Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Whats the Sportiest car you have driven?

A 1967 Corvette with the Big Block 427 and 4 speed. Got squirrely real fast, and the brakes sucked.

I was in high-school in the early 90's and I lusted after the 300ZX, Toyota Supra, and the Mitsubishi 3000GT. I grew up in central ND, there were almost no "Supercars", and the few that were around, everybody knew who owned them so they were fairly docile about driving them.

I have a '37 Chevy Coupe with a SB 406 that's ~400HP mated to a Tremec 5spd and a '57Chevy posi-rear w/3:55's. It's ~2800# and reasonably quick once it hooks up. 1st gear is all spin, 2nd is mostly spin but at least you're moving forward, 3rd gear will get you to 80MPH+. I've had it to 100MPH a few times, and there's certainly more "go" left (like 2K more RPM if it'll pull it), but, the rest of the car isn't really built to go that fast and it' a handful @ that speed. The fastest way to "turn" the car is to get on the gas and drift the rear until the front is pointed where you want to go then back out enough to hook up then stand back on it.

Don't care for speed anymore, that was back when I was young and stupid.
Today, it's just the love of a quick, agile fun vehicle that brings back the joy of driving.
Bought this one new 13 years ago, only has 78K on it now, still does everything I want out of a fun summer car.

Nothing of note except for my grandfathers tractor when I was four. I don't know what kind, or even the color, but I was strutting around the farm proudly.

Fastest I've driven was in a BMW M1 in South Africa. About 174 mph on a slight downhill on the rev limiter in 5th gear. Very stable, but very noisy with the mid-engine right behind your ears.

Most fun in an analog era car was a 1997 RUF CTR2. Around 500hp in a 3000lb car.

Fastest off the line is a 2019 BMW M5 Competition with our Noelle Performance Tune. 850hp in an all wheel drive 4 door sedan. 0-60 in 2.9 seconds. Very impressive. Customer's car that he took from us to the strip and turned in a 10.9 second 1/4.

No question that today's digital computers on wheels deliver performance that we could only dream of 20-30 years ago, but they don't have the soul, or the durability of the muscle cars of the 80's and 90's. I'll keep my 1985 BMW M635Csi. I know it's not fast by today's standards, but it talks to me when I drive it.

My current sports car which is a 2020 ZL1 Camaro. 650 hp/650 tq. Way faster than any of the previous Corvettes I have owned. Handling is off the charts good!
Google ZL1 at Nurburgring to see a cool video

This one is mine:

I've driven most of the original muscle cars from Mach 1's to Road Runners & nearly all the GM offerings. But when I think of sporty I think of great handling road cars & sadly I've not gotten to try many.

One memorable & enjoyable drive was an MGB, the top down of course. And, don't laugh as it was rated very high in the day on the skid pad & slalom course, was the 82 Z-28 I bought new. It was a big departure from from the 1st & 2nd gen Camaros I'd had.

Always wanted a high performance road car but liked way too many other things to get to that point. An example; I can't stop looking at that Olive & black CJ-7. Nicely done!!

badger;
Top of the morning to you sir, I hope the day's been a good one for you folks on the other coast and you and your fine family are well.

Thanks for chiming in as I was hoping you'd do so and give your perspective.

When I was in the storage business, we'd move customers cars when we had to access other units. Primarily we stored boats and RV's but cars were the "filler in the rows" for us.

Anyway because of that I can say that I've driven some fast BMW's - one was a 2 door, I want to say maybe a hard top convertible, but the owner had purchased it at the factory in Germany where they'd insured it for 2 weeks so he could drive it on the Autobahn. He said he'd never drive it that fast again in Canada!!

So while I've driven that BMW, 458 Ferrari, some fast Vettes and even a '69 472"Hemi Charger RT, I was very, VERY careful to never exceed what was a slow walk so perhaps 3mph as I was indoors and all.

You're right that the new technology with the AWD and traction control is such a game changer now, but like you they don't really "speak to me" in the same way.

To the OP, I was at the wheel of a 3 year old Tesla, though exactly which one now escapes me - sorry. The owner was beside me and insisted I do a full launch which I did and I'd say we were doing 60mph in less than 100yds easily. Was sorta crazy how fast we got going.

