Car Talk - Non S2000 General Motoring and Non S2000 Car Talk

Smart Roadsters things

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Old May 21, 2008 | 11:40 PM
  #11  
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Originally Posted by RUSS H,May 21 2008, 10:17 PM
I think its the drivers that annoy me, they usualy have wraparound
shades on and just try to portray an image of cool 'nippyness'
I think it's probably a cooler and less geeky car to own than an Elise (or S2k)
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Old May 21, 2008 | 11:45 PM
  #12  
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each to their own, and whilst I wouldn't mind driving one (which is true for almost any car), I cannot envisage any circumstances in which I would own one
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Old May 22, 2008 | 12:15 AM
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Originally Posted by Polemicist,May 22 2008, 07:01 AM
The most undiluted fun I had in a car was in my 903 cc Fiat 127. It was a crazy rev machine, handled great and with only 45 bhp, I would have to try to get points. The car was also light, practical and frugal - not the best car to have a head-on crash in, but I suspect the awareness of that made me a more considered driver.

It was also good for the soul.


I had one of them...a black and Orange 'sport' one ( ). It got shot at by the RUC as we illegally crossed the border into the North of Ireland.

I wore that bullet hole with pride


...and then an X1/9

Hilarious fun, and although I revved the hell out of them - they didn't break


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Old May 22, 2008 | 12:23 AM
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Originally Posted by RUSS H,May 21 2008, 08:26 PM
I get the feeling the drivers of them feel that they are in a 'fast' car?!
I think the point of them is that although they may not be a fast car, they feel like one when you're driving.

I'd be tempted if I had to commute by car every day. And I had a pair of wraparound sunglasses.
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Old May 22, 2008 | 12:59 AM
  #15  
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[QUOTE=Shipley,May 22 2008, 08:15 AM]

I had one of them...a black and Orange 'sport' one ( ). It got shot at by the RUC as we illegally crossed the border into the North of Ireland.

I wore that bullet hole with pride
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Old May 22, 2008 | 01:05 AM
  #16  
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Originally Posted by Polemicist,May 22 2008, 07:01 AM
The most undiluted fun I had in a car was in my 903 cc Fiat 127. It was a crazy rev machine, handled great and with only 45 bhp, I would have to try to get points. The car was also light, practical and frugal - not the best car to have a head-on crash in, but I suspect the awareness of that made me a more considered driver.

It was also good for the soul.
Interesting; I had a 1050.

The car handled so beautifully, a head-on was impossible unless you'd fallen asleep.

I knew a guy barrel-rolled his mum's GT; dents from the mirrors, repeaters in every panel, but apart fron the screen header rail, absolutely fine.

Karen's first car was a 903. Now a Civic EK4, she hates driving cars you don't need to thrash.
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Old May 22, 2008 | 01:08 AM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by Shipley,May 22 2008, 08:15 AM


...and then an X1/9

Hilarious fun, and although I revved the hell out of them - they didn't break
Yes they did; the later ones ran too lean for the emissions and you could break them. Re-setting the float height helped, but by then the damage was done.

My mica blue got PX'd for an MX-5...
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Old May 22, 2008 | 01:17 AM
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The Fiat 903 engine is amazing. I recall fitting a 'TIM' tachometer to mine and couldn't believe I could get it past 7500 rpm. There was always something left from the last couple of millimetres of throttle travel.

It was easy to work on and essentially bullet-proof... although I did kill the mains on mine. Still
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Old May 22, 2008 | 01:24 AM
  #19  
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Originally Posted by Bassoctopus,May 21 2008, 11:40 PM
I think it's probably a cooler and less geeky car to own than an Elise (or S2k)
Although more gay and far more girly!
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Old May 22, 2008 | 02:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Polemicist,May 22 2008, 08:59 AM
PS And I still have an X1/9 - a 1978 Lido to be precise. Due to hit the road again in June this year after a three year rebuild and a fortune spent on NOS parts... including NOS Carello fog lamps!!!!!
I had a later VS, 1985 I think. Silver over grey with red leather. My first proper sports car.

The foglamp switch melted onto my leg the first time I switched them on.

Totalled by a drunk driver hitting the side of it in Kilburn, I was gutted. Swapped the wreck for a head skim on my next car, the Integrale.
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