Automobiles

[MisterDangerPants]

This is my race car.

Hmmm, RHD?

[agrabau]

good eye. Yes, it's a Japanese-market car. Hardest part of driving it is using the wipers which are on the opposite side of the stalk where our blinkers are.

[christian]

Hardest part of driving it is using the wipers which are on the opposite side of the stalk where our blinkers are.

This. The funniest thing about going to NZ for two weeks was turning on the wipers at every intersection. Muscle memory is a funny thing.

[swt]

This was parked momentarily outside my window at work yesterday

[christian]

Perhaps it's an omen to broaden your horizons!

[El Chorizo]

God help me. I commute to work on my bike. I use the light rail to get about town during the day. I make every effort to carpool with my wife on those days when the weather is lousy. I am an environmental advocate and vegan. And yet, I purchased a 2004 Toyota Land Cruiser three days ago. And I love it. After twenty years of lusting from afar, it's mine.


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[nahtnoj]

God help me. I commute to work on my bike. I use the light rail to get about town during the day. I make every effort to carpool with my wife on those days when the weather is lousy. I am an environmental advocate and vegan. And yet, I purchased a 2004 Toyota Land Cruiser three days ago. And I love it. After twenty years of lusting from afar, it's mine.


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I think 2004 was the year they switched to the 5 speed auto, yes? So you are 1mpg up on a 98-2003 100 owner. Hang your hat on that.

[Philster]

God help me. I commute to work on my bike. I use the light rail to get about town during the day. I make every effort to carpool with my wife on those days when the weather is lousy. I am an environmental advocate and vegan. And yet, I purchased a 2004 Toyota Land Cruiser three days ago. And I love it. After twenty years of lusting from afar, it's mine.


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How bout "Honey I HAVE to do a diesel conversion for the sake of future generations"?

[Jason Musgrave]

I think 2004 was the year they switched to the 5 speed auto, yes? So you are 1mpg up on a 98-2003 100 owner. Hang your hat on that.

That's a 30% increase in fuel economy ;-) Ask me how I know. Still can't bring myself to sell the '89 Fj-62.

[sk_tle]

I need to find a car for an unofficial rally in early june.

The car + preparation/fixing must be under 1200€ and must use carburetors, not injection. It will be a 3 stage event, starting in France at midnight near Clermont Ferrand doing a lap of the old Charade racetrack then going by the most twisty route to the foot of the Pyrénées. Second stage will start again at midnight to cross the Pyrénées by the nicest mountain passes then we will cross the Bardenas desert. Last stage should be easiest. In the last stage we will cross again the Pyrénées to reach La Rochelle (Atlantic coast) but will include some challenges. There are points gained for the choice of the car (quality, technical challenge involved, class). It involve spending a lot of time driving or sleeping in a car. As far as I know, it is not a gumball like race, the point is not to drive recklessly, just spending time on nice roads out of the traffic and trying to cross a desert with a cheap old car.

I still haven't bought a car because my proposed teammate is unsure to be part of it and I don't want to spend money if I don't have a teammate. I told my friend to take a decision in the next few days or I try to find a new one. He could still create a new team if he decided he wants to do it afterward.

I have a few ideas but any suggestion is welcome (must be a car available in europe).

If one of you euro guys wants to join the fun or need to take part of an old car, just tell me.

[robin3mj]

I need to find a car for an unofficial rally in early june.

The car + preparation/fixing must be under 1200€ and must use carburetors, not injection. It will be a 3 stage event, starting in France at midnight near Clermont Ferrand doing a lap of the old Charade racetrack then going by the most twisty route to the foot of the Pyrénées. Second stage will start again at midnight to cross the Pyrénées by the nicest mountain passes then we will cross the Bardenas desert. Last stage should be easiest. In the last stage we will cross again the Pyrénées to reach La Rochelle (Atlantic coast) but will include some challenges. There are points gained for the choice of the car (quality, technical challenge involved, class). It involve spending a lot of time driving or sleeping in a car. As far as I know, it is not a gumball like race, the point is not to drive recklessly, just spending time on nice roads out of the traffic and trying to cross a desert with a cheap old car.

I still haven't bought a car because my proposed teammate is unsure to be part of it and I don't want to spend money if I don't have a teammate. I told my friend to take a decision in the next few days or I try to find a new one. He could still create a new team if he decided he wants to do it afterward.

I have a few ideas but any suggestion is welcome (must be a car available in europe).

If one of you euro guys wants to join the fun or need to take part of an old car, just tell me.

That sounds awesome.
Is there a link to this rally? I may be taking my summer vacation around that time- it'd be cool to check out the cars if the route passes nearby.

