Consider it a bucket list of sorts: What classic car should every enthusiast drive at least once in his or her life?
Several answers immediately come to mind: one is a classic economy car – a Beetle, a 2CV, a 500, a Trabant, anything as long as it’s under-powered and fitted with a bare-bones, stripped-out interior. Driving an old economy car provides valuable insight into sheer automotive simplicity because many of them were essentially designed as four-wheeled scooters designed to motorize the masses.
On the other hand, we think every enthusiast needs to drive a V12-powered car. It doesn’t really matter what, though a Miura is probably going to be more enjoyable than, say, a Jaguar XJ-S. The noise of the 12-cylinder and the effortless-yet-brutal acceleration it provides are best experienced with your foot mashing the skinny pedal, not on Youtube or in the passenger seat.
Personally being hesitant about a V12, I agree with the idea of driving an economy car, or a light commercial vehicle such as R4 fourgonnette.. Maybe I’d say a MKI Golf GTi as a fast classic or a MX-5 if it’s meant to be an youngtimer.
I could well see myself behind the wheel of a Miura, – perhaps the prettiest car ever made, – but I’ll probably never get the chance. Driving an XJ-S V12 is of course far from being the same, but still a memorable experience. My number 1 car to drive before I die is an early ’80s Porsche 911 Turbo.
early beetle, 1st gen vw bus, 2cv, midget/sprite, and a rolls.
Hmmm – classic? A Renault 8 I fancy….. supercar? Veyron. I just think that car is an engineering tour de force which I would like, for once, to experience.
I would really like to drive a Citroen 2CV6 or a Renault 4 so I can appreciate a car in its basest, simplest and most vulnerable form without the myriad safety devices, power assist devices or electronic gadgets found in modern cars.
The 2CV is definitely one of the most basic cars out there, especially the early models. The 4 was basic, too, but it evolved a little bit more (notably as far as engines go) than the 2CV.
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