In the Club

bigdog · Postby **bigdog** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 12:18 pm

Last night's Top Gear had a pretty comprehensive coverage of living with a clubman style car on a drive to work in the rain, albeit in a much colder climate. If I had a roadgoing version I would treat it like a motorbike - wear weather protection and a helmet - unless I had a full windscreen and side screens. Getting caught in the rain with your face exposed is seriously painful!

aka_juffa · Postby **aka_juffa** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:48 pm

bigdog wrote: Getting caught in the rain with your face exposed is seriously painful!

Yes, have to agree with you there. Went for a test squirt in a Locst on a cold wet Melbourne winters morning. I was offered a hemet, but stupidly declined.....I had not realised that the Locost didn't include a windscreen in any shape or form.

Fun still the same.

J

PaulF · Postby **PaulF** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:06 pm

aka_juffa wrote:Went for a test squirt in a Locst on a cold wet Melbourne winters morning. I was offered a hemet, but stupidly declined.....I had not realised that the Locost didn't include a windscreen in any shape or form.

aka_juffa · Postby **aka_juffa** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:26 pm

PaulF wrote:
aka_juffa wrote:Went for a test squirt in a Locst on a cold wet Melbourne winters morning. I was offered a hemet, but stupidly declined.....I had not realised that the Locost didn't include a windscreen in any shape or form.

Ah yes a real car, the Aerial Atom.....

I manged to keep my mouth shut (just).

J.

aka_juffa · Postby **aka_juffa** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 2:34 pm

PaulF's post reminded me of something I saw on a NZ site.

And now for something completly different.

http://exocet.co.nz/

j.

toppertee · Postby **toppertee** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:47 pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B50LFgyWsj8

Give you a little idea what they could be like to live with.

I get the feeling, a bit like a black car, you'll only own one once.
I.M.O. pretty much only good for a track car, which they are red hot.
Lotus elise would be a better pick at the money. for a driver.

If you are looking at building one like I was, the bloody IVC rules are a right pain in the @$$. You are now looking at a late model NC MX5 or a Honda spoon as dona car.

The kit listed before is a http://www.mevltd.co.uk/ The one listed on the web site in NZ is not even finshed when I last looked. The company won't import the chassie to Australia. Plus you would need to use a very late model motor 2005ish to pass the rules.

Every one I spoke to about the car pretty much said buy a second hand one. It takes years to build and a heap of money if you want to road reg it.
This was the kit I was looking at http://www.almac.co.nz/, been 6'2 I all most fit into this one. All mx5 running gear as well.
Good luck with it.

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 6:58 pm

aka_juffa wrote:

That LH shoulder strap doesn't look like it will do any good when it is needed, but that may be part of the Atom mystique - better to die in the crash than be maimed for life ...

:mrgreen:

PaulF · Postby **PaulF** » Wed Apr 18, 2012 7:10 pm

Maybe he's going for the good old-fashioned "get thrown out of the car rather than trapped in it and burned alive" racing drivers' tactic.

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:03 am

There are some very frank comments about this subject but these vehicles are undoubtedly compromised in many aspects and not comparable to a modern sporty sedan over a long drive. The cars are also not in relative terms safe and probably not very attractive to a passenger. An enthusiasts vehicle like an outfit or a trike.

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Thu Apr 19, 2012 3:08 pm

Rocky,
You are going the wrong way. People usually graduate from a Clubman/MGB to an MX5, not the other way!
I originally had yearnings for a Clubman, thought about a Sprite, looked at a Capri (OK, shoot me!) and purchased an MX5.
Maybe you are regressing? It's the Qld heat that does it to you.

Rocky · Postby **Rocky** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 3:20 pm

Ha Ha, Bruce, I have been swimming against the tide most of my life. Regressing? absolutely! I'm heading towards the nursing home and this is the boy racer's last stand. See, the thing is that the MX5 (or its successor) is/will only ever be a toy. I don't need it to serve any purpose other than to entertain me on weekends. I have a family car that sits in the garage all week. The 'toy' doesn't go touring as my wife and I don't enjoy driving on the open road as the bad roads and all the semis have made it unsafe and unenjoyable. I'm thinking that something more basic that delivers a more concentrated driving experience might suit me better. The next sports car after that will have two big bicycle wheels at the back and two small billy-cart ones at the front and handles to push it.

PaulF · Postby **PaulF** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 6:05 pm

Raw driving experience? How about one of these?

http://www.morgancars.com.au/morgan/3wheeler

bigdog · Postby **bigdog** » Fri Apr 20, 2012 9:18 pm

In that case Rocky you should buy one ASAP. If it doesn't suit you you can always sell it on with minimal loss. There have been several for sale in SE QLD in the past few months, and $25K should get you all the fun you can handle.