Have you ever owned a "dream" car you really wanted?

Back in the late 70's I owned a 1967 mustang Fastback . 289 V-8 . I didn't have the money to do much with it so I drove it for a few years and sold it . If I ever win the Lottery I'll replace it with a completely restored one .
 
2017 V6 S. 380HP/171mph stock, 475/185mph 0-60 3.9 with tune. The Jag is quite responsive. Despite having "by wire" everything, Jaguar tuned it to do exactly what you ask, when you ask it. Even the electric steering is glorious.

Like many modern sports cars, the dampers firm up when in dynamic (track) mode, the throttle becomes more sensitive and is linear, (shown on a graph too) the exhaust cutout bypasses the mufflers, the trans shifts become crisp and steering firms up.

It really is made for street driving fun, and that is where this car shines. While quite good on the track, there are far better track weapons.


The S2000 despite having 405RWHP, was turbo laggy to the point of absurdity, the flexy chassis led to difficulty with precision driving. I had the 2004 (the desirable year, with the suspension and engine updates AP2, but no throttle by wire) It was really a 1998 Honda Civic under the skin, with Civic brakes, Civic thickness sheet metal that one could literally bend by hand, and a Miata transmission+differential. The gearing was absurd with 4.10 rear gears and not much of an overdrive in 6th, so it was around 4000 RPM at 80. Even so, no boost until 5500RPM, ugh. I know people love 'em. I see it as a cool car that does not meet it's promise. And without the turbo, can't even beat a V6 minivan up the on ramp.




Very cool! They must've gotten the ZF8 tuning right down pat... as in quite instantaneous on-throttle downshifts, downshift rev-matching (when neutral throttle or on the over-run), etc?
 
I actually had three Rx7s over the years ('80, '86, and the '87 T2) and they were definitely easier to live with compared to the Spider/Miata-ish I'm driving now, mostly just because of the space issue. These cars are t-i-n-y. I hop in my friends' Camaros and Mustangs and Challengers or whatever and they all feel huge.
i recently spent a few hours in the new miata/spider. Yes, it was tight, and I didn’t fit well in it. It was an automatic and I’ve got to admit, they made a beautiful driveline in that car. Small engine with a nicely tuned turbo, it seemed very well sorted. 1.5L or so? I was riding passenger so I had no way to tell if it connected with previous mx-5 experience, but my friend LOVES his.
 
Very cool! They must've gotten the ZF8 tuning right down pat... as in quite instantaneous on-throttle downshifts, downshift rev-matching (when neutral throttle or on the over-run), etc?
The auto is still conventional and you can tell it’s not a DSG. But shifts are fast, happen at the right time, and it has no bad habits. The paddle shifter has little in the way of nannies. It will shift or hold a gear, what ever you ask. It will not put it into 1st at 171mph. Although it will allow 7th to be selected putting it right at redline
 
I went to HS in Detroit suburbs 1967-70. Some of my friends had fathers who were auto company executives. They got to drive a lot of the latest greatest muscle cars and we'd cruise Woodward Avenue in its heyday, but I was less affluent and always a passenger. So, 700 hp, a manual transmission and retro styling made the dream come true for me.
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Indeed !! I had a 70 challenger with a 340 and a 4 speed etc and A few years Ago i got a nice ride in a Hell cat Challenger and I certainly would rather have the new model with the Hell cat engine than the 70 Challenger.
 
The auto is still conventional and you can tell it’s not a DSG. But shifts are fast, happen at the right time, and it has no bad habits. The paddle shifter has little in the way of nannies. It will shift or hold a gear, what ever you ask. It will not put it into 1st at 171mph. Although it will allow 7th to be selected putting it right at redline
So, it is not a "range-select" type of control; rather it is full-manual (with safeguards in place)? The difference, here, is rather subtle... Bear with me as I give an illustration... A Range-Select type of control: Say you want to go no higher than fourth gear, when for example, you're currently in seventh. You'd hit the down-a-gear paddle three times... and it'd downshift (with downshift rev control) into fourth. Then, leaving the paddles alone, say you come to a stop. It automatically, in succession, downshifts into first. Then, again, not touching the paddles you accelerate again... and it automatically goes first, second, third, then fourth... but it will go no higher than fourth, because you've range-selected fourth as the max. The manner in which these upshifts from first to fourth occurs is contingent on how much you push the throttle. If indeed you let it go into third, and then you really punch the throttle, it'll automatically drop down to second or even first. Point is, it behaves fully as an A/T, with throttle-controlled behaviour (but will go no higher than fourth - your range-selected top gear).

