List members,
Funny, this "American thing" - like the bumper stickers telling you "friends
don't let friends drive Fords" - or Chevy -or Dodge... whatever... I guess
one bad experience and some American people are turned off a brand for
ever... Or they only buy cars from one maker... Guess it was the same thing
in England- some of my Ford enthusiasts friends never understood why I
bought a Sprite, a Midget, and even worse in their eyes I think - a
Spitfire!... As for the Morrises...or the Marina... they thought I was
bonkers!
I like cars. Lots of cars, not just LBCs... I have owned cars from so many
manufacturers- Morris, Austin, Austin Healey, MG, Triumph, Ford (English,
German and American made), Simca, Peugeot, Citroen, Renault, Chevrolet,
Pontiac, Oldsmobile...and I am sure I'm forgetting a few! the only truly
awful cars I drove were two Skodas built in the 70's- only redeeming figure
was that nobody wanted them used (and few new!), so I bought both for 20
Pounds each! Got rid of them (scrap yard) as soon as I could afford
something better!... sometimes cars which were supposed to be the same were
not- my 1970 Austin Healey Sprite seemed to be better put together than my
1972 Midget. I had two Morris 1000- the first one was way better than my
second one... but they were bought used...
Cars which gave me most fun? The 1970 Sprite and the 1972 Midget... a German
built 1973 Ford Capri 2600 RS, first production car in Europe with fuel
injection... a 1973 Ford Capri 3100, an "homologation Special" built in
England... a 1973 ford Escort RS 2000, built for "Sprint racing" in
England... A 1973 ford Escort 1300 GT, built by a mechanic friend of mine as
a dual road racing/street car- surprised quite a few bigger engined Fords
with that one at Goodwood in the mid 80's- got the Ford RS club "Best
Northern Competitor" on that day... A Peugeot 1985 205 GTI... Incredible
engine, spectacular handling for the time... A 1990 Ford Mustang GT... I
nearly forgot my 1969 Mach l (351 engined)...
If I had to pick only one car from the above, for the most "fun" I would say
it would have to be the Sprite - first car I bought with my own money... it
was not the most comfortable, or the fastest, or the most reliable, or the
best handling car I owned... but it was always FUN- and cheap to run! I
still remember going straight from the Midlands to the ferry, across the
channel and half way across France with it... me and my "Jackie Stewart cap"
and my new wife... Ahh!... what memories! My second "most fun" car, by the
way, would be the 1985 Peugeot 205 GTI.
Happy motoring to all, whatever you drive!
Jacques Le Clainche
2001 Porsche Boxster S- toy
2000 Chevrolet Astro Van- support vehicle and wife's car
1998 Ford Expedition- towing vehicle
1885 Mazda RX7- road racing
1960 Austin Healey "Bugeye" Sprite- Vintage road racing
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