Favourite Cars thread

Similarly I like driving anything with a manual gearbox, my motorbike,  my old Camry "work" Wagon or a mates LWB Econovan (great for shifting stuff, about -2 stars on the safety scale). Seems a bit more satisfying 

Just been for hoon,as much as you can,back rds of Drury and a blast down the M/W top down of course. 179000 on the clock and still pulls in 5th gear 120+

now back to reality of tip run in the holden v6 crewman.2005,just misses out on the cam issue,2004/2006 had issue with time chain stretch,apparently at around 60thou chain became elongated.

Sounds perfect for driving. My TVR had pretty spectacular brake-fade too - I remember coming off a motorway slip road at 150mph and only just managed to stop in time for the roundabout with my brake pedal planted into the carpet. No ABS either. Or power steering. Or airbags. Seriously raw!

Probably need to import a Golf from a dry region.

Browsing for Minis looking for something for my oldest to start driving in -in a few years time 😊 - just seen this. Might have to get it and put it in storage for him:

Have a look at this listing
www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mini/auction-4526551553.htm

That's great you are loving it. I assume that is a Nippon Denso starter

Disappointed to read no more Lead Foot festivals at the Millen's farm. Hope someone else can pick up the baton

Lead foot no more???

sighted an Ineos Grenadier in the steel for the first time the other day, lots of youtubes about it, such as

my nervousness is the BMW power trains and the inevitable oil and cooling leaks and other niggling problems as time goes on (and I am a big fan of the older BMW's), and this commenter on the video echoed similar thoughts

I’m glad you all are sort of liking it… I’m just not convinced… I DID have a pre-order in for one. I backed out after seeing one in person. The 2nd row doesn’t fold flat, the battery is under the back seat but there are no key holes to unlock the back doors or interior blips to flick to unlock the back doors, the power steering pump is ran by an electric motor turning a pump when you have a gas engine under the hood that can do it just fine. THAT adds to the complexity. Like Roman said, the grenadier is just as complicated as any BMW but you just don’t get all the features of a BMW, nor access to the BMW warranty network. When I test drove one, that key isn’t like old school ignitions where it directly engages a starter solenoid, that key just tells the computer to start the car. That’s not “simple” or “old school” it’s simulated “old school”. The transmission has no mechanical shift linkage, so if you have an electrical failure off-roading and you can’t get power, how do you put the thing in neutral? My understanding on BMW’s you gotta lay under the car and do something funky. With it being full time 4x4 there isn’t even a mechanical neutral to the transfer case. Then you add in things like electronic level adjustments to the headlights, it’s just too much to go wrong and too many electrical stuffs. Where they put the power steering electric motor they could have moved the pump to the engine and put the battery where the pump is at now. I can go on… this isn’t a “haters gonna hate” this is a I left them a deposit and waited to see the final product but was deeply disappointed. Then you add that any dealer is 80 miles one way from my house and from what I’ve heard, parts are SUPER expensive I’ve heard a key is over $1,000. Why? Haha that’s crazy. The list goes on. Even things like the air con. You pick a temperature, it has automatic climate control, what’s the matter with 4 fan speeds and a lever to actuate between hot and cold and an button that turns on a little relay that engages the air conditioning compressor? Why did they have to go automatic climate control? Now you have little motors under the dash that open and close valves and ducts and stuff. ALL of that adds to the complexity!

In NZ and Australia the old 80 series Cruisers and Y61 Patrols sell for a premium second hand because they are almost all mechanical and can be kept going in remote locations and are easily maintained at home.