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exactly !

 

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Bmw z1

 

I had the pleasure of driving shotgun in a z8 once and i thought it was a wonderful car. Imo also one of the best looking cars from the past 20 years.

 

One big problem with the original Z8 was that the control weights had not been optimised and the clutch was very heavy together with a notchy gearchange but the brakes in contrast, were very over-servo assisted and grabby. The throttle mapping was not good as well, which made it difficult to drive in heavy traffic. The steering tramlined badly, following the contours of the road. I recall having to drive one in 2003, from the north side of Sarasota to Casey Key on the south in the middle of rush hour and being exhausted by the time I had done it, especially as its air conditioning was not working properly. All these have been sorted in the Alpina version and it is a delight to drive.

 

The owner of the Alpina has just changed all the tyres to Bridgestones, after one of the original 14 year old Michelins failed last week (it has only done 5,000 km from new). He said at lunch yesterday, that this had dramatically reduced the road noise. I have Bridgestones on my 997 Turbo S for the same reason. You could not hear the sound system at all on concrete autobahns with the original Michelin Sport Pilot 2's. 

 

Wilson

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You forgot to mention the serious problem with the z8: the structurally weak front suspension mount that can bend from potholes. The replacement part of the shelf is 10.000 euro plus fitment.

 

I wonder if that was why the one I drove tramlined so badly. In reality it was a motor show car, that BMW were persuaded to put into production but unlike Porsche with the Boxster, they did not take two years and some serious engineering to develop it from the show car to a production vehicle. I don't know if Alpina strengthened the front suspension mounts. It would not surprise me, as they put in much heavier pitman arms with larger bushes on the rear suspension of the B10 and its successor B5 in comparison to the BMW 540. During the 35,000 miles I did in my M5, I think I had to have the pitman arms replaced twice (the bushes are integral with the arms). I did 40,000+ miles in my B10 V8S and the pitman arms never gave any trouble. The cylinder head gaskets were another matter. 

 

Wilson

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Ok, what car is this hood ornament from?

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One more from the same year!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hank -

 

You're not playing the4 game.  Confirm, deny or hint so that somebody may win and get to place the next puzzler.  Also, we usually only put one puzzler in at a time.

 

Back to the 2nd one, she's the goddess of speed from early 1930s Packards.

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Well - Let's try to keep this one alive.  What production car (not a custom car, though I have cloned out the badge) is this?

 

 

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Of course Wilson is correct.  Plymouth used to be one of the Chrysler brands until they killed it a few years ago.  The Prowler was an homage to the hotrods of the '50s, but it didn't sell very well (I know they sold at least this one and one other I saw near the Lincoln Tunnel) and the straight line performance of it - what hotrods were all about -- was dismal. 

 

Your turn, and you might want to take an antacid.

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This one may puzzle you if you have never seen one. I have only ever seen this one and one other. This one was towing a lovely custom made tiny caravan. 

 

Wilson

 

 

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