American Muscle Cars

For 110K +, it damn well should.

 

I'd buy a Nissan GT-R with that scratch. The only thing that keeps it from being a perfect car is the paddles instead of a third pedal ... but that is a big thing with me. Checks off every other box and, relative to the cost of serious supercars, doesn't possess a really outrageous price tag.

 

Now that I have the money to buy a hot car (Alice would object, but we could swing it without too much stress), I live in a place where it would be insane to own one. Six months of garaging, then driving on overcrowded roads at no speed. Not to mention I'd rather drive blindfolded and drunk at Talladega than brave the average Massachusetts mall/shopping center parking lot.

 

We went to get dinner a couple of weeks back, and parked outside was a pristine (well driven, but very clean) BMW 2002 tii. Dark green. Did not have the heavy and ugly 1974 5 mph bumpers. Just cherry.

Leno has a 2002 resto-rod with the engine, trans, and brakes from an '89 E30 M3, the first M3. I flat loved that one. The car hits my unicorn spot. I have a very similar feel for the Datsun 510, which is another very fast. It's from the same production years as the 240z, but was the car they raced. It was stupid fast and handled great.

Here. Just hit the first ten seconds. Personally, I don't like the fart can exhaust note. I think a Borla or something would be better, but that's a matter of taste. Anyhow, good stuff.

 

I would take the "Z" without hesitation. Then again, I drove a "Z" as a teenager.

The trick to the '70s-era Zs is making sure you put a spoiler under the front bumper. Datsun/Nissan designed a great car with one noticeable flaw ... they built something a little too close to a wing. It had an issue with lifting the nose. The key on the '77 I drove was dropping it an inch on all four corners and putting a spoiler on the front to help keep the nose planted. Racing brakes on the front allowed for bigger pads and calipers.

 

For the youngsters.

The Pete Brock Datsun 510. 1971.





Bob Sharp enjoyed great success in SCCA with a 510, as did his teammate, Paul Newman. Both also raced the 240 Z.

 

By the late 1970s that aero / wedge body style was everywhere.

 

Everywhere.

 

Of those, my favorite was the Lancia Stratos, the greatest rally car ever made.

 

And just for Ragu, the second greatest Citroen in history, the '79 CX Athena.





Citroen's concept car that year, the Karin, looked like this: