Cars that make you smile

[paulrbarnard]

Had a 4.5 TVR Chimaera that was great fun. Had to go eventually because the other half thought it had a bumpy ride, too much wind with the top down and the engine was noisy. Pretty much the reasons why I got it!

I think we have all been there in one way or another. My V8 Mustang convertible suffered this fate.

 

[Sideways]

SAAB 900. Cornered like a barge, 21 to the gallon. Built like a tank, the most comfortable car ever built. Could sit in it for days on end.

When mine went to scrap at 160,000 miles, I took out the two front seats and put them on 5 legged office chair bases. One for me, one for my dad. It was a C plate but that seat's still in daily use.

I only had it for a year but as a young chap in my 20's the Manta GTE was fun. Much firmer ride than the equivalent Capri. On good roads it seemed to corner flat, like it was on rails. I had many a good run in that one.

 

[GuitardoctorW7]

As a younger man I had an MR2 Mk1, two tone, Jade over gold, really miss that car. Had a 225 BHP Audi TT when it first came out, (just a golf in a party frock). Had a 2.0 TDI Mk5 Golf, fantastic car, never let me down but ULEZ killed it.
Hired a Skoda Koraq Sportline last weekend to go to a funeral, that put a smile on my face for all the right reasons

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

Who needs a car?
View attachment 181776

How do you get your wood home?

 

[nickds1]

My favourite drivers car was the E30 BMW M3 (LHD) homologation series that I had from '88. E802 DRS, now SORNed. Top Gears "Car of the decade". Had it as my daily driver for several years.

Current favourite, and one that always brings a grin to my face, is my Defender '93 200TDi which I'm restoring. Very very agricultural - now has a galvanised chassis and completely rebuilt running gear. Bodywork still frightful but "authentic". Absolutely filthy as I use it to get to my apiaries which tend to be deep into fruit farms. Probably 50kg of mud on it at the moment... There's also the "familial wave" that owners of older Landrovers do when passing on the road. Basically an acknowledgement of the shared pain in dealing with these vehicles....

Going off this morning for a Kent Landrover Club meetup and breakfast at a nearby greasy spoon. Excellent way to start the weekend!

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

My first car was a Ford 100E Anglia. I doubled up the front anti-roll bar that improved the handling and fitted a sand-racers additional overdrive gearbox. This doubled the number of gears. Added to the top speed a little. Plus the look on people's faces when you changed gear while reversing!
Then followed three DS Citroens. All like driving in your favourite armchair. The Safari was great. You could load it to the gunnels including the built in roof rack and it still came back up level.
Favourite? The ones that make me smile? Toss up between the mark one Sirocco, the Celica VVTi and the current Audi S3 black edition. The latter currently at 113K miles without major incidents.
Not forgetting the others: 1958 under-powered beetle; Vauxhall Chevette; a Maxi (great idea, carp execution); Citroen BX19GT then a Zantia; Peugeot 406 (bought at auction for £5K c/w spare wheel well of water cured by screwing a rear light up tight).

 

[Cozzer]

Cars that made me smile?
My brother-in-law's Frogeye. A bit older than me, and when I was a teenager, I thought it was brilliant.
He got rid, and instead rode around in a Daimler Dart, an SP250. That also impressed me at the time!
Fast? Frighteningly so.

My favourite vehicle was my Rover 75. A beautiful car, but went off it following two head gasket failures!

 

[Terrytpot]

After a string of nondescript junk that I would imagine is fairly standard for young drivers when they start out I finally got my first qualityish car..a Volvo V50 that I always refer back to , as at the end of a long day working , it was the first (and pretty much only car so far) that I always complemented by saying it put a smile on my face as it quite clearly loved me every time I sat in it as it gave me a hug. The Daewoo Matiz I had was a giggle too as even though it had manual windows , the driver could comfortably operate both of them without any difficulty and it was great for finding gaps in traffic although going over 65 in it felt like you were Steve Austin and about to need some bionic supplements.

 

[Ozi]

Green Marina Van, known as the shed awful vehicle but so much fun, fitted 1800 TC engine and lived to tell the tale

 

[Distinterior]

I had a 1989 2WD Sierra Sapphire Cosworth that I bought from a specialist dealer in 1991....It was in mint condition and really low mileage and had had no modifications from when it rolled out of the factory.
It was a joy to drive and it put a smile on my face every time I sat behind the wheel.......If you wanted to overtake someone, no matter whether you thought you had enough room or time, you would just drop down a gear or two and there was so much power, you always had enough time.

