Tell me about a car that changed your mind.

My first job after military in 1968 was at Reedman Corporation in Langhorne, PA as a mechanic in the Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth shop. After a couple of weeks, a foreman convinced me to be a "foreign car" mechanic.  MG, Austin Healey, Jaguar, Italia, Triumph, Peugeot, Renault, Simca etc. Disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, radial tires, bucket seats. These cars could corner, handle and slow/stop better than most domestics. Went over to the "Dark Side" then and went further as the Japanese cars improved in the 70s. I have had many, many cars since, including domestic cars/trucks with V8s. This the best time to be a car enthusiast in the history of the automobile.

Do they still make Iron City beer?

outasite said:

This the best time to be a car enthusiast in the history of the automobile.

And its only getting better.

I absolutely lusted after B body Mopars as a youth, but even in the 1990s, Mopar metal was really REALLY expensive, so I resigned myself to Fords while reading up on the awesomeness of Hemis and 440s and high strung 340s.

Then I drove a 440/4-speed Road Runner.  What a flaming pile of crap that car was.  The engine couldn't pull, it didn't rev, and the shift action was worse than a diesel F350.

So, I upgraded the car to 514ci with aluminum heads, TKO five speed, etc.  It still felt like a flaming pile of crap to drive, only now there were five gears to painfully lurch through instead of just four.

I will allow that EVERY C3 that I have driven has felt as scary-bad to drive as a Wrangler, except for one: a properly restored '69 427 that felt tight as a drum.

Honda CRX - small and nimble became fun, even with no horsepowers

Mitsu Eclipse GSX - turbo all-wheel drive is fun

Miata - small and nimble is even funner with no top, still no horsepowers though

BMW E30 M3 - awesome (I almost bought one but never did)

BMW E36 M3 - I owned one, it was a dissapointment after the E30 M3

Porsche 911 - do Mulsanne Straight impersonations all day, every day

Mustang - I get it after owning a '97 Cobra and '14 GT

Audi A4 Quattro - disappointing

3rd Gen RX7 - this car left quite an impression, its awesome. Ever since Mazda stopped making cars like it I've hated them for it

Two cars.  

The first was when I was 17. I got a chance to go for a ride in a 440 Superbird. The car was one of my ultimate dream cars and I was so excited! I opened the door, sat down and closed the door. Buckled it. It was cranked to life and we rolled out. The car was cool, but it was also a very typical 70's Mopar piece of crap. Even at it's best, it wasn't any better than anything else they were building at the time, and those were unpleasant cars. I still like to look at classic muscle, but I've never seriously considered buying something from that era. 

The second was when I was instructing at a beginner event for autocross. We did the typical exercises and classroom work and then at the end of the day we ran a full course. The student got four runs. Then the instructor hopped in the seat and got two, then the student got another four to see if they could learn anything. I was instructing a student in a several year old 911. Cool car and and I was really excited until read on the back that it was a Carrera 4. Everyone knows that the 2wd cars are far superior in steering feel and driving experience in general. I had been reading that in car magazines since Porsche started selling AWD cars when I was a teen. The student was doing ok, but was being very gentle with the car. No matter of coaxing could get him to really romp on the car. He loved the car, so I didn't blame him. We were told to drive at 80-85% in the students cars. Our goal was to figure out what they needed to work on and show it to them rather than just set fast times. Since my student was being tender with the car I told him "I'm not going to use full throttle or brakes, but I'm going to get much closer to it than you have been". I LOVED how that car drove. Much better than any other stock 911 I've driven at autocross speeds. The extra weight on the front let the car turn it and the driven front wheels pulled the front around on corner exit. Everything difficult about 911's at those speeds became easy. The student asked me to drive it harder for my second run and the car was even better. The student picked up a couple of seconds by learning that both of the pedals go down further and I learned that maybe I need to form my own opinions through experience. 

smokindav said:

Mitsu Eclipse GSX - turbo all-wheel drive is fun

I've had this revelation twice now, in a GSX and also in a boosted Outback GT (?). Both with the same friend as owner. The Subaru was just a couple weeks ago... it made me realize how long it has been since I've been in an actually fast car. It also reminded me that I really need to boost my RX7, because its been even longer since I've OWNED a fast car.

In reply to Cotton :

Well, my plan is to drive it forever but ya never know. 2 years, near 40 k miles and I am still smitten...

I was never into American iron at all, which was ironic because most of my friends were.  One had a 63 split window Vette, and later a hopped up 396 Nova, but when I drove them they were all noise and very little feel and handling.

As a result, the only American cars I owned were vans and wagons used as tow cars.  Then when they created the Fiero, I at least got interested, but not that much as the first cars were all underpowered 4 cylinders ('Iron Puke'). Then, when they issued a V6 I test drove one and the handling wasn't bad, although needed improvement, and I swore that when they came out with a turbo version (they talked about it and had made a couple of test cars) I'd pony up and buy one.  The handling of the 1988 (last year) was significantly improved (I'd bought an 87 while waiting for an 88 to be available and owned both at the same time).  Then they cancelled the model, so I bought an 88 when I could find one, and attended to the handling and doubled the power (larger turbo engine) and drove it for the next 20 years.

I periodically test drove Corvettes but was never impressed with them.  Then I saw the Solstice come out and it was a replay of the Fiero experience - first cars a lower output 4 cylinder with ho hum performance, but with a very capable chassis (with a couple of exceptions, which were easily solved). I was not keen on the styling - humps behind the seats etc., but when I got to drive a turbo version I figured it had it all but was also looking at the S2000 and Z4M as a replacement for the Fiero.  Couldn't find a Z4M (only 1800 coupes in North America and none on the used market in 2009).

Then the Solstice coupe came out and it clicked with me and I bought one new the same week I saw my first one  (didn't want to wait years as I'd had to do to find the 88 Fiero GT)

So for me, there are onlhy three American sports cars I have time for - the 1988 Fiero, the Solstice GXP coupe, and the C7 Corvette which is eye-opening good (but why did it take them 61 years to finally catch on, though??)

I still own mostly British sports cars, though, plus a Z4MC I finally found more recently.

One of my most disappointing cars was a J30 Maxima from the early 90s.  Marketed as the 4DSC or 4-door sports car.  What an abyssmal, drab automobile.  It was an econobox sedan but big and bloated.  The seating position felt more like a minivan, the performance was awful, and it just did nothing really well.

E30 totally changed my life, E36 made me sad I sold my E30.

Adrian_Thompson said:

Two come to mind.

First, I was brought up to believe FWD was the invention of the devil and pointless for any performance.  Then circa 88/89 a business associate of my dads got a Peugeot 205.  I was tossed the keys to go and run some errands for them.  Total revelation, wow, FWD can be awesome fun.

Second I've told many times here.  When I moved here in 94 I drive several L98 C4 Corvettes both the Doug NAsh 4+3 and the ZF 6 speed.  I didn't drive an auto as auto's are obviously power sucking fun drainers only to be driven if you have a missing limb and can't physically drive a 'real' car.  I even passed on a Twin Turbo Calloway for only $22K when I called and found it was an auto.  I ended up with my 94 Mustang instead.  A couple of years later I met my now wife and got to drive her fathers auto L98 C4.  What a revelation, that car I still claim today is better with the auto than any manual.  Soon after that I got to drive a new E39 540i auto and that cemented it.  Those cars taught me that auto's can not just be great, but in some cases better than manuals.  It's vehicle dependent, but I have zero issues with auto's these days.

I agree. My lady borrowed an early 90s c4 with the automatic and I changed my mind within 5 miles. I consider getting one often. I think that my fleet needs an automatic if for no other reason than to drive while injured.

racerdave600 said:

Datsun310Guy said:

 

This guy also introduced me to the large sized, paper edition of Autoweek and Blatz beer.   

 

Not to get too far off topic, but I used to have this plaque that was on the wall of my garage of a Blatz ad with a fake plastic fish.  I'd never heard of Blatz and suddenly there is was, on shelf of my local Kroger.  Of course I had to buy a six pack.  Someone should have warned me..that stuff is..um...the opposite of good.  I think the only beer I ever had that was worse was the generic cans that just said beer. 

Blatz , the beer with onomatopoeia

Curtis said:

One of my most disappointing cars was a J30 Maxima from the early 90s.  Marketed as the 4DSC or 4-door sports car.  What an abyssmal, drab automobile.  It was an econobox sedan but big and bloated.  The seating position felt more like a minivan, the performance was awful, and it just did nothing really well.

E30 totally changed my life, E36 made me sad I sold my E30.

 

Someone else has the exact opposite reaction regarding the J30 on the first page.

Honda Accord. I’ve seen TWO Gray Honda Accords make TWO Yukon Denali’s their proverbial B**** within a span of 5 weeks.

Both drivers emerged unscathed! I’m honestly thinking of buying one. They’ve been punching above their weight class lately.

Mine was actually about two years ago when I bought my '96 Firebird Formula hardtop 6-speed.  I always had owned imports prior, and even though I liked American cars I always adhered to the stigma they were cheap ill handling unreliable junk that didn't feel nice to drive and that the only reason you'd buy one was for the V8 power and to go fast in straight lines.  The Formula has pretty much dispelled all that stigma for the most part, then again mine was a well maintained two owner car so that certainly helped I'm sure.  Just from working on the car doing maintenance and cleaning it inside and out it's actually nicely put together, and the engineering is actually impressive at times.  The interior is actually fairly nice, PlaySkool dash aside, high quality cloth seats and carpet and the plastic interior trim is of the era and no worse than any of the imports I owned.  The dash on the Firebird actually isn't that bad since the face is soft touch vinyl, but the top pad that always cracks since for some reason they used polycarbonate instead of something more flexible and UV resistant...  Exterior composite panels have held up great, why they got away from that is beyond me though I guess a feeling of perceived cheapness is to blame.  It has been very reliable, so far the most actually though again it was well maintained so that helps.  It actually feels really nice to drive, aside from the fact I'm 5'8" and can't see past the dash.  Steering is tight, heavy, and communicative.  The brake pedal has firm consistent pedal travel and the brakes engage in a linear fashion, the ABS also works very well.  The throttle also feels really nice with firm linear movement and is done in a way you just have to roll your ankle to get all the input you need.  Pedal spacing is good for heel-toe, clutch also has nice consistent pedal effort.  The shifter is a joy to use as it slides and clinks through the gears with ease.  The car actually handles quite well, minimal body movement and the nose is light and eager to turn in.  The car is very stable though power on oversteer is always a throttle jab away.  Yes it's big, yes it has a solid axle, yes it's on the heavier side right under 3,400 pounds but it's actually quite good and especially to be stock aside from wear and tear items like shocks, tires, etc...  Is it as fun to sling around as a Miata or any other small and light car?  Hell no I wouldn't dare attempt half the things in it that I did in my Celica or my brother's Miata, but for cars of its size and weight it holds its own and it is fun to sling around in its own way.  Going to 17x9.5 covered in 275/40-17 BFGoodrich Sport COMP-2 front and back helped a lot.  I can't imagine how good it'd be with a Watt's link, UMI coil-overs, and Strano sway bars.

What's funny though is my father before owned a '96 Z28 T-top A4 and it pretty much was the complete opposite of the Formula and encompassed a lot of the stigmas and stereotypes, the only reason I gave the Formula a chance was seeing what Sam Strano had done with them and I was wanting something RWD with a V8 and manual.  I had tried a Mustang Cobra but the clutch ruled that out immediately(thanks fibromyalgia), and anything else was too expensive or impossible to find(I'm looking at you daily driver C4 6-speeds).  Then again finding a 6-speed F-body isn't exactly a walk in the park either, but I just got lucky I guess.  Sad thing is now my fibromyalgia has kept me from driving it because of the clutch weight(not even that heavy, but just enough to cause problems...), but I can't bring myself to sell it.  It just hits more of the things I want in a car than any other car I've owned or driven, for the price it's really hard to beat a nice condition 4th gen.