r):

By comparison, the Dino is the nimble teenager while the 599 is its fat-ass Italian mama.

Of course, the power is not comparable, the 246 GT’s V6 192hp being dwarfed by the 599’s V12 612hp (which it needs to get that extra 1,600lbs moving).  I wouldn’t care about acceleration (0-60:  7.0secs vs. 3.7secs) or top speed (148mph vs. 208mph) unless I were at Spa-Francorchamps, which is never gonna happen.

I’ve never driven the 599, but it’s probably a lot easier to handle than the Dino, so there’s that.

But in looks, the Dino still wins by a country mile.  The 599 looks like a fatter Mazda Miata RF:

YMMV.

Just when I thought I’d finally found a car which suits my needs (smallish saloon, stick shift, decent horsepower — turbo maybe — with decent reliability), comes this news:

The new Civic sedan already looked good. It’s got a sharper design, a nicer interior, and loads more tech. The only problem was no manual transmission. But Honda manual die-hards can relax. Your hero has arrived. It’s the 2022 Honda Civic Hatchback.

I’m not a Honda die-hard;  in fact, I’ve never owned a Honda of any description.  But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t, given that everyone who has owned one seems to like them.  (Best line ever, from a friend who had just bought his wife her third Honda in a row:  “Not even Irene can fuck up a Honda.”)   Oh, and by the way:  that “loads more tech” thing is actually a negative for me, of course.

Unfortunately, though, the reason I’ve never owned a Honda is that in my opinion they’re always just a tad too expensive for what you’re getting — whether new or second hand.  Here’s a comparison (CarMax):

…and it should be noted that the Civic doesn’t have a stick shift, but the Jetta does.  Up till now, Honda’s only offered a stick shift in their racier models (Si and Type-R), where the prices — even second hand — are prohibitive.

That price disparity, by the way, is the same in new cars (Edmunds):

…and both cars have manual transmission, in this case.

The only thing I have going for me — touch wood — is that I can afford to wait a while, because while second-hand car prices are increasing, that’s not the case with stick shifts.  It seems that few young people can drive them nowadays (Daughter and #2 Son can, Son&Heir could, but prefers not to), so there’s that.  And the Tiguan still rolls along, 115k miles and counting.

As I’ve written before:  I’ve owned three Jettas in my lifetime, and loved each one.  None of them gave me any trouble whatsoever.  The only reason I sold two of them was because we’d just moved to downtown Chicago and didn’t need two cars.  Then I sold the third, a wagon, because we needed a Suburban.

I wish I could say I enjoy this, but I don’t.  Buying cars is only pleasurable if you’re rich, and I’m not.

One of my buddies owned a Ford Capri back in the early 1970s, and many’s the weekend night he and I would go out in the Capri looking for booze, women and trouble (some overlap).

This being South Africa, he had the European-styled version (which I preferred over the U.S. Mercury type anyway) with, as I recall, the 2.0-liter V6 German engine.  All I remember was that it was easily a match for any hot Mini-Cooper S, Alfa Romeo 1600 or Fiat 125 S of the era — at least, in Mike’s hands it was, and I remember most vividly the incredible speed with which he raced up and down through the gearbox, using that tiny short-throw stick.

I thought then (and still do) that the Capri’s shape was incredibly sexy — far more so than the earlier Mustang, and hugely more so than the horrible Pinto — and frankly, I think it would hold its own against the anonymous styling of many of today’s wind-tunnel models.  Sure, it’s a little dated, but then so am I.

The 2.0-liter V6 was fine for the times back then, but if I could have a new one today, I’d get the racier 3.0-liter GT or GXL, which put out close to 150hp — and considering how light the Capri’s body was, it would be plenty powerful:

I wouldn’t even mind the 70s-era upholstery color:

Side note:  there was a racing version of the South African Capri (called the “Perana”) which was fitted with a monster 5-liter V8 engine.  It was eventually banned from competition because it had no competition.  Vroom vroom.

