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Automotive News & Views The Test Drive That Shattered Your Dream
55 messages, Last post on Sep 11, 2008 at 3:58 AM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 20, 2008 7:43 am) |
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Was in love with the new bodystyle. Drove a brand new one that a Ford salesman drove over to me. Hopped in, was underwhelmed by the interior. Drove it. Felt like the rear end wasn't aware that we might be going around corners once in awhile. That vehicle was a major let down for me.
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Replying to: madmanmoo (Aug 23, 2008 6:38 am) But you know, for what you pay you can't expect world-class handling. That's not really fair.
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 23, 2008 7:00 am) Well, after years of searching she found one. Just as important, she found one that was meticulously restored. Calling her baby brother to give it a once over before she laid down the cash, I gave it a thorough inspection. Numbers matched. Researched the net. It had 3 owners (including the current one who did the restoration). As best as my untrained eye could tell, aside from the paint job (arrest me red) and some interior/exterior replacement trim pieces, it was original. I suspect at one point, the seats were reupholstered. But, even they were true to the original. Carpet and headliner were replacements. It would be an understatement to say the car is a "looker". Time to jump in and drive it. Not sure what I was expecting, but it was imminently clear from the get go how much automotive engineering has advanced in the last 40+ years. It makes great muscle sounds. Yes, it was fast.....in a straight line. All that torque will break the tires with little provocation, too. You have to plan your stops.......well in advance. Hit the brakes.....and wait....and wait (scary wait). Or, mash them harder and lock every thing up. It didn't seem like there was any in-between. To get it to turn a corner, it was more of a fight with the car to set a line around the bend. I'm not stranger to muscle cars, and given a bit more time with it, would probably smooth out the way I was driving it. But, it would have taken more than the 30 minutes I had behind the wheel. She bought it. For the most part, she doesn't drive it all that much. And, in truth, is better at getting the beast to do her bidding than I am. Great for parades and homecomings, though. She does enjoy looking at it as it sits in her garage, though. moo/Mr Shiftright....I owned a recent example of a Mustang GT ('05). They are what they are. V8 in a coupe (or 'vert) with a solid rear axle. Nothing real sophisticated or exotic about them. For roughly $22K-$23K (with rebates), you can get a car with V8 rumble. 0-60 in a tick over 5 seconds. And arguably, it looks good. No fancy intereriors, though. As long as you understand that, they're a lot of fun for the money. Then again, I've always like Mustangs (just can't drive a 40 year old one very well).
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Replying to: graphicguy (Aug 23, 2008 9:56 am) 
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Replying to: texases (Aug 23, 2008 11:32 am)
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Replying to: fezo (Aug 23, 2008 12:16 pm) Resale Red Mid-Life Crisis Red Steal Me Red Not sure why Red gets such a bad rap 
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Aug 25, 2008 6:18 am) Another car that I had high expectations of (maybe too high) was driven a few years ago. This time, it was Lingenfelter Corvette. Without a doubt the very fastest car I've ever driven. But, the quality of the conversion seemed haphazard. This 'vette only had 20K something miles on it. Perhaps they were the hardest 20K miles anyone could have imagined. Maybe it was because this car was made and converted in the early 90s. Maybe Corvettes of that vintage really weren't made all that well. No matter. The car did what it was supposed to do. That is go fast....very, very fast. The mere fact that it also felt like every bolt holding it together felt loose may very well be a by-product of the conversion. Or, typical Corvette build quality of the time. |
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My huge dissappointment took place back in the mid 90's. My wife and I stopped at a local Chrysler lot and test drove a "top of the line" Imperial. Interior was so plush I referred to it as the passion pit, car was ( to us ) stunning.. then came the test drive, the second that I pulled out of the parking lot, the rear view mirror literally fell from the windshield and was just hanging there from the electronic cord. Needless to say the salesmas was quite embarassed. I think that was the year I bought a caddy. Not sure, but I know it wasn't the Chrysler. Roland
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Replying to: rpfingsten (Aug 26, 2008 12:48 am) |
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Automotive News & Views The Test Drive That Shattered Your Dream