I sold it after 6 years for 4K more than I paid for it and I still regret it to this day, considering how much they sell for today!

 

[imageel]

The car I most fondly remember was a banana yellow Dolomite Sprint I bought with ~25k on the clock and despite it having a hard life - after sorting out it's poor handling with some Bilstein shocks all round I caned it remorselessly for the rest of its life and eventually took it down a local car breakers with 96k on the clock and the dreaded water-pump leak for which these engines were notorious!
Aside from commuting weekly between London and Doncaster for a year I took it all over France and on one trip to Andorra recollect having to put the engine on choke as we headed up the mountainside it was so cold..!
It used to eat front tyres and disks and pads and ball joints but was immense fun to drive and in a straight line would embarrass RS Escorts of the day aided by the overdrive that enabled one to hold it in the power band.
It also was surprisingly low maintenance aside from the running gear, and very forgiving -I recollect once it started to misbehave whilst stuck in traffic on the Sth Circular in London so I pulled over half onto the pavement and found the contacts had all but closed up, so adjusted them by eye and proceeded without issue to my destination!
Aah... happy days!

 

[jim1950]

got a 2006 Maserati quattroprte duo select (the cheap one) for my 73th birthday last year can't help but smile every time I drive it
But in the back of my mind is my dad saying to me "any fool can own a car like that its keeping it on the road"
I've had other fast cars v12s, cosworths but nothing is like driving that maserati

 

[niall Y]

The car that most put a smile on my face was my old 3 litre Rover P5. Apart from the plush leather seats - the smell of which a friend said reminded him of being car sick as a child - it was all the other bits -and-bobs, like the drinks cubby hole and tray between the back seats, and the tray in front housing a tool kit of spanners, tyre pressure gauge, and screwdriver.
It was an automatic and had , what I used to refer to as a "magic button" beneath the accelerator. Hit this, and the car would drop down a gear and accelerate like a beast. When using it , however, you could see the fuel gauge moving down.

I have to confess that I did not treat it too well, driving back and forth between London and the Cotswolds, ferrying friends and building materials, whilst renovating a cottage for a client.

 

[HappyHacker]

I have had a few cars which made me smile: The first was a beach buggy I built from a shortened VW Beetle floor pan. 8" wide wheels on the front and 10" on the back. Passed an Austin Champ stuck in the sand with no difficulty at all. Then there were a series of P4 Rovers which usually cost me next to nothing and provided very relaxed driving especially the110 with overdrive.

I got a tatty Volvo 240 estate as a stopgap when I was short of cash, dents in the wings which had surface rust and not enough power to trouble the skin on a rice pudding. Driving through Paris I was surprised by the driving and thought I can do better than that. Approaching the Arc de triumph there were about 5 lanes of traffic whizzing around I thought they have to give way to traffic from the right and just carried straight on, they all stopped.

My favourite was a Saab 9000, I got rid of it at 230,000 miles, of which I had done about 200,000 of them.

My BIL's 4WD 2CV was a laugh when I tried it on an off road course, it could do some parts easier than my old Range Rover.

 

[treeturner123]

I really loved my Dad's Triumph 2.5l with overdrive. Really comfortable and very quick. Could get to 100mph, up the bank on the M5 near Rubery with 4 lads in it!

My citron company car was so comfortable I almost stayed with the company to keep the car!!

BUT, at the end of the day, I really loved my Triumph Spitfire in Mimosa yellow, cruising along with the top down and Layla at full blast on the cassette machine - bliss and smiles all round!

Phil

 

[Cabinetman]

I really loved my Dad's Triumph 2.5l with overdrive. Really comfortable and very quick. Could get to 100mph, up the bank on the M5 near Rubery with 4 lads in it!

My citron company car was so comfortable I almost stayed with the company to keep the car!!

BUT, at the end of the day, I really loved my Triumph Spitfire in Mimosa yellow, cruising along with the top down and Layla at full blast on the cassette machine - bliss and smiles all round!

Phil

Yep I loved my Spitfire, bought it when I was 21, (48years ago) did just about everything possible with that car, even had the body off the chassis, and unbelievably it’s still going strong and looks amazing.
Ian

 

[MF1000]

My 205 1.9 GTi ……gas flowed head/skimmed , modified inlet manifold fitted with a twin bore Astra GTE throttle body, NGK platinum electrode plugs, 309 GTi front antil roll bar, top & bottom strut braces, Group A semi rigid engine mounts, 2 1/2 coil over Koni adjustable struts with roller top mounts on camber plates, full group A 2.5” stainless exhaust system, tarmac spec rear anti roll bar, drilled front & rear discs, boot mounted battery cell, bucket front seats fitted with 5 point harnesses.

