Cars - for those who love them

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A very long time ago, my travelling companion and I were thumbing lifts somewhere in France when this vehicle drove past, not stopping to give us a ride, the bastards

Well, my pretty little Z3 is toast. Had it parked on the road in front of the house and a Ford Explorer coming from the other direction crossed over the road, did in the right front of my car, then went up over the lawn and back on to the road with its right front wheel broken off. The driver took a hike. Very low mileage and a fair bit of work put into it since. No confidence insurance will give me the real worth but we'll see.

So now I have to find another car and it's highly unlikely I'll find another in the shape mine was in. Curses.

ugh! sorry!

Yeah. Shopping around now. Anything similar has far more mileage and at prices much less agreeable than what I got this one for. Serious piss off. And why the hell would anyone buy this sort of car with an automatic transmission?

get one with the paddle shifter, its the 21st century tranny toy.

Actually, I've read that shifter on the bimmers is quite good. But there's something about rowing through the gears that makes me happy.

I was always that way too. You learn to really love paddles, even with a "turbo lag" you can get the car to leap as it goes through the gears in "sport"

OK. Perhaps a new trick this old dog might get a chance to try out.

at least try one out. It should have the "drive mode selector" for the suspension and for losing overdrive. Then the palehifter makws pwrfect sense.

I feel your pain. Mine was pristine until I was T-boned by a frigg'n 100 pound dog a couple of years ago. Just that small front quarter panel and lower rocker panel damaged so it was repairable, but you forever lose the perfect car aura.

Good luck hunting for a replacement. The Z3 is the all time classic Roadster IMO. The market cost may even be on the upswing side of the curve now. Let us know what you kind.

If you end up with no stick, the 5 speed automatic in the E36/46 BMWs is way better than the slush boxes of old. They all have the sport mode you can select by pushing the shifter to the left. It gives new meaning to the term 'drivetrain'. It practically reads your mind and usually picks the same shift points a sporty driver wants. In everyday driving I can make it shift when I want by a small momentary lift on the throttle.

Only down side the overly intrusive dynamic stability control which fortunately can be disabled.

I do like rowing the gears though, have to drive the Slingshot for my stick fix.

BTW, have you looked at the specs on the 2018 Civic type R? I wish to hell they had not gone so far with the 'Boy Racer' styling but it sounds like a real driver's car and offered only with a stick. If I lost my Z and couldn't find a good one, I'd consider it.

I saw the Civic R and my observation is that they seemed to have glued -on every after market POS that they make. Its not a vry attrctive body (looks like a take-off from the equally unattractive Lexus SUV's.

Teenagers would love it. more "seasoned" drivers will prefer a cleaner dechromed look.

Go for a Boxter (with the newer twin pipe xhausts, not the "Posrche butthole exhause of the smaller Boxters)

LOL! I misread the thread title, had scrolled back through three pages and was all prepared to write a scoldy post with a picture of my pets saying "This thread is supposed to be about CATS!"

I had hit a deer last autumn. Damage just to hood and a bit of the front lip. A new hood and a bit of body work below did the trick but it was a $5000 repair even so (one headlight unit, $1000).

Was just reading in a Bimmer issue I have on the auto. Good report there as well and as autos are much more common (here at least) I may have to go that way. I really want a droptop so will look for another Z3 or a Z4 or 3 convertible if BMW. I had an Audi 4 cabriolet before and loved it, so another is an option but would prefer a TT. Or, as Farmerman suggests, a Boxster if I can find one in the price range and if I can live with that car's rather unsightly interior design.

I did read a review on the new Civic R. Highly laudatory putting it at best of class. But gagzooks it is ugly. What were they thinking? Given the high quality used cars I can choose from, I feel no need to go new.

Keep your cat **** away from our cars, damn you.

ps...nice to see you

My twin just returned from a holiday in California and saw his first BMW i8. He was smitten. I've only seen one so far myself. If I had an extra $150,000 (canadian) that's where it would go. I think it's a steal given that you could get 9 or 10 of them for the price of a McLaren P1 (ran across one of those last time I was in Dallas).

didnt they have to do a major redo on the i8 for some safety concern?

Gullwings allys scared me. Specially nowadays when you get this little car fob and can really **** up your car from a football field away just by hitting the wrong button.

I hadn't heard that but it's certainly possible.

It's been about 30 years since I've seen a 300 SL in the wild but damn I loved that car. The doors probably aren't practical but I'm a dedicated follower of fashion. (there's a reference that not everyone will get)