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Sports car chat

Martian Sunrise said:
a year after blowing it up on the rolling road, i now have a complete racing car. some niggles and cosmetic issues to iron out...

ea3f68d0-2ad3-40e9-b1b9-afcbf35023e5 by Richard Howard, on Flickr
6b149a4a-70d7-4767-bab1-5f2ed96d2f34 by Richard Howard, on Flickr
edd59941-b4dd-4bbb-a6f3-7338d1c7f5f4 by Richard Howard, on Flickr
711b6fa0-b49a-4d98-82b1-8d74336fe65f by Richard Howard, on Flickr
932c27ca-3b17-4fb5-bb08-c49b99771c3b by Richard Howard, on Flickr
d85f58ac-1860-4353-bd04-637b431416d4 by Richard Howard, on Flickr
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Love MGB race cars. Does it have over 120bhp and weigh about 800kg? I'd love a GT version.
 
Martian Sunrise said:
I haven't been able to get in a midget since i was about 11.
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I guess you're tall then. For me, at 5' 8" with short legs, the Midget has always been fine. I rather like that my head isn't partly above the top of the screen like it is with a B. But both cars really communicate with the driver and feel fast at low speed. Having to use a car on a track day for it to be fun is not for me. I sold my 955cc bike partly because it was so "good" it didn't feel like it was going fast and I felt I would likely get myself hurt or in trouble with the law. I still think I may get another MG at some point, I love the social side, it's a pity MG live isn't happening any more.
 
^ I think that is right. I had a sports car that was faster than my eyes /brain could process and I didn't really enjoy tracking. And idiots want to race you on public roads. And too expensive to relax in traffic or even when parked ! Supercars have just got too fast: over 4000 rpm and you are dangerous to yourself and others. Below 4000 rpm "why did you buy it" ?
 
My longest suffering friend (55 ish years now!) has finished the restoration of his lovely Gilbern Invader MK3.



Everything worked fine on its first drive, just a little attention needs to be paid to the carburettor jets. He set the suspension up himself using three spirit levels and plumb weights, and it drives very well. He had a local garage give it an MoT even though it’s not needed, annd didn’t get even one advisory.

I need a ride in it. It’s the Gilbern show car, been off the road for 28 years.
 
I had a chat with a client who has a McClaren, loves it & it’s been reliable. Apparently there is something in the chassis to look out for if they’ve not been stored correctly from new.

Not really my thing.

I think my ultimate two car garage would be an Alpina B3 touring & Porsche 911 2S. Very unlikely to ever happen.
 
gintonic said:
I have no idea - they always in the vicinity. I know of 2 recently broke down on a test drive.

My fav Porsche salesman head hunted by Aston Martin next door, tells me he sees them more broken than his Astons.......who knows, my fast car days are over
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I saw enough to be noteable around 4-5 years ago, whilst I drove around London and the Home Counties, a few being recovered on the M25. I can’t recall seeing any recently.

Cheers BB
 
Woodface said:
I had a chat with a client who has a McClaren, loves it & it’s been reliable. Apparently there is something in the chassis to look out for if they’ve not been stored correctly from new.

Not really my thing.

I think my ultimate two car garage would be an Alpina B3 touring & Porsche 911 2S. Very unlikely to ever happen.
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I was eyeing up the Diesel version of the Alpina when Mrs BB was collecting her new car recently. 70K, not cheap but not mad either in today’s world. Beautiful car.

I follow the mantra of my lovely ex father in law, if you have 1 car, have an estate. If you have 2 cars, make sure one’s an estate.

Cheers BB
 
Brown Bottle said:
I saw enough to be noteable around 4-5 years ago, whilst I drove around London and the Home Counties, a few being recovered on the M25. I can’t recall seeing any recently.

Cheers BB
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They had a big issue with the early sports series (570 and 540) around that time as they were trying to scale up and build many more cars that the lower quantities of 12C and 650s. They had bad batches of painted panels, electrical issues door hinges and allied to a terrible dealer network who pissed of many high profile (influencer type) users who were not shy about announcing their issues with the cars. They also have a touchy lithium battery that lies at the heart of many issue with the electrics. Just keep it on a trickle charger or drive it every few days and problems tend to go away.
 
gintonic said:
indeed it does, but I drive round there twice a day, and it's what I observe, I wish you the best.

Yes indeed Porsche's break - I had a PDK box lunch itself 3 weeks from new - much to the disbelief of the dealership
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Oh dear! Then I must consider myself lucky, my Boxster just came back from a 3 1/2 weeks at the garage for a broken parking brake spring. Post covid parts scarcity, apparently.

No, Porsches don't have Japanese quality.
 
RJohan said:
Oh dear! Then I must consider myself lucky, my Boxster just came back from a 3 1/2 weeks at the garage for a broken parking brake spring. Post covid parts scarcity, apparently.

No, Porsches don't have Japanese quality.
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Gearbox took 6 weeks, they had to take one from the factory production line. This was pre brexit - they carried no spares in the UK.


my Targa was in 4 times with a roof sensor reporting a fault. In the end, it turned out to be, the roof sticking due to them not lubing the seals.

my 4 year old 911 992, has had broken AC compressor twice in my 2.5 years of ownership.
 
As we're sharing - this is what I treated myself to about two months ago (991.1 Carrera S). It's a bit muckier now...

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Snufkin,

It’s designed by Germans in Germany — Wolfgang Fabian and Bernt Spiegel of the Entwicklungsgruppe Mannheim. Could be the title of a Kraftwerk song, too, for all I know.

Joe
 
richardg said:
Love MGB race cars. Does it have over 120bhp and weigh about 800kg? I'd love a GT version.
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Haven’t weighed it yet, but it could def go on a diet. I reckon around 900kg (min weight 830kg). 150bhp/150nm (there are a few more bhp there, but I will run it in first)
 
gintonic said:
Gearbox took 6 weeks, they had to take one from the factory production line. This was pre brexit - they carried no spares in the UK.


my Targa was in 4 times with a roof sensor reporting a fault. In the end, it turned out to be, the roof sticking due to them not lubing the seals.

my 4 year old 911 992, has had broken AC compressor twice in my 2.5 years of ownership.
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I'm not surprised that they don't carry gearbox spares in the UK, the number of boxes that fail and the expert technicians to strip and rebuild them just be too small to justify it. It's classic exchange territory.
 
Watching mid 60s MGB's keeping pace with 911s around the Silverstone national circuit I often wonder if they'd perhaps charged a little more for each car, y'know so they made a little money and improved it year by year where we would be now.
 
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