Been hankering after a summer fun car for a while, and almost bought something on a few occasions. This has caught my eye...
Mrs H has just ordered a Megane Convertible, so I have bargaining power!!!!
TR7 is unlikely to ever be stylish, one of the most disliked british cars around! TR6 on the other hand, rather nice.
Fiat X1/9 is similar in price range, very similar in performance (slightly better than the TR7) and isn't ashamed to show itself in public!
Older square MR2 is good but has a hairdresser image, and handles the corners better than the next generation.
Don't know what your budget is but for around £5,000 you're looking at a good Lotus Esprit series 1/2/3, some of these get raced in classic racing events and beat most of the rest, including the above. A friend has a series 2 amd on track loses much more powerful italian machines on the straights but catches them on the corners. They have a bad reputation, which isn't really deserved, certainly not in the series 3 and later. A series 3 is much better than a series 1 or 2, but the earlier cars are still very appealing.
If you're after an old sports car, I'd suggest buying Classic & Sports Car for a few months, they usually do 3-4 car tests quite reguarly, and tend to do the cheaper cars rather than Lambos and Ferraris. Also check the magazines for tests in your price range.
A Megane Convertible! Isn't that grounds for divorce?
goodness:
On or around Mon, 3 Jul 2006 17:19:58 +0100, Ian Rawlings enlightened us thusly:
except that the one in question has had a V8 put in it...
original MR 2 is basically what the X1/9 would have been had it not been made by Fiart. The X1/9 was a lovely little car with so many fundamental fiat-flaws that it was next to unusable.
The original MR2 was simialr sized but had the advantage of toyota reliability.
Didn't that make it a TR8?
A TR7 with a Rover V8 in it was indeed called a TR8.
I like the bit about needing a little TLC.. Yea, like jack it up in one corner and all the other three stay on the ground I bet.
They were complete and utter rot boxes.
-- Andy
ISTR that some thought the styling was a temporary setback as the rot would remove the problem! I can't remember anyone ever saying anything nice about them, even people who liked Triumph Spitfires. I like the TR6 though, despite it being more of a german design than British.
Give me an Austin Healey 100M any day though. You'd have to give it to me though, can't afford one!
->> Didn't that make it a TR8?
->
->A TR7 with a Rover V8 in it was indeed called a TR8.
->
IIRC a TR8 is a RHD V8 Triumph made for the US market, what we have here is a TR7 with a V8.
No no no!! You're thinking of the Austin/Leyland Princess!!
Steve
On or around Mon, 03 Jul 2006 21:17:51 GMT, "GbH" enlightened us thusly:
only if the factory did it. some owners did their own - this one could have been built as a TR8 or it could be a conversion - the fact that it says "engine from an SD1" leads me to think the latter.
not that that makes it bad, just need a careful exmaination to see it's been done right.
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