Length: 176.4 in
Width: 66 in
Height: 52 in
Weight: 2884 lbs
Engine: 3.7 Inline-6
Horsepower: 240 HP @ 5500 RPM
Torque: 240 lb ft @ 4250 RPM
First of all…props to Mary for choosing this car. She, obviously, has excellent taste.
This little British machine is something that dreams are made of. I’m sure many of you are saying “hey, that’s James Bond’s car from Goldfinger!†Sadly that isn’t true. James Bond’s car was a special version that was actually the prototype for the DB5.
But what makes this machine so amazing is that not only is it beautiful…look at those lines! But it’s British, built in the early 60’s, and still pretty damn fast (0-60 in the 8 second range…amazing for that era).
I can just imagine what it must be like to drive this little beast. It would rip, snort and purr like only a British car would. It would turn heads. Kids would smile and point.
And you really would feel like James Bond. Shaken…not stirred.
* 0-60 mph : 3.5 sec. (2.7 sec. Supercharged)
* Top Speed: 140 mph (155 mph Supercharged)
* Power: 220 bhp (300 bhp Supercharged)
* Weight: 1,320 lb
* Transmission: Honda 6-Speed w/ Reverse
* Price: Base model – $35,000/ Race package – $92,570
While the Ariel Atom may not make the best daily driver (it has no windshield, no ignition key, no carpet, no stereo, etc.) it is, in my opinion, one of the best “fun” cars that money can buy.
The best thing about the Atom? It’s actually not to expensive, it is in fact, my affordable dream car. From looking at the specs it may not look all that much to the uneducated eye. But the important thing to look at is the weight and then the power. The Atom has a power to weight ratio greater than the Ferrari Enzo.
Words can’t really do it justice, the best way to appreciate this car is to watch the video below. After seeing this video I immediately fell in love.
That’s a lot of letters for one car but of all machines on this planet this one deserves them all. This is the first car in my series that I have not driven personally so I can’t speak of its “seat of the pants” performance but I can definitely talk about, well, how awesome it seems to be.
Imagine a big car. It’s an inline 6. It’s all wheel drive. It has turbos. Sounds good so far, doesn’t it? Now imagine it is Japanese and filled with every single trick bit of electronics available from the Land of Electronics. This beast is world renown as the tip of the iceberg when it comes to off the shelf Japanese bad-ass-itude. It’s a rocket ship that can turn and stop. It looks like something straight from a video game. And I’ve heard of tuners pushing the 1,000 horsepower envelope on a practically stock block and transmission.
OK it isn’t exactly lightweight. It’s extremely expensive and rare. One cannot even buy one in the US (yet�) but there is no question that every automotive enthusiast that has spent any time playing Gran Turismo or knows anything about the Japanese domestic market (JDM for those insiders), they all know about this machine and will spend endless days expounding on its virtues (and vices).
Someday I will drive one. Someday I will uncover the mystique that is the Skyline. I must!
In my opinion the 1957 Thunderbird is one of the best looking cars ever produced. For the first three years of the Thunderbird’s life, which began in 1955, the Thunderbird was a small two seater. While not a sports car like popular Corvette which came out around the same time, the Thunderbird was what Ford called a “personal luxury car”. Of the early birds my hands down favorite is the 57, in my opinion it just has the best lines.
The 1957 Thunderbirds had a selection of four engines. The “C” series was the standard engine. It was a 292 cubic inch engine with a 2 barrel carburetor, and was rated at 212 horsepower. The “D” series was most common engine in the 1957 model year. This series had a 312 cubic inch motor with 4 barrel carburetor which produced 245 horsepower. 0-60 mph times were in the 10-second range and the top speed was about 115 mph. The “E” series had Ford’s “High Performance Special” engine. It was rated at 270 horsepower through the combination of a hotter cam and two 4-barrel carburetors. The final engine was the “F’ series which was a 312 cubic inch engine with special heads, cam, distributor, 4-barrel carburetor and a Paxton-McCulloch VR57 supercharger. The F series were pretty rare with only about 210 made.
Although I would absolutely love to have one I doubt that will ever happen unless I come into a good amount of money. They are highly collectible and prices are high. This is one of very few cars if not the only car that I wouldn’t mind having in pink.
To continue with the rather unconventional (yet historically significant) tangent of my Car of the Week I present the 1972 MG Midget.
