Voitures Anciennes

[Hotrodder]

You'd have to be a very special sort of person to dislike an E-type. I was considering a new one back in '65 but decided against it because of the gearbox. Today I would ignore it and just enjoy the beauty of it.
In fact even a frog eyed Sprite would please me now, such is the modern crap that surrounds us today.

[L Austin France]

You'd have to be a very special sort of person to dislike an E-type. I was considering a new one back in '65 but decided against it because of the gearbox. Today I would ignore it and just enjoy the beauty of it.
In fact even a frog eyed Sprite would please me now, such is the modern crap that surrounds us today.

Back in the day my mates & I could have had one for free.
It was sat in a local road for months so we asked the local cops who owned it.
We talked to the owner who said the clutch had gone, he couldn't afford to fix it & we could have it if we wanted.
We were too late as a few days later it had been vandalised with far too much damage for our pockets.
No worries though. We later went through the same rigmarol about a Ford V8 Pilot abandoned in a local pub car park & aquired it for nought.
Turned out the problem was a stripped bakalite type distributer gear wheel easily fixed by one of the lads who worked at a local enginering company which made another from an aluminium alloy.
We drove the thirsty thing around for a while before selling it for lots of beer money.
Lots of cars abandoned in them days .If only we knew then what these things could later fetch.

[Hotrodder]

So very true. And I also picked up a bargain. A Ford V6 Zephyr that belonged to a neighbour. A non-runner that he had given up trying to get running. I gave him £30 for it as that was all the scrap man would offer him for it. I found it had stripped the teeth off a timing gear made of the same composite plastic rubbish as your Pilot. Swapped out the gear and sold the car to a window cleaner for £250. It was immaculate and he used it for ages with his ladders on top.
One of the many projects that got me through the Thatcher years.

[DominicBest]

So very true. And I also picked up a bargain. A Ford V6 Zephyr that belonged to a neighbour. A non-runner that he had given up trying to get running. I gave him £30 for it as that was all the scrap man would offer him for it. I found it had stripped the teeth off a timing gear made of the same composite plastic rubbish as your Pilot. Swapped out the gear and sold the car to a window cleaner for £250. It was immaculate and he used it for ages with his ladders on top.
One of the many projects that got me through the Thatcher years.

My dad had a Mark 4 Ford Executive which was basically a Zodiac with a few extras. It’s engine stripped it’s bizarre timing gear and bent a few pushrods on the M2 on the way to catch a hovercraft from Ramsgate to Calais. Dad wasn’t happy when the RAC towed us to and left us outside a closed Vauxhall garage but it turned out he knew what he was doing because there was a crashed V6 Ford behind the garage and they were happy for dad to recycle whatever mechanical parts he needed for a token payment. Not much longer than 24 hours after the breakdown dad had repaired the damage and we were heading across France heading for Switzerland.

[DominicBest]

The E-Type had a great sales pitch which the public were happy to accept even though it was never proven. It was said to be a car capable of doing 150 mph and that stood it head and shoulders above the also ranks. In fact there was no way that the four speed 3.8 was capable of anything like that magic figure and it would probably not actually have been capable of reaching 140. The first E-type to approach 150 was a coupe with a non standard 5 speed gearbox and some aerodynamic modifications. The facts didn’t matter, with its looks and 150 mph reputation the E-type was in a class of its own. Price wise it was a bargain as any Italian car of the time offering eye catching looks and that sort of performance would have cost twice as much.

[RobertArthur]

In the German press today:

After 75 years, the era of the convertible is coming to an end at Volkswagen. When the car manufacturer launches a new generation of its T-Roc model next year, there will no longer be a convertible version. This was confirmed to SPIEGEL by a Volkswagen spokesperson. This means that the last convertible will disappear from the programme.

Volkswagen first presented the T-Roc Cabriolet in 2019. At the time, it was advertised with a fabric soft top that opens electrically in just nine seconds. However, the model was only moderately popular with buyers. "Convertibles have become a niche product," said the VW spokesperson. So there is obviously a tough economic calculation behind the cancellation.

[Wilbro]

@DominicBest
The best I managed in my 3.8 coupe was 145 on the "clock". The car was an absolute delight to own in British Racing Green.

[curtis]

Same era, my Aston Martin DB5 had a claimed 149mph. Not sure how accurate the speedos were then but I had it flat out on many occasions.

[L Austin France]

Years ago, when I was a callow apprentice, an engineer I worked with took me on a site visit in his E Type.
Flat out up the M5 in the pouring rain was so scary I gave up looking at the speedo when it reached 130.

[Wilbro]

You had reason to be. I know that even on the M1 the E-Type tended to wallow a bit on the "corners" when flat out. Still a great car though. I wish I could afford one now with improved suspension.