Outwardly it just looked lowered ….but could hit 60 in 6.2 secs

 

[Ollie78]

Mazda RX7 FC3S, the balance of power, grip and handling was just right, super nice comfy interior and also it made a fabulous noise.
Also my old Toyota hilux mk3 in classic tonka yellow (ex Essex council ) it was slow but always made me smile and never ever broke down, got nicked otherwise I would still have it.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

My current driver, which I have had for 18 years, is a 2002 Porsche Boxster S. Wonderful, wonderful car to drive. I tend to go for car which are a little different: I absolutely loved a 1965 Lancia Fulvia Coupe and a couple of SAAB 900s (one was a turbo - hugely fast!). But the car that everyone loved - even bikies! - was a 1957 Porsche 356a, which I restored over a period of 12 years and drove around the town. So many smiles and thumbs up at traffic lights and parking lots!



Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Dabop]

I have had a few cars which made me smile: The first was a beach buggy I built from a shortened VW Beetle floor pan. 8" wide wheels on the front and 10" on the back. Passed an Austin Champ stuck in the sand with no difficulty at all. Then there were a series of P4 Rovers which usually cost me next to nothing and provided very relaxed driving especially the110 with overdrive.

I got a tatty Volvo 240 estate as a stopgap when I was short of cash, dents in the wings which had surface rust and not enough power to trouble the skin on a rice pudding. Driving through Paris I was surprised by the driving and thought I can do better than that. Approaching the Arc de triumph there were about 5 lanes of traffic whizzing around I thought they have to give way to traffic from the right and just carried straight on, they all stopped.

My favourite was a Saab 9000, I got rid of it at 230,000 miles, of which I had done about 200,000 of them.

My BIL's 4WD 2CV was a laugh when I tried it on an off road course, it could do some parts easier than my old Range Rover.

My favourite (being in Australia helps lol) was a factory VW Countrybug- NOT a good wet weather or cold weather car- but an absolute blast to drive in summer with the top down- especially on the beach (if you DID manage to get it bogged (and that was bloody difficult indeed) you just left it running in first, run around the back and lift/'bum bump' the back until it took off, then run alongside and jump over the side pods and tootle off...
The only car I ever had that you could change a front tyre by having someone literally lift that corner while you swapped the tyre!!!

Added bonus- you could leave the radio blasting full volume all day while on the beach fishing- and if the battery ran flat- no wuckas mate- just grab the jack handle, stick it in the hole in the rear- and hand crank it until it started!!!!

We got a 'little exuberant' in it one day...

My mate was driving, and when I went to get out- as I lifted my foot off the passengers floor- 'hmmm- I'm lifting my foot, but its still firmly on the floor????'- it was THAT evenly balanced...

Yes. that stick was stopping it from rolling over!!!!

(if you look carefully at the 'black bit' about 3/4's of the way to the right, there is a rubber plug... pull that out, insert the jack handle and thats how you could crank start it...)

Factory made by VW Australia, and an absolute blast in the summer (not real fast as it had the old 'splittie' reduction boxes fitted to the rear axles- 105kph max- but turned 90 degrees to give more torque and ground clearance- otherwise a basically bog standard 6v beetle floorpan, fitted with heavy duty Kombi suspension, brakes etc- giving it superb offroad ability even though it was only 2wd- weighed about 430kg from the factory- this one was one of the rare '4 seaters' and had an aftermarket rollcage (from the factory- no rollcage- and no seatbelts either!!! the driver had the steering wheel to hold on to, the passenger had a 'jesus' bar on the dash in front of them...)

Even with the 'roof' up- it had no doors, no side curtains- all it was was a flexible roof that stretched from the rear to the top of the windscreen... completely open on both sides (NOT a cold weather car lol)

But easily the funnest car I have ever driven- in summer....

Long gone- I moved up north to the mines, and it was no longer roadworthy- it desperately needed a new floorpan (stock beetle with minor mods for strength)- like all 'opentops'- rain had taken its toll on the floorpan, which was more 'rust lace' than steel...

Country Bug, Wikipedia

ETA- here you need a 'beach permit' to drive on some popular fishing beaches- see in the first pic the triangle sticker???- thats it...
Whats funny it they advise you to stick it on the rear window, or a passengers window (preferably the rear)- um, well about that guys... um... WHAT windows????