The Truth About Sports Cars

[xerostar]

I'm the first to admit, I've always had a yearning to own a fast sports car but it's funny how your interest in cars changes over the years.

Sure I've owned a few sports cars during my life, but I think I enjoyed them more when I was dreaming of the day I could own one. Once I actually owned one, the ugly face of reality stepped in and spoiled it all, somehow.

As soon as I bought that Porsche 911, I became an instant attraction to all police in the area. My bank manager didn't want to talk to me anymore and my accountant nearly suffered a heart attack when he heard about my latest folly.

Speeding fines competed in my mail box with bills for service, new tyres, engine repairs, insurance etc. At first I thought it was worth those envious glances from the guys and the admiring smiles of the ladies.

The pleasure of owning such a work-of-art, a pinnacle of automotive engineering at first was boundless. Hours were spent on weekends, lovingly washing & polishing the solid curves of shiny duco.

That was short lived, however as the car also attracted the unwanted attention of young rednecks who were hel_l-bent on ruining my fun. The joy was slowly replaced by a paranoia of protective instincts. I could not bear to leave the car parked anywhere out of my sight. I would wake at night, imagining I had heard sounds of tinkering in the garage.

I expect that rich people don't suffer from this as much as those like me who have never been, in all reality, wealthy enough to afford such extravagance.

The simians would tauntingly rev their engines at the traffic lights, or pull alongside in traffic, with sneering looks and make rude gesticulations at me.

Left alone, the car was a target for psychopaths who gained some inexplicable pleasure from scratching the paintwork with sharp objects or denting the door panels with karate kicks. One evening I discovered two pathetic individuals who had just finished severing one of the rear view mirrors with a karate chop, I asked them (in a somewhat annoyed tone) what they were doing. They asked me in threatening tones what I intended to do about it. Having had no training in self defence, I simply said "you must be very proud of yourselves!" and got into my damaged car with the intention of telephoning police. The two simpletons vanished within seconds.

In another tormenting encounter I stopped at a drive-in shop only to find a drunk amusing himself by climbing up and sitting on the delicate aerofoil at the back of the Porsche while being cheered-on by his mates. Naturally I saw red. I floored the accelerator to dethrone the bird-brain The spectacle seemed to amuse everyone but myself. In hindsite he could have been injured and I could have been sued.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I had become disillusioned with my beautiful sports car and soon after, I sold it at a great loss to the first buyer who promised to give it a good home.

I purchased a second-hand four door hatchback, a Renault 25, which I've driven for the past 10 years and I've lived in peace and mostly harmony with other road users ever since. Nobody notices me anymore and I feel secure knowing that the car is paid for and that the next service will not cost a month's wages.

I can carry 4 passengers in comfort and still have room for luggage.

So I've gone the way of many a sports car fan, due to advancing years and the arrival of wisdom .. Hey! - did you see that go past!

Was that the latest Lamborghini? !

Wow !... I'd love to own one of them !!

[Jareddiving]

Cant wait to read all the replies here of all the guys who owned Porsches, Mercs, Beemers,and Audi's back in Europe or the states and now drive a Jazz, City, Yaris, Vios, pickup bladi bla bla bla..

[lost_in_isaan]

A bit depressing this.. Didn't you get any pleasure out of driving it?

Maybe this is what happens when you buy your dreamcar when you can't really afford it in the first place.

[sunny747]

if i had Porsches, i could definitely afford to buy another cheap car. I would drive my porche occasionally when needed, and for normal use i would go for my backup car toyota or something.

[Thaiboxer]

Agree with sunny747; my parents had a secondhand, Porsche 911 with a turbo body, but without the turbo engine. It chewed up tires like bubble gum but luckily my father had the car serviced by a long time family friend which saved him a bundle. I had the pleasure of being allowed to drive the thing twice and I believe only my mother knew about that! As for work cars, my dad had a Dodge Caravan and my mom had a Chrysler Sebring. Both of those were reliable and had plenty of power to get them from A to B.

As for attracting police attention, I agree with xerostar on that one. Where I'm from, there are TONS of cops from all jurisdictions hiding in the bushes or under some bridge with laser guns which the old "fuzz buster" devices used for radar detection won't pick up. There are many fancy cars in my hometown, but when a 911 or something similar zips down the street, many eyes are upon it. Even without somebody deliberately messing up your wheels, there's always the chance that some careless shopper at the local grocery store will put their door into it or scrape the side when backing out or pulling into a parking space. With the way things are set up here coupled with the erratic driving, I would be on pins and needles trying to drive a fancy sports car unless I were a Fortune 500 member who could afford to repair it constantly!

