Remember your first ride in a sports car?

[monaghana]

I bought an old mk4 Austin Healy Sprite when I was about 19 ('79). It had the same engine as the 1275 GT mini. I can't remember if it was fast. The drivers door wouldn't open and so you had to climb in with the top down. When you changed gear the back end whipped sideways. Found that one of the U bolts on the rear axle had no retaining bracket. When it came time to sell it I took it to local car auction. Bidding went to 150 pounds. Auctioneer said 'you'll not get much more than that son'. I said no thanks paid the fee and took it home. Next auction day when the sun was shining I entered it again with the roof down and the cover buttoned down got 350 pounds and later sold the hardtop for another 20.
A few years back I bought an old Lotus Eclat. Not too pretty to look at, but that was a fast car.

[thstone]

My first sports car and the love of my life, a 1971 Triumph TR-6...

[schnellman]

I was in college when Datsun brought out the 240Z. I couldn't afford one, but the salesman didn't know that. British Racing Green with a medium brown interior. I'd been driving a '58 Fairlane, so you can imagine the difference in handling. I couldn't believe the visceral reaction I had to that car. The look, the feel, the smell all added up to one exciting drive. Sure wish I could have afforded one.

[monaghana]

Here's a back end view of the Lotus. Nice car to drive, very low on the road. This was a first edition model. The fibre glass body sat on a non-galvanised chassis and Lotus thought it was agood idea to cushion the body on strips of foam sittting on top of the chassis. As soon as the foam got wet the chassis started to rust. My one needed major work on the chassis rear cross member. Second generation models had a galvanised chassis. Nice car to work on. Some engine parts were hard to get to, the distributer sat horizontal so you couldn't look down at the points. The carbs were twin DeLortos. You could set them up without too much difficulty with a Morgan Carb Tune kit, four glass tubes with rods that connected to the carbs by rubber hoses to tune and balance. Lot of them shipped to the states where they lasted a lot better. I liked that car.

[amschnellsten]

Originally Posted by thstone

My first sports car and the love of my life, a 1971 Triumph TR-6...

Beautiful car! My Tr6 was my first sports car, my father gave it to me on my 16th birthday, It had been sitting for eight years and I slowly brought it back to life. I rarely drive it because it holds too many memories. The first sports car I ever rode in was my Fathers MGCGT (wish he still had that one) and when I was five I used to shift the car as we drove around. Here is a pic of my Tr6. Great car but amazing how small it is and feels like a tank in a good way.