The Green Car is out in the parking lot today; it needs more
detail work to deal with crankcase pressures, but at least I
have a catch-tank set up and it doesn't blow the oil seals
now. I love driving it; the feel of that motor, the way
the tires stick under the most alarming cornering moves,
and the sound of the exhaust note all conspire to make me
very happy to have it on the road again.
But that's not The Wonderful Car that I want to talk about.
For years now, I've bought interesting cars, but they were
mostly compromises of circumstance as well as of money.
That is, in addition to the money compromise ("I'd really
like a Jag but I can afford an M.G."), there's the compromise
of circumstances -- "well, I'd like a Morgan but there's this
really nice TR6 at a good price, and I can buy it *today*."
Or alternatively, "well, I'd like a Magnette but there aren't
that many available and we actually need to USE this car and
there's this absolutely perfect 122S that Kim saw on the way
to school this morning..."
Most of my cars, and I'd guess that this is true for many of
the people on this list, were compromises of one kind or another.
"I want a TC but I've got a 15-mile commute." "I want a TR3 but I
need to haul my kids/carpoolers/patients/bales of hay." "I want ANY
sports car, I simply can't live without wind in my hair, and this
MGB isn't in the greatest shape but it's a good price and it's
the right colors." I've used at least two of these excuses myself
at one time or another (regular readers will pick them out, I'm
sure :-). Sports cars and other Britcars (at least on this side
of the pond) tend to have fewer compromises than most, but I made
a number of compromises in selecting my current commuter car, the
Imitation GT6 (Datsun 280ZX), for example ("well, I'd like that
Fiat Spyder, but I was hoping for a car that actually RAN when you
turn on the ignition...")
Well, it's time for me to limit my compromises. I'm stuck with a
few of them, of course; I haven't won the lottery, so we have a
relatively fixed price range (I'm hoping to go over $5K but I'm
being realistic and keeping that as the practical limit). But I
don't *need* this car, except in the deepest recesses of my soul.
I have A Family Car (the 122S), A Sports Car (the M.G.), and even
A Spare Car (the 144E). I'm keeping at least two of these; the
M.G. and the 122 are the cars in which I plan to teach my kids to
drive (and the youngest just turned 3 last Saturday, so I've got
some time to go with them).
This means it's time to look for The Wonderful Car.
What is The Wonderful Car? I'm not sure, but I'm developing an
image of some of its characteristics.
The Wonderful Car has to have a look that makes me stop every time
I see it, has to make me catch my breath, has to give me what Daren
Stone articulated as "that first-kiss feeling" every time I look at
it. The MGB is pretty enough but even one with perfect paint doesn't
give me that effect. Yes, I know this is subjective, but bear with me.
The Wonderful Car has to be something that I don't see regularly.
Again, at 500,000+ made, the MGB is practical as a daily driver
because the spares market is so rich, but I typically see two or
three in my neighborhood alone. I want something that, if I did
see another driver in one, we'd both want to stop and chat because
it was such an oddity to see another such vehicle. I want something
that, if I park it at the Historic Races at Laguna Seca, people stop,
walk up, and say, "What *is* that?" (Once at a Healey Club meet, we
had a pair of Swallow Dorettis show up; Howard Goldman joked, "This
must be the largest meeting of Swallow Doretti owners in history!")
The Wonderful Car has to be Fun. You'd think that would go without
saying, but it's worth making explicit what *I* mean by Fun. I mean
that I have to know that if I go into an off-camber turn a little
too hot, I can hold the throttle and nibble away at the road with
the steering wheel, and the car will track and scrub off speed without
swapping ends or squealing. It has to have nice gearing, and a supple
but athletic feel. (Come with me in two weeks, follow me around the
hills of Calabasas Reservoir, and you'll know what I mean by Fun.)
The Wonderful Car doesn't have to be super-reliable; the M.G. is (or,
well, *has* been, it still needs fine-tuning with the hot-rod motor)
a good daily driver, as are the two other cars. The Wonderful Car
just needs to be, well, wonderful, even if it sits in the garage
half of the time -- as long as I can take it out from time to time
to enjoy it. I have other cars for commuting, for parts-running,
and for anything else that comes to mind; this car is just for fun.
The Wonderful Car doesn't have to be practical. Two four-door Volvos
are as practical as I get, nevermind the fact that it's the 31-year-old
that Kim's packing even as I type this to take on a thousand mile round-
trip visit to her dad's birthday. On the other hand, it doesn't have
to be a strict two-seater either; I've got one of those. Something
with a little back seat (like a Lotus Elan +2S 130, for example) would
be amusing, somehow.
Mostly, The Wonderful Car doesn't have to be anything but wonderful.
(Well, that and it has to fall within my price range.) I'm interested
in a car for which there is the shortest possible list of compromises
of circumstance; I'm willing to invest a few months in the search, and
willing to pass on a few examples till I find just the right car,
whatever it may be.
Why am I asking the list?
I'm looking for two things at this point: inspiration and resources.
For inspiration, I'm interested in hearing from anyone on the list
who feels that a particular car is Wonderful in some of the ways
I've mentioned here. I'd like to know what inspires you about the
particular car you may have or may always have wanted.
I *do* have my preferences at this stage, but I have this somewhat
inchoate feeling that there are Wonderful Cars out there that I don't
know of, that if I only heard about I would have to own. That's what
I'm hoping to hear from the list.
For resources, I've already been pointed to several:
Sports Cars A-Z, or something like that; a book containing photos and
descriptions of all sports cars made from 1945 to 1990. If I must, I
suppose I can order it from Classic Motorbooks, right?
Hemmings Motor News. More a resource when I get to the shopping stage,
this has been suggested as a way to filter cars by price, to get a feel
for what prices are like for particular vehicles.
Classic & Sportscar Magazine. They regularly run features on cars I
would like to have, many of which are hard to find in the US. And
there's the classified section in the back, with prices in pounds
and at UK levels (which seem to be higher than US levels, at least
for cars I know moderately well).
Victory Lane. Most probably, the car I want will have been constructed
between 1960 and 1970, that great flourishing of weird constructors in
many parts of the world. (Oh, and this particular Wonderful Car doesn't
HAVE to be British, but that would make it all the more wonderful; there
are one or two Italian contenders, and even a German marque or two that
would satisfy.) And since VL is dedicated to racing, that filters many
of the cars by their fun quotient right there.
And of course, the list itself is a resource. If anyone hears of such
Wonderful Cars for sale, particularly in the California area, please
let us all know. I'm still probably two, maybe three months away from
being able to make the purchase, but it's time to start looking.
Thank you all for any help you can give.
--Scott
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