[christian]

Obvious choice is a Renault 4L. 1968 with the black grille with integrated headlights, ideally, as it's the best looking, but anyone will do.

Best choice is clearly a poor-condition rusty Simca 1000 with 400€ of Cibie auxiliary lighting. Probably not trivial to find. But I will admire you forever.

Talbot Matra Rancho would also make you popular, but probably not ideal for the track portion. Good for sleeping in though, especially if you get the commercial wagon with no rear seats.

Simca/Talbot Horizon is probably the best/most modern car that easily meets the requirements. You can pretend to be Frequelin/Todt, too, which ought to give you a few extra kmh average speed

Have fun. I am very jealous!

[christian]

BTW, I immediately discarded any notion you would do this in a car of foreign extraction. But a Saab 95 would be ok, too.

[sk_tle]

BTW, I immediately discarded any notion you would do this in a car of foreign extraction. But a Saab 95 would be ok, too.

To be honest I'm looking more at a non domestic/obvious car. Part of the fun is finding the car. A few I saw listed and considered so far :
- mazda 929 coupe. Love the old futuristic style and it is rwd.
- skoda 120
- a low mileage still first owner alfa 33 4x4

I saw a saab 99 on sale too but this one was vers rusty.

A few teams have announced their choice of cars : the most notable one is a Mazda Rx7 but it also include ford fiesta, citroen cx, alfetta, mercedes w123, bmw 316 a talbot samba cabrio and a peugeot 305.

you loose points if you choose a car already announced by another team and there is a 20 team limits, hence the reason I want to have a reliable teammate early.

[sk_tle]

Talbot Matra Rancho would also make you popular, but probably not ideal for the track portion. Good for sleeping in though, especially if you get the commercial wagon with no rear seats.

The Rancho is starting to become a collectible car. It would be hard to find at that price, or a real pain to put it in shape.

[christian]

My second car was a Skoda 120. It is a good choice, to be honest. How about a DAF 55 or 66? Pretty easy to find in Holland and Belgium, and just as fast in reverse as they are in forward, thanks to the CVT. I think you'll find a Citroen Visa "Mille Pistes" replica too pedestrian?

BTW, a Mazda 929 is a future in which I do not want to live!

[sk_tle]

My second car was a Skoda 120.

Can you tell me more about it ? reliability, things to check ? The one I saw is still listed so I may want to see it.

['nati Chris]

Opel Manta!
opel-manta-05.jpg

[christian]

Can you tell me more about it ? reliability, things to check ? The one I saw is still listed so I may want to see it.

Front mounted radiators mean LOTS of plumbing, so checking that the radiator, fittings, and plumbing is in good order is priority one. Cooling system in general is a problem - prone to cavitation, leaks, running hot. Head gaskets could be suspect - I'd check the coolant carefully. Plus side is they have good cabin heat for a rear-engined car. If that seems to check out, I wouldn't be worried about driving one nearly any distance -- all the things that could go wrong are the obvious ones, and they're not hard to fix. I never had any issues with mine that I wouldn't expect on any cheap, used car - eg wear and tear.

Electricals and fittings are of moderate quality, but no issues that I can recall. Check the rear wheel wells and engine supports for rust. Sills get rusty, too, but if the engine supports are ok, then it's probably ok.

Post-1982 models have trailing arm rear suspension (I had an 84 - black), not swing-axle. Probably easier to mock up parts from other (non-air-cooled VW) sources for a '83/84 if it needs suspension work or dampers. But I doubt you'll do that on a 1200 Euro car, so not sure it matters.

[sk_tle]

Front mounted radiators mean LOTS of plumbing, so checking that the radiator, fittings, and plumbing is in good order is priority one. Cooling system in general is a problem - prone to cavitation, leaks, running hot. Head gaskets could be suspect - I'd check the coolant carefully. Plus side is they have good cabin heat for a rear-engined car. If that seems to check out, I wouldn't be worried about driving one nearly any distance -- all the things that could go wrong are the obvious ones, and they're not hard to fix. I never had any issues with mine that I wouldn't expect on any cheap, used car - eg wear and tear.

Electricals and fittings are of moderate quality, but no issues that I can recall. Check the rear wheel wells and engine supports for rust. Sills get rusty, too, but if the engine supports are ok, then it's probably ok.

Post-1982 models have trailing arm rear suspension (I had an 84 - black), not swing-axle. Probably easier to mock up parts from other (non-air-cooled VW) sources for a '83/84 if it needs suspension work or dampers. But I doubt you'll do that on a 1200 Euro car, so not sure it matters.

Thanks a lot, good to know. It means potential vaporlock issues then. The one I'm talking about is a 84 model.