From Cars 2, English Cars Marking Their "Spot" Options

[DBCooper]

I'm an ex owner of Austin Healeys and BSA's, so I laughed out loud at the line from Cars 2 describing English cars: "If there ain't no oil under it there ain't no oil in it."

Great line. Fun when they're running, but....

Got me to thinking about 914's. I read a thread from someone with no mechanical experience asking about the viability of owning a 914. I generally wouldn't recommend that anyone own a 40 year old car if he couldn't fix most things himself, but then I realized that on my car the mechanical things are pretty much nailed down. I work on it regularly, but they're mostly upgrades, new rubber, upholstery, seals, etc. Still need to install more seals, a new fuse box, detail the trunks, new glove box, carpets, etc, but nothing that would leave me stranded. The times it's broken down it was really me, breaking CV joints or something else perfectly avoidable. I still think I'd be hesitant to recommend any old car for someone with no mechanical abilities. Porsches might make me stop to think, but I'd sure as hell never recommend a 40 year old English or Italian car. Heck, even cartoons make fun of them.


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[billh1963]

Well, I don't know about that. All through college my roommate and still best friend drove a 20 yo Triumph Spitfire. It marked its territory and we had our share of of stuff breaking; however, the car always got him home!

Later on, I drove a 1975 Spitfire 1500 daily for over a year and only suffered a failed clutch slave (I still drove it home)

All these cars (914's and LBC's) are super simple from a mechanical point of view and the lack of electronics are a benefit as cars age.

British cars get their lumps for leaking oil and dodgy electronics; however, their motors are extremely reliable and with proper maintenance are just reliable as 914's