Never meet your heroes!

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

My favorite car to drive back then was the VK Valiant. Yes it was big and heavy, but with the 265 Hemi and 3 speed auto, it was also quick. There rear stepped out when I wanted it to, the steering was very light, Valiants had great steering ratios. I could fit 12 people in it. The brakes were bloody great. The only thing I didn't like about was that it was green.

 

[Hertz Donut]

Where are these older cars you speak of?

Touche, I'm a young 42yo so my kiddie dream era was the late-'70s to mid-'80s. Dad had an SLR5000 which was pretty sweet, and later a Riley Elf, which was hilarious watching a 6ft 2in man fold himself into a sardine tin, and also a 1969 Capri that was a beautiful machine. My grandfather had a succession of early Statesmans, one of which he used to demolish a concrete power pole when he fell asleep driving home through the country one night. Came away with just a bump on the head.

 

[figjam]

I have only bought one car that I did not like, in 1974 my ‘hero’ car was the new LH Torana. The LC / LJs were Bathurst heroes with Peter Brock, so the bigger model must be better.
Foolishly, I traded my 186S on a SLR 202, sight unseen apart from publicity. BIG mistake.
Who thought that a foot operated parking brake was a good idea in a manual ?
Why was the steering wheel offset and on an angle ? and the front seats made you feel like being on a slippery dip.?
Why would the windows get pushed out of the frame by wind pressure when not fully wound up ? Why couldn’t the dealer fix the ventilation, so that the heater was not always on.?
The gearbox ratios and engine rpm just didn’t work. The positioning of the spare wheel was done by ..... ?? ....nobody.
Worst of all, the handling, or complete lack of it. After 12 months, I had had enough of it and it was gone.

I look at the survivors at car shows and think “That looks great”, but then memories came back, and I think “but, they were crap”. Apologies to any-one who has a LH, and who may be offended by my comments.

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Not to mention the tendency of the XW-XY wanting to lift the front up at anything north of 100mph. The little spoiler helped, but try driving one at speed without it and the steering gets awfully light. Drove an XU1 and they did the opposite. No wonder they were a good racecar.

 

[Risky]

My favorite car to drive back then was the VK Valiant. Yes it was big and heavy, but with the 265 Hemi and 3 speed auto, it was also quick. There rear stepped out when I wanted it to, the steering was very light, Valiants had great steering ratios. I could fit 12 people in it. The brakes were bloody great. The only thing I didn't like about was that it was green.

A mate of my dads bought a VH Ranger back in the late 80's. No rust, well cared for, 265 Hemi 3spd auto & was owned by priest who updated it for a Magna. For a heavy car it went like a stabbed rat. As soon as you hit 100kph the front of the car would rise up a bit & you'd get vague steering. For a Marrickville Mercedes it was a great car. It had a white roof with a metal sunshade & duck egg blue on the body. The interior was a dark blue with white roof lining. I remember one time we had 6 in the back & 4 up front and we still had comfort. Even with it topped up with people, it still went!

 

[vc commodore]

My favorite car to drive back then was the VK Valiant. Yes it was big and heavy, but with the 265 Hemi and 3 speed auto, it was also quick. There rear stepped out when I wanted it to, the steering was very light, Valiants had great steering ratios. I could fit 12 people in it. The brakes were bloody great. The only thing I didn't like about was that it was green.

Steering box ratios in these were 20:1 or the rare one was 16:1 which was similar to the Ford of that era.....Brakes can be upgraded in the rear with ease these days, using Ford parts....So it upgrades them again.

You can get the rear stepping out in these with ease with either the 245 or 265....I still get a thrill driving a valiant, with the torque a standard hemi gives.

My favourite car in my collection is a 265 4 speed powered Centura.....Doesn't take much for the rear to step out, but cornering in these is bloody awful

 

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Steering box ratios in these were 20:1 or the rare one was 16:1 which was similar to the Ford of that era.....Brakes can be upgraded in the rear with ease these days, using Ford parts....So it upgrades them again.

You can get the rear stepping out in these with ease with either the 245 or 265....I still get a thrill driving a valiant, with the torque a standard hemi gives.

My favourite car in my collection is a 265 4 speed powered Centura.....Doesn't take much for the rear to step out, but cornering in these is bloody awful

The Centura's were very fast with the 265. Similar to the TD Cortina with the 250. It was a big engine for such a light car. Not to mention the 302 V8 Capri.

 

[Risky]

The other day I had the privilege to drive a 2011 C6 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 with the 7 litre LS7 engine producing 505hp. On the outside, it looks like a great piece of kit. The conversion to RHD is brilliant. The colour, the best blue I've seen in a long while as a standard colour. The 4 exhaust tailpipes make a great sound. The owner had spent some serious coin in importing it & having the conversion done. I've been in a C4 Corvette & was not impressed with the build quality, styling & the anti pollution controlled 350cid. The seating position is great & everything inside the cabin is within reach.

However, the rear bumper is still made of wafer like plastic as is the front. In the passenger footwell, you can see all the electronic boxes as the thin carpet doesn't cover it & the build quality isn't a patch on any Holden but better than the C4. On the road, it's super low. It took me 2mins to get out of the driveway in fear of scraping the bottom of the front bumper. I drove it around the block to get the feel & cruising was great. Then I gave the happy pedal a shout & she took off like a bat out of hell & those huge brakes really made it stop. The Z06 is a rather tail happy car when you let it rip. I did 4 runs & my mate John did 4 runs & we came to the same conclusion.

A beautiful car but still not up there with substance. John's HSV E Series 2 Clubsport R8 is a far superior car to the Z06 Corvette. The 7 litre engine in the Corvette is a great engine & powers the HSV W427 but for better value & more fun the Clubby is better.

 

[markalan1two]

i'm a sucker for the 69-71 Corvette i have been threatening to buy one for about 10 years i get close some times i even have the go ahead for the Minister Of Finance but like the op said beautiful to look at not real practical to like with. When your ten years old in the 80's and dreaming of what you see on the T.V. its all good, hell i might start driving a big rig across country solving crime along the way with my best friend bear the chimpanzee...............

 

[mpower]

i'm a sucker for the 69-71 Corvette i have been threatening to buy one for about 10 years i get close some times i even have the go ahead for the Minister Of Finance but like the op said beautiful to look at not real practical to like with. When you ten years old in the eights and dreaming of what you see on the T.V. its all good, hell i might start driving a big rig across country solving crime along the way with my best friend bear the chimpanzee...............

Practical and Corvette in the same sentence, please feel free to slap yourself, done? Ok, do it again.

End of the day, the long day I never want to look back and say "I wish I bought a...." especially if I have the means, motive and opportunity!