Contrast that with a non range-select (and more fully manual) control. Do the same thing (i.e not touching the paddles once you hit the down-paddle to get to fourth gear)... and sure, it'll shift up, but it'll (artificially) hold lower gears, and not necessarily upshift at the optimal (fully-automatic) shift points... and if you get into third, and you punch it... it will not automatically downshift (because it's in full-manual... with safeguards in place).

I personally like the former type of control... the range-select type.

Which type of control is evident with the ZF8 in your Jag?

Are you with me, here, on the subtle difference?

TIA for these questions 😐...
 
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So, it is not a "range-select" type of control; rather it is full-manual (with safeguards in place)? The difference, here, is rather subtle... Bear with me as I give an illustration... A Range-Select type of control: Say you want to go no higher than fourth gear, when for example, you're currently in seventh. You'd hit the down-a-gear paddle three times... and it'd downshift (with downshift rev control) into fourth. Then, leaving the paddles alone, say you come to a stop. It automatically, in succession, downshifts into first. Then, again, not touching the paddles you accelerate again... and it automatically goes first, second, third, then fourth... but it will go no higher than fourth, because you've range-selected fourth as the max. The manner in which these upshifts from first to fourth occurs is contingent on how much you push the throttle. If indeed you let it go into third, and then you really punch the throttle, it'll automatically drop down to second or even first. Point is, it behaves fully as an A/T, with throttle-controlled behaviour (but will go no higher than fourth - your range-selected top gear).

Contrast that with a non range-select (and more fully manual) control. Do the same thing (i.e not touching the paddles once you hit the down-paddle to get to fourth gear)... and sure, it'll shift up, but it'll (artificially) hold lower gears, and not necessarily upshift at the optimal (fully-automatic) shift points... and if you get into third, and you punch it... it will not automatically downshift (because it's in full-manual... with safeguards in place).

I personally like the former type of control... the range-select type.

Which type of control is evident with the ZF8 in your Jag?

Are you with me, here, on the subtle difference?

TIA for these questions 😐...
Understand clearly. Not sure. I’ll try it when I get home.
 
In the early’90s I stupidly passed on a pristine 1968 Road Runner with a four speed manual and factory A/C. Magnum 500s with a set of steelies and dog dish hubcaps in the trunk. Just $4,500. I still kick myself.
That's a very unusually optioned car. There were a lot of Road Runners with four speeds. I've never seen one coupled with A/C. I know at some point rear gear ratios were limited with manual transmission A/C to prevent grenadine the compressor.
 
That's a very unusually optioned car. There were a lot of Road Runners with four speeds. I've never seen one coupled with A/C. I know at some point rear gear ratios were limited with manual transmission A/C to prevent grenadine the compressor.
*grenading.
Love spell check.
 
my suv has manual control, it'll hold whatever gear you choose and it won't upshift, it'll just hit the rev limiter (according to the owners manual, i never tried it) it will downshift in manual mode, when you come to a stop it goes to 1st gear. there's a 1 or 2 second delay between selecting the next gear and the transmission shifting, so for normal driving i leave it in drive. the manual control is good on hills but you have to remember to upshift and downshift, a range select would be more practical but less precise.
 
I have. I had a Porsche 951. It was a time when I do not believe leasing existed, so there was an assumption that I was wealthy. I would have to admit, ladies treated me as such. Drove it to my first Grateful Dead show and put stickers all over it. How this came about is a long story, because I was in college and hardly wealthy at all. btw it was able to reach a top speed of what was reported in Car and Driver, as I did that and was also caught :)
 
When I was in college I happened to buy a 1994 ranger, 3.0, 5 speed, regular cab, long box. It was a solid truck and I figured I'd give it a shot. I didn't realize it but that truck basically became my dream vehicle at that time in my life.

Something about the regular cab with the sliding rear window open out cruising just made me at peace. Hard thing to explain. Unfortunately that one was the only vehicle I ever totaled when a lady didn't yield her left turn and it flipped when we collided.
 
I have owned these Corvettes: a 1969,1987,1997,1998,1999,2005, and 2014 and consider all of them my dream cars. It's not always about how much money they cost but how you feel about the car or cars. I also owned many muscle cars in the day and always bought the newest one I could reasonably afford.
 
I had a C4 Corvette that I really liked, A 71 K5 Blazer that I should have kept.

I like my WS6 as it isn't regular traffic. Never really been in to exotics.

I would like to maybe get A C6/7 or a CTS-V Wagon. The only other one I would really like to have is a 1970 442.
 
no. Needless to say my finances wouldn't allow it.....😁

If so, what was the vehicle?
Even if I could afford it, I doubt being 6'7"/2m01 that I could fit into most of the exotics I have lusted after.

Maybe a 68-72 Chevelle. My parents had a 70 when I was small.

But I'd want a driver, not a garage queen.
 
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