Giugiaro strikes again

[Nobody]

:-) Have you ever owned car made in Italy? I know it belongs to VW now but anyway...

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by Nobody

:-) Have you ever owned car made in Italy? I know it belongs to VW now but anyway...

When I was young, I would not drive any other cars than those made in Italy. They had soul, all the rest were tin boxes.

But I know what you mean James says the same thing about my penchant for Maseratis and Ferrari 456's. Different build quality on every one.

The Gallardo is an Audi in an expensive Italian suit, as I see it.

[Trevor]

Originally Posted by svxistentialist

When I was young, I would not drive any other cars than those made in Italy. They had soul, all the rest were tin boxes.

But I know what you mean James says the same thing about my penchant for Maseratis and Ferrari 456's. Different build quality on every one.

The Gallardo is an Audi in an expensive Italian suit, as I see it.

The worst car I have owned and the have been many, before and since, was a 1750 GTV Alfa Romeo. I had won a production car circuit racing series with a Subaru FF1 in 1971/2 and was looking for a car for the following year. (Long, long ago!) I had got caught up in all hype over the years and thought that an Alfa would do the job. How wrong I was.

The car was a handling death trap. I had been warned by a friend, but did not take heed, thinking all the magazine testers must know their stuff. There was a very, very thin line between drifting on the limit and a sudden, undetectable, breakaway oversteer. Without going into detail, I can assure you that I am exceedingly lucky to be alive on two counts.

Apart from this defect I soon discovered that the, accepted very pretty exterior, concealed very mediocre quality in respect of the tin ware, which is all it was. Even the grand looking driving seat had to be altered to give any sort of support. I have been told that the rear roll centre was altered in respect of the GTV 2,000, but had no wish to experiment.

As I could not get the car on the front of the grid, I reverted to a cheap, crude, three litre Ford Capri. The handling was far from couth, but it could be thrown around safely with abandon and was faster in all respects. Not what the purists would like to hear. The Capri also later towed an 18 ft. twin engined cabin trailer boat no problem. Good car.

The important point in this narrative, which I have imposed upon you, is to record that the best car I have ever owned, is the little Subaru FF1, 2 door sports sedan, which was the racing predecessor of the horrible Alfa. A winner in every respect, it is downstairs in my garage and I drive it often, with great pleasure. From a technical, performance and all points of view it displays excellent logic in design. Sadly hype has passed it by.

In gratitude to you guys, I record that the car which provided me with the most fun and shear pleasure, was a 998, rubber Mini Cooper fitted with worked 1275 engine, close ratios etc. That car WAS quick and and a real drivers tool. An SP250 Daimler also deserves a mention as well as other Brits. Bugger the Ities.

If you have reached this point I thank you for your patience.

[svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by Trevor

The worst car I have owned and the have been many, before and since, was a 1750 GTV Alfa Romeo. I had won a production car circuit racing series with a Subaru FF1 in 1971/2 and was looking for a car for the following year. (Long, long ago!) I had got caught up in all hype over the years and thought that an Alfa would do the job. How wrong I was.

The car was a handling death trap. I had been warned by a friend, but did not take heed, thinking all the magazine testers must know their stuff. There was a very, very thin line between drifting on the limit and a sudden, undetectable, breakaway oversteer. Without going into detail, I can assure you that I am exceedingly lucky to be alive on two counts.

Apart from this defect I soon discovered that the, accepted very pretty exterior, concealed very mediocre quality in respect of the tin ware, which is all it was. Even the grand looking driving seat had to be altered to give any sort of support. I have been told that the rear roll centre was altered in respect of the GTV 2,000, but had no wish to experiment.

As I could not get the car on the front of the grid, I reverted to a cheap, crude, three litre Ford Capri. The handling was far from couth, but it could be thrown around safely with abandon and was faster in all respects. Not what the purists would like to hear. The Capri also later towed an 18 ft. twin engined cabin trailer boat no problem. Good car.

The important point in this narrative, which I have imposed upon you, is to record that the best car I have ever owned, is the little Subaru FF1, 2 door sports sedan, which was the racing predecessor of the horrible Alfa. A winner in every respect, it is downstairs in my garage and I drive it often, with great pleasure. From a technical, performance and all points of view it displays excellent logic in design. Sadly hype has passed it by.

In gratitude to you guys, I record that the car which provided me with the most fun and shear pleasure, was a 998, rubber Mini Cooper fitted with worked 1275 engine, close ratios etc. That car WAS quick and and a real drivers tool. An SP250 Daimler also deserves a mention as well as other Brits. Bugger the Ities.

If you have reached this point I thank you for your patience.

Excellent, Trevor!

Tell it like it is!!

My favourite Fiat is the 128, a lowly saloon. I liked it because the semi-elliptical rear axle set-up allowed attacking a corner with understeer or oversteer, depending how brave, or how stupid, you felt on the day. A little bit like the Porsche Weissachs set-up, or the Subaru SVX passive rear steer we are used to.