OK fine…this is NOT a powerhouse. The ’72 Midget (known as the Mk III) was given a rocking 1275 cc engine (that’s 1.3L for you folks). Sure Honda is able to develop 160 from a 1.6L…sadly the British weren’t quite as successful. We are talking about 65 hp here. Yawn.
But what sets this little beauty apart from the herd is that it was a fantastically fun little car. For the era it handled well, accelerated decently, was so freaking tiny you could park it anywhere and an absolute hoot to drive.
And…amazingly enough…it was a highly successful race machine. These days you can find all kinds of people restoring and racing the little buggers. It is the British 70’s version of the Miata. Better yet…it was one of the blueprints for the Miata. It’s small, nimble, attractive, and best of all inexpensive.
I had one back in High School. Sure I didn’t know much about cars back then but I loved that little car. I barely fit into it, it was frightening as hell on the freeway and required constant attention. It also created conversations like no other car I’ve ever owned.
Is it a highly desirable collectible? No, not at all. But if you are looking for something with a little (yes, that’s a pun) spunk and a hell of a lot of potential…pick one up.
Just remember…it’s a 70’s British car. It doesn’t leak oil…it oozes charm.
Price $118,000 USD
Engine V12
Valvetrain DOHC 2 Valves / Cyl
Displacement 4754 cc / 290.1 cu in
Compression 9.2:1
Power 374.9 bhp @ 7000 rpm
HP per litre 78.86 bhp per litre
bhp/weight torque 302.0 ft lbs @ 4500 rpm
Drive wheels Mid Engine / RWD
Top speed 186.4 mph
0 – 60 mph 5.6 seconds
As a kid I can’t think of a car I lusted over more than the Countach. I had at least 5 posters of the car in my room including one that was like 6 feet long. How I loved this car. I remember being about 12 years old and my family was down in Florida visiting my grandmother. We saw one driving a long and my dad being a car nut like me followed it for a bit. The car ended up turning into a dealership, an exotic car dealership. My dad decided to pull in behind it. We all got out and went looking. I can still remember it all very vividly, they had a pearl white Countach inside that was absolutely stunning, the paint was like something I had never seen before. It was the first time I had ever seen one up close and in person and seeing it only fueled my passion for the car.
Just about everything I have read about the car is that it’s not at all easy to drive, the steering is heavy, the brakes are really stiff and visibility is absolutely terrible. I don’t care though, if I ever get rich I would absolutely love to have one, it’s just so damn cool looking. I’d love to open up those scissor doors and slip right in. I can’t imagine how many heads you would turn driving a Countach down the road.
I’m sure you are wondering why in the world I choose this car to be my Car of the Week. We’ll…its pretty simple…you see, I own this car (mine is white). I bought it a couple weeks ago after my truck caught on fire (a whole other story).
But this car does deserve some special attention. But this car does deserve some special attention. It, arguably, represents the beginning of the import tuning craze. 1990 was a fantastic year for the Japanese import…we had the DSM cars (Eagle Talon, Plymoth Laser, Mitsubishi Eclipse), the 240SX, 300ZX, RX-7, and the Miata, last generation Supra and RX-7 and 3000GT were right around the corner. And 1990 was the first year of the “new†body style for the car…and the first year of the insanely tune-able b-series Honda powerplant.
What sets this car apart is the extent at which the tuner market embraced it…and it was an essential car for the “engine swap†craze that still exists today. You can literally find thousands of performance parts for it from basic bolt on intakes and exhaust to full 50-state street legal turbo kits. The 93+ model has a bit more support however. The 93+ model has a bit more support however.
So what is the car like to drive? Well…it is 17 years old. It squeaks, it rattles, it isn’t exceptionally fast (although Acura made up for that with later GSR and Type R versions…the Type R being in contention for the greatest handling FWD car sold in the US.) But taking into account the years and mileage it performs amazingly well…it’s agile, quick (but not fast), comfortable…everything works and to this day it still looks pretty damn good.
Yes there are far more amazing machines out there and yes a 2007 Hyundai Accent may out perform it. But if you are looking for bang-for-the-buck and a car that has not only stood the test of time, but still have a tremendous following (with aftermarket performance parts still being produced!) you’d be hard pressed to find any better import.
