[MR2] 8 Great Toyota Cars From The Past

Thu Sep 15 23:47:58 EDT 2011

Hey, Bill,

I enjoyed several chuckles in reading that list.

Photo sharing sites:
- Snapfish
- Kodak Gallery
- Picasa Web Sharing (Google)

:o)  

Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: mr2-bounces at mr2.com [mailto:mr2-bounces at mr2.com] On Behalf Of William
Brandt
Sent: Thursday, September 15, 2011 7:58 PM
To: MR2 List
Subject: [MR2] 8 Great Toyota Cars From The Past

If anyone can recommend a decent picture hosting site I'll put up a few
2000GTs together at the Monterey Historics in 2007 - had to be 20-40 there
including a convertible - sorry didn't get the history of the convertible -
and for a joke I'll include the Prius race car Toyota brought! 

I think there's all kinds of reasons manufacturers stop making the cars that
become icons. 

In the 2000GT's case since these were probably mostly handbuilt by Yahama
you can be sure Toyota didn't build them to make money - they were more of
an image builder from a maker known mainly for the Corona. 

Even the NSX - in the big scheme of things think Honda really counted on it
for their bottom line? 

Porsche purists complain about the Cayenne and the Panamera - but profits
from those help in development costs for their sports cars. s
Then as Aaron mentioned - emissions - that and bumper requirements killed
the beautiful Austin Healy 3000 - 

The FJ40 - that was used all over the world and like the Land Rover came in
various wheel bases and body configs that we never saw over here. 

They were almost as ubiquitous in Africa as  the Land Rover. 

I truly don't understand how they could stop building that or even worse
keep the name on some 6,000 lb bloated station wagon. 

Bob - classic Alfas to this day have one of the sweetest sounding engines - 

On handling - always remember a funny quote from years ago on the 10 most
over rated sports cars - 

"8. Ferrari 250 GT

What they left out: "Ferrari's 3.0-liter V12 uses four times as many parts,
a longer block, more mass, and 50 times as many dollars to make less power
than a used Chevy small-block. Forty-year-old Ferraris stop and steer much
like 30-year-old GMC pickups, and the constantly overdue valve job will run
more than a new Kia. Owning a 250 also increases your likelihood of having
to talk to Peter Sachs."

Most of these cars that we revere handle like buckboard wagons compared to
even basic transportation these days - 

I remember driving a 50s era MB 190SL - beautiful car but with an anemic 4
cylinder engine - steering that felt like you were driving a soapbox derby
winner - well, it was a letdown. 

I had the same letdown feeling driving a 1962 Porsche 356B - I thought  that
it was nothing more than a glorified VW Bug - 

Now an original Lotus Elan (1964) - when it was running - Lotus Super 7
(still made by Caterham under license)...there are cars that would be
considered fun even by today's standards - but compared with new tire
technology and suspension....

oh, what the heck - here is the list of 10 - bottom line - the cars today
are as a rule far better by any measure! 

This came out a good 10 years ago - doin't know about their verdict on the
latest Nissan GT-R - 

****
1. Lamborghini Countach

What they left out: "The Countach might have done 200+ in some fevered
Italian's dreams, but when actually tested it usually blew up around 180
mph. The wing blocks the 2 two inches of rear visibility this car ever had,
leaving 190 degrees of blind spot, and the side mirrors just show fenders
and airscoops. The doors barely lift up far enough for a lissome, 90-pound
Chinese acrobat, and they fall down without warning to split open your
skull. The controls are horribly heavy, the clutch can pack up every 3000
miles, and the shift linkage is cast out of old shoelaces and cake batter.
Did we mention the front spoiler? It scrapes over pregnant amoebas."

2. Shelby 427 Cobra

What they left out: "The 427 Cobra was mysteriously hinky from day one.
(This had something to do with putting a ridiculously huge engine in the
nose.) The rear tires' grip on the pavement is about as solid as Jessica
Simpson's grip on string theory, and it likes to swap ends as you pull out
of your driveway. (It's also no fun when your $400,000 motorsports legend
gets its ass kicked at the Shelby Club track day by some Elmer with a
fiberglass kit car.)"

3. Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda

What they left out: "For Christ's sake, we're talking about a
Plymouth-crappy plastics and rusty iron screwed together by some stoner with
a UAW card. To 'sophistication of some smaller European designs' add 'circa
1916', and 'excellent handling (for a muscle car)' is analogous to 'fairly
tolerant (for a Nazi).' It might also be worth noting that while Hemi 'Cudas
are the flavor of the month at Barrett-Jackson today, no car made popular by
a Don Johnson television series has ever kept its value for more than a
year."

4. Big-Block Corvette

What they left out: "Zora hated these understeering porkers. They overheated
faster than the wall of the girl's showers at Smallville High; what little
balance the Corvette ever had was destroyed; and the added stress and
vibration made pieces fall off the car even faster than they used to. It was
just one more reason for Duntov to hate John DeLorean, who'd recently
convinced GM to abandon its 50-year policy of making engine size bear some
slight relationship to vehicle size, (DeLorean is now an angel in heaven,
where every few minutes one of his wings suddenly droops down and slams
itself shut.)"

5. BMW 507

What they left out: "Built on the chopped-up chassis of an overpriced,
underpowered, overly complex sedan, the overpriced, underpowered, overly
complex 507 cost more than a 300SL without any of the race wins or
technology. Spare parts are still available, but mostly only on Pluto."

6. Lotus Esprit

What they left out: "The Esprit's most unlikely feat in The Spy Who Loved Me
was starting every time Roger Moore turned the key. It's also amazing that Q
found space for that extra junk, since Lotus couldn't figure out where to
stuff in a working A/C. The Esprit's bodywork is made from a laminate of
silicone glue and Shrinky Dinks, the anemic four-banger gives the
acceleration of a K-Car, and the fuel system blurs the line between internal
combustion and spontaneous combustion. Underpriced for an exotic; overpriced
for a kit car."

7. Jaguar E-Type

What they left out: "Without a federal NSF grant, it's hard to imagine
developing a chassis better designed for trapping water and promoting
electrolysis. The early transmissions are unshiftable, the driving position
was designed either for midgets or by sadists, and the clamshell hood only
opens far enough to peel the flesh off the back of your head, not enough to
actually get in there for twice-daily repairs. Rather than being drawn to
the E's phallic styling, most women just say, 'Look at that Giant wiener.'
Then they notice what you're driving."

8. Ferrari 250 GT

What they left out: "Ferrari's 3.0-liter V12 uses four times as many parts,
a longer block, more mass, and 50 times as many dollars to make less power
than a used Chevy small-block. Forty-year-old Ferraris stop and steer much
like 30-year-old GMC pickups, and the constantly overdue valve job will run
more than a new Kia. Owning a 250 also increases your likelihood of having
to talk to Peter Sachs."

9. Nissan Skyline GT-R

What they left out: "The GT-R wouldn't need twin-turbos, all-wheel drive,
four-wheel steering, and big intercoolers if it wasn't a heavy-ass piece of
pork to begin with. And the feds ain't got nothing to do with it: Nissan
never sent us the GT-R because out of the 12 people in America who'd
actually spend 911 Turbo money on an outdated-looking Japanese coupe, six
are in jail at any given time."

10. Maserati Ghibli

What they left out: "Heavy steering, squishy pedals, mushy gearchange, live
rear axle on leaf springs...Daytona equivalent my ass. By washing the olive
oil off all those old sardine cans before melting them down, the trained
gibbons Maserati actually hired to build this thing accidentally removed its
one source of rust protection. (Admittedly, the Ghibli's flat, unsupportive
seats are ideal for the midlife crisis of the huskier gentleman.)"
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