Oh, last story quickly - one of my clients had the faster model Corvette perhaps 3 years old, but that was 2 years ago as well so a 2015ish we'll say.

He said that when he bought it, GM had a deal where they'd help pay to send you to a driving school in Nevada I think he said, where you'd learn to handle the new car you bought.

This chap was an Alberta oilman, quite colorful like some are wont to be, and suggested that while he couldn't do it, his driving instructor took an identical car to his from 0 to 60mph to 0 in something close to 7 seconds.

He suggested nobody should drive one on the street without lessons because, "If I stand on this thing, by the time I've hauled it back down I've gone 2 blocks and run over 3 dogs, a cat and the mailman!"

Thanks for your input badger and all the best to you all.

Dwayne

These all belong to a friend of mine, This is a small sampling of his collection. The guy is a true car freak, he turns wrenches also.

My favorite car I ever owned. 1976 50th aniv. Pontiac Trans Am, 455 w/4 speed factory hurst shifter and Hurst T-Top. only 110 were made in that configuration.

84 Mazda RX 7

My best friend's dad was a car wholesaler for a small independent used car lot.
I bought quite a few cars from him at wholesale prices.

When I graduated pharmacy school in 1987, I told him to be on the lookout for us a family sedan.
He said "Look, I know you have never owned a sports car and I've got one that I can sell you really cheap because I got it cheap."
I said, "no, we'll be having kids in a couple of years and I don't need that."
He responded, "You don't need it now, but at 40 you'll realize that at 24 you actually did need it. Plus, the price is such that you can drive it a year and sell it for more than you paid for it.:"

I reluctantly brought home a 2 yr old Mazda RX-7. It was black with red striping and red leather seats. It was so much fun to drive. I put it at 135 on a country 2 lane road late at night. But this
car wasn't about the speed. It was about "the feel". It was my favorite car I ever had even though I wasn't a sports car drive fast kind of guy.

I ended up driving it for 2 years and sold it for $700 more than I paid for it.

I'm 57 now. I would love to have that car again........ or a Mazda Miata....... don't laugh. I'm happily married and a pharmacist/pastor. I'm not having a "life crisis" sort of thing. But I've always looked at those Miatas and wanted my wife to drive one, but she needs a 4 seater to haul grandkids around. I'm happy with my Chevy pickup, but would love to hit the road on a long vacation in that little 2 seater Miata with the powered hardtop, convertible.

I had that exact same car! It was one fast SOB! Never got beat in the 1/4 by anyone in our home town when I had it.

Thanks Dwayne.

Actually I had forgotten about the P85D Tesla I drove in Germany in "ludicrous" mode. Very quick launch, but on the Autobahn it seemed to run out of steam above 120mph. Still was able to reach about 140 before traffic forced me to slow down, but it was a very artificial experience. A very quick, quiet golf cart. Probably why it doesn't stand out in my memory.

This is a great thread. A bunch of outstanding cars and stories. Thanks.

When did you get rid of it. I bought this car used in August of 1979. It had a volunteer fireman sticker on the windshield.

1984 mazda rx7


[img]https://0.cdn.autotraderspecialty.com/1984-Mazda-RX-7-import-classics--Car-101252321-af63d0306c679e66e63e9175e240bad1.jpg?r=pad&w=735&h=551&c=%23f5f5f5[/img]
it's just like the one I owned. And it's for sale...... twice what I sold mine for in 1989

My 70 Dart Swinger with a roller crate Mopar Performance 360 and automatic transmission is just fun to drive.



The Mach 1 behind is a bit of a handful with its 427 and 5 speed Tremec.

Nice rides!
Is the 427 a stroked Windsor engine? That is what's in the AC cobra clone I posted a pic of earlier.

The most fun and sportiest car that i have owned is undoubtedly a 1972 Triumph TR6. I had a love/hate relationship with that car. It was so much fun to drive, but being a typical Brit car something was always going out on it. Wish I had it back. Once when I was driving my family to the mall we passed one on the side of the road with a for sale sign on it. I told my early teen son that was what I was driving when I was dating Mom. He smacked me on the back of the head lightly and said, "Why did you sell it."

I have ridden in a few that were sportier. One uncle had an Austin Healy 3000 that was a joy to ride in. One friend had a 72 Vette and another had an early 70s XKE.

1982