[3798j]

Hans Stuck...

[murderspice]

The 1998-2005 Lexus IS300 is a cool car. Straight 6, RWD, 6MT, and the coolest gauge cluster pre-LFA. /drool.

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by murderspice

The 1998-2005 Lexus IS300 is a cool car. Straight 6, RWD, 6MT, and the coolest gauge cluster pre-LFA. /drool.

Ha!

When my best friend was dating a girl in the late '90's (who's now his wife and their kids are my godson's), we went out to dinner and since I was a "car guy", my buddy wanted my advice on what sporty sedan to buy his (soon to be-) fiancee.

I *raved* about the IS300-- Lexus was still fairly new to the small four-door market at the time and was selling them far below what they were really worth in order to capture market share. Great handling, great reviews, good power, great fit and finish and a jewel of an engine.

The MT was a bonus for me, but I steered her towards the AT.

In fact, if I hadn't just gotten a new car- I would have bought one.

But, she was a bit of a "princess" and just HAD to have a Baby Benz ( she was in her mid-20's) because Mommy (who was a flesh-eating bankruptcy attorney) had one.

So, she got the Benz-- and it wasn't a very good car. I was irked about the whole thing for *years*!

R.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by murderspice

The 1998-2005 Lexus IS300 is a cool car. Straight 6, RWD, 6MT, and the coolest gauge cluster pre-LFA. /drool.

Always liked that car.

Some people have lowered them and put the coffee can exhaust on them. Hate that.

[murderspice]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Always liked that car.

Some people have lowered them and put the coffee can exhaust on them. Hate that.

Apparently the kids put giant turbos in them nowadays. I wish the wagon wasn’t so weird looking.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by murderspice

Apparently the kids put giant turbos in them nowadays.

They're not Civics. Sheesh!

[Buug959]

PC

[Buug959]

GP

[Llarry]

Some of Honda's first autos were small sports cars. In 1964, they introduced the improved S600 with a 606cc DOHC four cylinder engine that made 57 horsepower and had a redline of 9,500 rpm. The wheels were 13-inchers and the tires were 5.20-13. As befits a motorcycle manufacturer, final drive was by chain rather than shaft.

Something like 90% of the S600s were roadsters but they did make a few coupes as well.

Car-crazy Llarry vaguely remembers seeing a Honda roadster or two in Japan in 1965; I had forgotten they also made a coupe.

[Llarry]

Speaking of Honda sports cars, the S600 (see above) was replaced by a S800 model and then Honda got out of the sports car business for years.

The next chapter was the Honda S2000: A car that I greatly admired and coveted. But I was into BMWs and did not have the resources to expand my stable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_S2000

[Llarry]

1927 Mercedes 630K with supercharged 6.3 liter six. 100 hp or 140 hp with supercharger engaged.

[Buug959]

SF

[floridaorange]

..

[Llarry]

Inspired by the post by @CTPJ in the "most beautiful auto" thread (thank you! ) here's a post on the 1958-1963 Mercedes-Benz 300SL roadster. The roadster replaced the more famous 300SL Gullwing coupe but had some updates, too.

At introduction, the 300SL listed in the USA for $10,970. That was close to -- but not quite -- Rolls-Royce or Ferrari money. While the car was steel-framed and mostly steel-bodied, the rocker panels, doors and hood were aluminum.

The powertrain was about the same as the Gullwing: 3-liter SOHC inline six with an output of 225 hp DIN (250 hp SAE) and torque of 228 foot-pounds transmitting power to the rear wheels through a 3.89 differential. At 3,075 pounds, the roadster was about 200 pounds heavier than the Gullwing coupe.

1,858 300SL roadsters were built during a six-year production run. Late cars got disc brakes and aluminum engine blocks.

I've attached the Road & Track magazine road test of the roadster from 1958 as well as a few photos. (First photo shamelessly stolen from CTPJ. )

Needless to say, the 300SL roadster is an expensive collector's item today, though perhaps not as expensive as its Gullwing older brother. EDIT: I found some valuation data on the 300SLs and the Gullwings seem to go for 2 million or so, whereas the roadsters fetch 1 million-1.5 million. No wonder I like 'em. How much can you get for a kidney?

[///MPhatic]

My friend's GT3RS. Thing is a monster.

[Josh-PA]

Originally Posted by ///MPhatic

My friend's GT3RS. Thing is a monster.

Is it located outside Philly by chance? I followed a twin (including the red wheels). Last week in my 991.

[///MPhatic]

Originally Posted by Josh-PA

Is it located outside Philly by chance? I followed a twin (including the red wheels). Last week in my 991.

Nope, Missouri.

[Llarry]

1964 Lincoln Continental -- back when gasoline was 30 cents a gallon. This car should have its own ZIP code!

The Continental was powered by a 430 cubic-inch V-8 of 320 hp. About 10% of sales were of the convertible version.

[3798j]

“If you write a song about my car and it goes to number one, I’ll give you one” - - - Carrol Shelby
that's Carol Conners, writer of the song, “Hey Little Cobra” for the Rip Chords (she’s holding up the sheet music).

[dscabra]

Originally Posted by 3798j

“If you write a song about my car and it goes to number one, I’ll give you one” - - - Carrol Shelby
that's Carol Conners, writer of the song, “Hey Little Cobra” for the Rip Chords (she’s holding up the sheet music).

I used that song as a background to a montage I put together of my Cobra build!

[Llarry]

Originally Posted by dscabra

I used that song as a background to a montage I put together of my Cobra build!

I for one would love to know more and see more photos of your Cobra. Perhaps you've done in in-depth post that I haven't seen -- or have a link to such a post on another forum.

Pretty please?

[dscabra]

Originally Posted by Llarry

I for one would love to know more and see more photos of your Cobra. Perhaps you've done in in-depth post that I haven't seen -- or have a link to such a post on another forum.

Pretty please?

I did a build thread on the Factory Five Forum that is now the most-viewed build thread on the forum!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...-million-views!!!