Anyway, I do agree with Trevor, all the 60s and 70s Fiats were built using sub-standard post war steel, aka tin. They may not have rusted too bad in sunny Italy, but anywhere there was frost and salt, yekkkgh...

Right here, I will put my hand up and say I LOVE Alfa GTV 1750s and 2000s. It is the Italian suit I like. I have noticed that when these cars are used for historic racing, if you check out the provenance of the winners, they have used subtle suspension mods to make the cars behave under hard driving. So I'm not too surprised Trevor found them dangerous, back then.

I myself had a Renault GT turbo back in 1987 which gripped the road like a good 'un. It gave me one or two bad scares on the limit. Cars with innate good roadholding may not have the right weight distribution or geometrics to handle in a friendly or safe manner once past their limits. So " drive it like you stole it" at least till you find these limits.

Then drive harder till you are happy handling the worst it can do, or put it to one side like Trevor did the Alfa, if control is not achievable, or it is too unpredictable for personal safety.

Joe

[Trevor]

The racing involved was confined to as produced, with no mods. In any event why should a car like the GTV, a supposed performance car require mods to perform properly? In classic racing here, lotus Cortina and other cost effective commuter types run rings around even a much modified GTV. The Subaru FF1 and the cheapy Capri were OK.

In my book the the GTV is all hype and yes good looks, but my prime interest in a car is from the drivers seat. In the GTV it was awful and the gear lever position worse. It should have a proper remote extension like all British sports cars. Cranked levers are no substitute for a straight vertical item. Come to think of it, same two shortcomings go for the Fiat Spyder I owned and I had to also much modify the steering wheel position on the Fiat. Also the rear brake limiting system was junked. A valve from a Mini fixed it.

I too had a 1750GTV as a road car, but I can't remember a single journey that wasn't interrupted by some annoying malaise, whilst one also could be sure that the chassis, bodywork, petrol tank, exhaust and every nut and spigot were in a state of rampant rustification. Since than I had a couple of Fiat 130s, the beautiful but fragile Pininfarina bodied 2 door, built with East European self-destructive steel; a couple of Opel Monzas which were great practical hatchbacked autobahnstormers; two Mercedes 220se coupes - so elegant and ponderous, and now two SVxs. Two doors is all you need, I reckon - less holes in the bodywork the better, particularly if the other ones are rust induced.

[svxistentialist]

I'll have a chat with you at the show, Michael. I almost bought one, and I still have a hankering.

[QUOTE=svxistentialist]I'll have a chat with you at the show, Michael. I almost bought one, and I still have a hankering.

I'd have that hanker looked at if I were you - a lot of 130s had orange velour interiors, which were actually a coded reference to the same coloured coating of rust on the chassis beneath!

MM

[svxistentialist]

[QUOTE=m.messenger]

Originally Posted by svxistentialist

I'll have a chat with you at the show, Michael. I almost bought one, and I still have a hankering.

I'd have that hanker looked at if I were you - a lot of 130s had orange velour interiors, which were actually a coded reference to the same coloured coating of rust on the chassis beneath!

MM

Yep, I know you are right.....

The car I looked at was silver, with the orange velour interior you mention. I went to look at it with a good friend of mine, who is a bodywork specialist. He led me away from it by the hand.....

It's the shape that gets me. The shape is so elegant and classy, can't resist them.

[Trevor]

[QUOTE=svxistentialist]

Originally Posted by m.messenger

Yep, I know you are right.....

The car I looked at was silver, with the orange velour interior you mention. I went to look at it with a good friend of mine, who is a bodywork specialist. He led me away from it by the hand.....

It's the shape that gets me. The shape is so elegant and classy, can't resist them.

There ARE other shapes much more elegant and classy to be resisted. I have one in my home. The garage is the place for the SexVeeEss.

[DanSVX94]

hey trevor post a few pics of that subaru

[black beast]

That vid was awesome! Coolest car ad I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!!
*see post number 5 for link.

[Nobody]

Any hints for some coupe, preferabbly GT, maybe convertible?
I would like to buy another toy and looking around seeking some special car. I preffer big engine, 8 or 12V, someting like BMW 850CSI. This car has to have spirit and should be rare as SVX has and is.
I would really appriciate any reccomendation, price should be within 7-10k Euros.
Thanx, Petr

[b3lha]

Funny you should mention the BMW 850.

I've been wanting one for years. A few weeks ago I saw one at a dealer, so I stopped off to have a close look at it. The design is amazingly similar to the SVX, as has been commented here before. The more I looked at it, the more I decided that I liked the SVX more. The BMW is bigger on the outside but a lot smaller inside, rather cramped in fact. The interior was very old-fashioned looking. Everything jet black with lots of straight lines and awkward angles. I suppose they call that styling in Germany. I didn't get to test drive it, but I suspect that on a twisty road, the lighter weight and 4WD grip of the SVX would negate the BMW's power advantage.

I felt rather disappointed by it actually.