Cars here are way overpriced so owning a hot rod that you don't make from an existing old Ford or something costs a fortune. The Siam Paragon shopping center in Bangkok has a lot of nice sportscars on display with price tags that would give you nightmares. Back home, those cars would probably sell for 1/3 to 1/2 the price they go for here and places to service them are more abundant. My early 80's Toyota has a tachometer which is about its only sporty aspect and I doubt the thing would reach more than 130kmph (coming down a hill of course). However, it serves us well and getting little scrapes here and there from crazy motorcyclists is no big deal.

[Rdrokit]

Always loved all my cars. Even my sports car. Just wish I had it over here to drive.

[Thaiboxer]

Rdrokit...What kind of car is that? Looks like something out of the 60's or 70's.

[Rdrokit]

Rdrokit...What kind of car is that? Looks like something out of the 60's or 70's.

It is a replica of a 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder (356 GTS/4). It is built on a 1989 Corvette chassis and has a Chevy 5.7 liter fuel injected V-8 engine. Much friendlier to drive than the original model with a 4.4 liter V-12 engine

[lingnoi34]

Great post and spot on!

LN

[Nignoy]

Sports cars are like your sex life my dad used to say ,up till the age of 35 you are like an Alfa spider,easy starter, quick off the mark,good performance, built for speed and short journeys, from 35 to 60 you are similar to an old volvo or mercedes 190 diesel,bit sluggish to start,comfortable when moving, still plenty of power but not much end spurt left.From 60 onwards you are like an old morris minor,rarely used have to be hand cranked to start and hope that you reach your goal once more before the motor gives up Nignoy.

Ps my Sports cars were, A 1962 BMW Glass ragtop, traded in for an Alfa Guilia saloon,now Im old and grey a ford focus does the job

[FTB]

Love the responses!!!

Sports cars are what makes a lot of us tick as youngsters. I still remember the magazine cutout pinned on my corkboard as a zitty youngster. Years later I had worked and saved enough to progress from a Toyota Supra to a beloved 930 (911 turbo complete with flared fenders and giant wing, wot a tosser I was). The intoxication as the car came on boost and whistled down the highway was glorious. Then I started modifying the car for the racetrack. Fired up the Crack pipe here and began inhaling. I spent too much money on that sow and could of retired far earlier if I had not gotten into bloody sports cars .

As another poster stated age brings reflection and maybe a bit of temperment. The sad reality was owning that penis extension was not as much fun as dreaming about owning it. I drove it hard for 8 years but in realistically the true exhileration wore off after the first year.

When I look back...the most impractical car I ever owned but one I always loved to see in the morning light with the light gleaming off her haunches., race suspension, built motor, and bigger brakes. Hmmmmm fast cars, love em and hate'em. Sounds like my relationships,...... at least I'm consistent.

Edited March 14, 2008 by FTB

[submaniac]

My first great love. I miss her terribly. But I understand the OP. The clutch cost $1500 for the part alone, about $3-4k to replace. Z rated low profile tires about $250 a piece, and the rears lasted about 6 months before they needed to be replaced (didn't help that I liked to do burnouts!) EVERY clown in a mustang or even a pickup truck wanted to race me.

[Thaiboxer]

Rdrokit...Sounds like the car in your pic was pretty fast! I remember GMC produced a few trucks called "Typhoon". It was essentially a Chevy Blazer with a Corvette engine under the hood. I was once taken for a ride in a 1987 Corvette Greenwood. It felt like being in a race car; plenty fast and cornered very well and I think this one was even an automatic.

[xerostar]

A bit depressing this.. Didn't you get any pleasure out of driving it?

Maybe this is what happens when you buy your dreamcar when you can't really afford it in the first place.

The 1989 Porsche was a bit of a truck to drive around town.

Big steering wheel, heavy steering, heavy clutch and long throw on the gear lever.

And you sit semi-sideways to reach the pedals.

Suited a Gorilla very nicely.

On the open road overtaking was fantastic, although I took a few risks when I overtook about 10 cars at once.

Risked my licence mainly due to Radars in West Oz.

Previously I owned a Renault Alpine V6GT in Switzerland. Very few cops to be seen.

Beautiful driving position, nice steering wheel, light steering, short gear shift.

It was a space shuttle compared to the Porsche.

Not good on snow however - a death trap in fact. (ironic considering the name)

Yes you are right. I could not afford the Porsche.

Full enjoyment of any car is only possible if you can afford to lose it one day

and buy yourself a new one the following day .. with cash.

[BigSnake]

Good for you , go for it all.

