Mall Crawling Sports Cars

I've honestly never once, in my 40+ years on this planet, seen anyone other than a middle aged white guy get out of a corvette.

Next to the cabriolet/hairdresser combo I can't think of a narrower buyer demographic.

 

If I were to buy a sports car, I would either get a classic Z or a Lotus Elise. I wanted a 240 Z when I was in high school. None of the above would be a practical daily driver during a Minnesota winter, but I would keep the taco for that.

Although I can share the view that a sports car is generally more practical than a suburban taco with a 6” drop bracket lift, 35” mud terrains, steel bumpers, and enough lights to host a nighttime hockey game, I do not think you can take a sports car to its limits on a street without breaking the law and endangering our mothers.

 

That is where a sports car like the 240Z or any of its vintage are really fun cars. Originally a sports car was just a nice, light easy handling fun to drive car (Triumph TR or GT6, Volvo P1800, MG A's and B's (had a GT), Alfa Veloce and numerous others come to mind). They by and large were not 0-60 in 5 second road burners, they were just fun. They didnt require a track to be fun to drive.

In my experience a car set up for ultimate performance pretty much sucks on a long weekend trip. Mine was negative camber both front and rear, could wear out a set of tires in 15,000 miles, tracked like it was on rails but high crowned roads would wear your ass out correcting it. The steering ratio was so quick if you sneezed it would change lanes, rode rough and rattled like a coffee can full of rocks. Didnt start out that way but after a year it was not much fun to travel in.

I drove a friends Miata that he played around at autocross with, hell it was fun to drive. It was pretty slow but you could wail it and not attract too much attention. As in motorcycles, it is more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

 

Basically what it boils down to is bitterness from those of us in the working poor class that can’t afford the monthly payments on the cars discussed here so we find was to make ourselves feel better by bashing the people who drive them like it’s a Honda civic while people with civics drive like they are in an F1 car…speaking from experience

 

I owned 2 240zs. Best car ever

 

Old women and “successful” business women trying to prove their worth.

 

I've never really liked Corvettes. I didn't really care for domestic cars growing up, with GM being my least favorite.

C1s never really ever seen one, and there was alot C1 propaganda like corded phones and other items. That just cheapened the C1.

C2s were cool, I mean split wndow Stingray whats not to like?

C3s probably the coolest vette when I was growing up.

C4s & C5s No thanks

C6s those are marginally better than the C4&5 pass

C7s those are bad ass Z06 ok Corvettes can be cool

C8s GM you done messed up a good thing. C8s have an interesting architecture, and the mid engine lay out is cool. They look too much like a Ferrari, and I'd rather be driving an Italian sports car if it's going to look like one.

GM has so many better cars than the Corvette. GTOs. Trans AM cars Firebird and Camaro. Chevelle Nova and Malibu. All the Pontiac Buick and Olds big block cars.

 

Maybe 8 or 9 years ago I was rolling down the Interstate coming up from Houston, 75 mph speed limit, left lane maybe 78 or 79 mph. Not much traffic between Ennis and Ferris. Tractor trailer in the right lane at about 5 under the speed limit and I am on cruise and in no hurry overtaking him. Look in the rearview mirror and see a Corvette maybe an 1/8 mile back in the right lane clipping along pretty good. I think I need to move over or speed up and in the few seconds it took me to decide the Corvette makes up the distance and rolls up beside me in the right lane and eases into the brakes. I glance over and see a little old lady, maybe 80 if I was guessing, dressed like she was going to church, tissue paper skin on her hands holding the wheel. Barely can see over the wheel. I cut the cruise to give her room, the vette smoothly accelerates back up to about 85 and slips smoothly in front of me with zero theatrics and is instantly 200 yards ahead of me. Probably one of the most impressive lane changes I have seen for no more room than she had. It was high art.

So not all sports cars have to be driven on the track to earn their keep.

I want to thank y'all for bringing that memory out of the cobwebs of time.

 

I grew up with corvettes. My grampa had 2 57 vettes one he still has is a 10 second drag car that he drives on the streets. I’ve got a 66 Pontiac I’m working on that was my grandmas. Love those old GMs

 

That was my grandma driving the 66 Pontiac

 

My African American neighbors have a convertible C3, they took it out tonight with the top down in cool weather, you should get out more.

 

I had a 350Z Roadster and had a blast with it. The new Z is very retro looking with a lot of the 240s' looks.

 

C3s are peak vette imo, that's for sure. C7s are sexy as well. As for GM messing C8s up... I disagree. Corvettes have always been a poor man's Ferrari, now you get the engine position to back it up. You get all the power, a V8 grumble and more reliability for a lower cost and without the goofy agreement you sign to when you buy a Ferrari.

That said, I'd take a GR Supra over a C8.

The butt is ugly.

Signed Supra owners and fanboys everywhere.

 

The C6 is a little better than I recalled, GM ditched the flip up headlights.

The C8 isn't bad, and it's most likely a well engineered car. GM's legacy is riding on it, so it needs to be a success for them. I just can't get excited about it, I have never seen a C8 that I thought wasn't a good looking car. Nice Fiero Bro! Lol

If I was going to buy a Ferrari, I wouldn't be selling it. The agreement is dumb, would any court actually enforce such an agreement?

The new Supra is nice, and probably even better in GR trim. I can't really consider it a Supra imo, it's a nice BMW. I like the BMW M2 over the Supra or Z4.

Edit

I was quoting the post above not the post quoated.

 

I was gonna mention the Celica GT...since I owned a used left-hand drive while I was stationed in England from 1989 to 1993.

Not sure what I would pick to drive as a Sports Car these days but I have always like the 240/260/280/300Z cars and Supras.

 

This 991 owner agrees. It's gone to Home Depot and Lime Rock Park for track days

 

Porches have always been on my mind but I've always looked at them as unattainable--the expense and maintenance being my top drivers.

I would consider an entry level boxter or something in that line...but the true sporty looking ones are just way out of my price range.

 

I had a Boxster for many years prior to this car. Boxster is super fun to drive. Maintenance isn't as bad as you'd think. They're well built reliable cars. Helps to have a friend with a lift since so much is done from below. As far as parts cost, I once needed a MAF sensor on the Boxster...dealer wanted $550. Internet sleuthing gave the Bosch part#. VW used the same part...$134

 

Ferrari is notorious for frivolous lawsuits. See Deadmau5.

Re Supra: Why not? Because it has a bimmer motor? So it's got a tried and true inline-6 that can handle 1000 hp on stock internals instead of a v6 or v8, and Toyota didn't have to do too much development on it. Is it the legendary 2JZ? No, but I don't see a problem with that. It's still an extremely comfortable, extremely capable grand tourer that looks phenomenal and is still recognizable next to MK4s and MK3s. I won't pretend I'm not bias, but saying it's not a Supra is just silly to me.

I'm all about the Celica All-Trac and GT4. I would certainly take one over another MK3. That or an MR2.

 

I liked the Celica, and Z cars.

I don't think I want to drive a sports car, but the MX5 Miata would probably offer the most connected driving experience, the new Z looks like a nice sports car.

EVs seem to be what sports car drivers gravitate toward today. Speed and torque, and the sportier trims probably handle well. There's probably a lack of disconnect between the driver and machine when it comes to overall driving experience.


Not a traditional sports car, but Subaru WRX STI is a mall crawler. How many of those cars with that big wing have ever been close to being rallied?