>mike:
> When the roadsters were new they were almost 'state of the art' and nothing
> except far more expensive sports cars like Alfas, Ferraris, Jaguars, etc.
> were much better. The Roadster is comparable to all the cheaper cars being
> produced back then like MGBs, Alpines, TRs, etc.; some were better than
> others in certain ways and others less so.
>
> Having said all that I think new cars are far superior, and rightfully so,
> in terms of quality, reliability and longetivity. Roadsters are rather crude
> as are all the cars I mentioned above and while that gives them 'character'
> in some respect, I don't think a car company would stay in business too long
> if they manufactured a car like the Roadster today with all its 'character'
> still in place.
>
> I still remember having an almost new 240 rust out before my eyes and the
> Roadster too but it's thicker sheet metal made the process take a bit
> longer.
>
> I like the 60s and 70s cars but I'm very glad they build them a lot better
> today.
Exactly my point, Mike, in case I failed to get that across. However rather
than crude, I'd call them simple. Much of the continued attraction for me of
the 510 and the roadster is based on that simplicity and the fact that I can
work on them without thousands of dollars in special and/or computer based
tools. We love our Honda van and will probably be looking for a '96/'97
Accord for a daily driver after the 1st of the year, but I do very little on
these cars.
One future project, after we get moved and get the shop built, will
probably be to find a decent early 240Z and go through it totally to build
what I think will be a very nice daily driver. L-28 (maybe w/EFI), 5 speed
and rear gearing for decent highway cruising in 5th. All urethane in the
suspension, maybe just a bit lower and good shocks. Redo the interior and
replace all of the waffle vinyl with nice carpet and add A/C and a solid
stereo.
No, I'm not going to worry about it being totally original, just fun,
comfortable and reliable, and I'll still be able to work on it myself. Nice
thing about a Z is that unlike the roadsters and the 510 you can practically
build a new car from various sources, if you have a fat enough check book,
of course. I think I ought to get what I want for a total somewhere between
$5K and $10K. I'll still have the roadster for cruising and the 510 for racy
bits.
Fortunately I may be able to find such a car down here or out west with a
sound body and without the electrical harnesses having been butchered. In
your area I think the Zs, 510s and other imports of that period were built
to be offered as sacrifices to the Rust Gods. ;>)
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