[hakku]

Hey Guys, I just don't know what to think if I read this. A sportscar is a sportscar, if you love them and you can afford them, you drive them, repair them, maintain them, put new tires every other month, whatever. If you can't afford them, no need to bitch. If you feel you need to come up with all kinds of rational arguments why you're happy you can't afford one, fine with me too. Yup these things are expensive, especially in LoS, 308% duty kills the fun factor. Nevertheless, sportscars are NOT rational, they're emotional. Anyway, mine is.

Safe driving !

hak

ps, tomorrow euroclub track day at Nakon Chaisi track for european cars...

[dominique355]

To buy and drive a sports car because I need to boost your ego or because you want to impress girls will inevitable lead to disaster; either your car is too expensive for your own good or you will never be able to really enjoy driving it ... driving it fast and in a controlled manner.

A real sports car, not the pseudo sports cars, which in reality are family sedans with 2 doors,a real sports car is a car that gives you a lot of fun when driving, and that is driving it alone, only you in the car. Preferably on a race track, we don't want to put others in danger. I need to feel the car, feel the steering, brakes etc.

I have owned many sports car, real sports cars, conceived as sports cars, and I have always been happy with them when experiencing their abilities on the track: I have to admit, I am an "acceleration junkie" . I love all kinds of accelerations, positive, negative and lateral acceleration. I love to drive a perfect lap on a race track, to the tenth of a second of the pre-set time, shifting at the precise moment, breaking at the precise moment, turning it at the precise point, hitting the apex, etc. that's heaven on earth.

I don't want and I don't need any passenger, no matter how short her skirt is, I don't have the time to appreciate anyway, too busy with the car. I remember one time I was driving on the Nürburgring and wanted to get home to the hotel in Bad Neuenahr. There was this girl who absolutely wanted to come with me to the hotel. OK, I let her in the car and she talked non-stop. She got on my nerves. The road between the Ring and Bad Neuenahr has kind of a depression, similar to Eau Rouge in Spa (if you know what I mean). So to silence her, I drove full speed into the depression, slight left turn and out. About 200 km/h. All of a sudden there were no more sounds from the passenger side. And she didn't want to drive with me anymore!

And what was my favorite car? I have owned Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Maseratis, Porsches (actually only one Porsche), Alfa Romeo and then also a few "pseudo" sports cars, you know, family cars with oversized engines such as E55, RS6 etc. I can't really decide which one was my favorite, but I guess the fastest one was the most exciting one and also the one which gave me the most heartbeat, even when driving slow.

Do I miss that, now that I am in Thailand? You bet! But I refuse to spend that amount of money here. Over 300% tax on a Ferrari? No way I give the government that much money to spend for submarines.

[djinn]

To buy and drive a sports car because I need to boost your ego or because you want to impress girls will inevitable lead to disaster; either your car is too expensive for your own good or you will never be able to really enjoy driving it ... driving it fast and in a controlled manner.

A real sports car, not the pseudo sports cars, which in reality are family sedans with 2 doors,a real sports car is a car that gives you a lot of fun when driving, and that is driving it alone, only you in the car. Preferably on a race track, we don't want to put others in danger. I need to feel the car, feel the steering, brakes etc.

Do I miss that, now that I am in Thailand? You bet! But I refuse to spend that amount of money here. Over 300% tax on a Ferrari? No way I give the government that much money to spend for submarines.

Same experiences and exactly same feeling as you Dominique

Did you race on the old Francorchamps.Hmmm Masta during night

For the posters who are not old race fanatics,this becomes esoteric.Masta was the longest straight road on the 12km Francorchamps circuit (defunct in 1979)

Now I become rusted so only 160 km/h with my Camry in LOS

[dominique355]

To buy and drive a sports car because I need to boost your ego or because you want to impress girls will inevitable lead to disaster; either your car is too expensive for your own good or you will never be able to really enjoy driving it ... driving it fast and in a controlled manner.

A real sports car, not the pseudo sports cars, which in reality are family sedans with 2 doors,a real sports car is a car that gives you a lot of fun when driving, and that is driving it alone, only you in the car. Preferably on a race track, we don't want to put others in danger. I need to feel the car, feel the steering, brakes etc.

Do I miss that, now that I am in Thailand? You bet! But I refuse to spend that amount of money here. Over 300% tax on a Ferrari? No way I give the government that much money to spend for submarines.

Same experiences and exactly same feeling as you Dominique

Did you race on the old Francorchamps.Hmmm Masta during night

For the posters who are not old race fanatics,this becomes esoteric.Masta was the longest straight road on the 12km Francorchamps circuit (defunct in 1979)

Now I become rusted so only 160 km/h with my Camry in LOS

Haha, no I never raced in Spa, unfortunately. I was there for several times for the Formula 1 races, but only as a spectator. Next week I will be in Sepang (as a spectator only). Anyone there?