A number of Americans dream of owning a muscle car from the 1960s and 70s.  If I had to own such a car (as opposed to, say, an Alfa Romeo Montreal), the Ford Capri would top my list.

Ready Dusty sends me a link to an excellent website, on which appears this lovely little piece:

An unprecedented thing is happening – and it isn’t the attempt to inject every healthy American with “medicine” (sic) their health doesn’t require.
It is that used cars are . . . appreciating.
Normally, they depreciate – a fancier way of saying they lose value. Traditionally, almost immediately – and ongoing. As you drive, the less it’s worth.
All of a sudden, used vehicles are increasing in value – or rather, cost. To a degree never seen before. The Manheim used car index – which works kind of like the consumer price index applied specifically to used vehicles – notes an almost  50 percent jump in the indexed value of the average used vehicle over the past year.

…and he goes on to analyze the situation, although Loyal Readers will know the depth of my agreement with this statement:

Part of the reason for the not-liking, arguably is because of the over-the-top electronic nannying that comes standard with practically all new cars. It has reached a degree of insufferability that is almost intolerable. Like having a horse fly constantly buzzing – just the right word – around your head.
Lane Keep Assist. Brake Assist. Park Assist. Blind Spot Assist. Pedestrian Detection Assist. Speed Limit Assist.  Soon – probably – Diaper Assist.
Older cars lack “advanced driver assistance” technologies. They don’t attempt to countermand your steering or apply the brakes on your behalf or automatically shut off the engine every time the car stops moving. They don’t put the transmission into park because you tried to back up with the door open – in order to use your eyes rather than a camera and beeping electronics to see where you want to go.

As it happens, I’ve picked out the (secondhand and affordable) car that I want.  It’s not an SUV, but a small-ish passenger car, with tada!!!  a stick shift, very low mileage, and an extreme paucity of electronic doodads (rearview camera and traction/cruise control only).  Also, it’s a known quantity:  I’ve owned a couple of its like in years gone by, and it has acceptable performance (>150hp).  There’s only one downside, but I can live with it.

Watch this space.

Here’s something you don’t see every day (link in headline):

The Plus Four gets a 2.0-liter TwinPower Turbo good for 255 horsepower at 5500 rpm and 258 pound-feet of torque between 1000 and 5000 revs. You can choose between a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic transmission. Get the automatic, since it gets to 62 mph quickest, in 4.8 seconds*.
The Plus Six gets a BMW B58 TwinPower Turbo inline-six making 335 hp at 6500 rpm and 369 pound-feet, with 62 mph coming up in a brisk 4.2 seconds.

Those horsepower numbers are relatively tame by modern standards, until you remember that Morgans are made with a wooden (ash) frame which makes the average Morgan body weigh considerably less than, say, Lizzo after a chicken dinner, so the Beemer engines make the cars go like hell… that is, until you get to the corners, whereupon the Morgans corner about as well as the Morgans of, say, 1930.

But anyway, those aren’t the changes;  these are.

A new hood keeps the water out of the engine compartment and eliminates the need for those hood rail fasteners
“Vastly improved” seals around the windows and doors, again to keep the rain out, along with some noise
A new Morgan “wings” badge, the first new badge in 10 years
Active sport exhaust lets you set the sound level of your four- or six-cylinder
New seats offer more comfort and better bolstering
Lockable storage
More lights inside
USB ports!

In other words, Morgans are being brought into the 20th [sic]  century.  Other than that revolting “active” (i.e. “fake”) sport exhaust system, all the other mods have been in practically every other production car since about 1966.

All that said, however:

Yeah, like I wouldn’t take one if offered…

*No, don’t “get the automatic, since it gets to 62 mph quickest, in 4.8 seconds”, because the joy of working the Morgan’s gears is far greater than getting to 62mph in seven-hundredths of a second quicker.  If the goal is to get to 62mph quickly, don’t get a Morgan;  get a Honda Civic Type R (for two-thirds the price).  The only difference is that you won’t swoon with joy every time you walk into your garage.  You moron.