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Morning all,
I couldn't make the tech weekend as I was up in Yorkshire (near Richmond, for those who are interested). I had a Mustang coupe booked so off I went in that. Just thought I'd let you know how it went.
The car was a 1970 320ci (5 litre) in a kind of orangey red. Obviously restored and resprayed in the last five years. The obvious thing is that it was extremely loud. Starting it up startled every passer by, and caused a guy in a Dsicovery at a petrol station to require a change of pants, he got that excited. The other obvious thing is that everyone loved it. I was famous for a weekend, with everyone stopping and saying 'nice car' and people letting me out of side roads.
Once I had stopped making a noise and drawing attention to myself, I actually drove it. Engine response and power were pretty good and it had a nice even delivery. The steering, erm, worked. It was very heavy and the turning circle was enormous, but it was alright once you got used to it. I did have to do a three point turn turning right out of a t junction at one point though.
Cruising up the A1 was no massive drama. It was unbelievably noisy, but otherwise fine. The ride was pretty good (especially considering it was on cart springs) and it was better on fuel than a V6 surf.....It's no exactly comfy or spacious on the inside, but no-one cried.
One thing that I now appreciate about modern cars that I didn't before is ergonomics. Some of my favourite features of the mustang were: Foot operated parking brake with a lever to disengage, identical light and windscreen wiper switches, but you pull the light switch and twist the wiper switch (unless you want the dash lights on as well, in which case you twist the light switch - no labels, obviously), the clock is on the passenger side so is impossible for the driver to see, my personal favourite - the switch for dipped lights or full beam is a pedal where the clutch (or foot rest) should be and there is no light on the dash to tell you which setting it's on.
All in all, I was certainly glad to have had a go in it and it kind of fulfilled an ambition, but I won't be buying one.
I couldn't make the tech weekend as I was up in Yorkshire (near Richmond, for those who are interested). I had a Mustang coupe booked so off I went in that. Just thought I'd let you know how it went.
The car was a 1970 320ci (5 litre) in a kind of orangey red. Obviously restored and resprayed in the last five years. The obvious thing is that it was extremely loud. Starting it up startled every passer by, and caused a guy in a Dsicovery at a petrol station to require a change of pants, he got that excited. The other obvious thing is that everyone loved it. I was famous for a weekend, with everyone stopping and saying 'nice car' and people letting me out of side roads.
Once I had stopped making a noise and drawing attention to myself, I actually drove it. Engine response and power were pretty good and it had a nice even delivery. The steering, erm, worked. It was very heavy and the turning circle was enormous, but it was alright once you got used to it. I did have to do a three point turn turning right out of a t junction at one point though.
Cruising up the A1 was no massive drama. It was unbelievably noisy, but otherwise fine. The ride was pretty good (especially considering it was on cart springs) and it was better on fuel than a V6 surf.....It's no exactly comfy or spacious on the inside, but no-one cried.
One thing that I now appreciate about modern cars that I didn't before is ergonomics. Some of my favourite features of the mustang were: Foot operated parking brake with a lever to disengage, identical light and windscreen wiper switches, but you pull the light switch and twist the wiper switch (unless you want the dash lights on as well, in which case you twist the light switch - no labels, obviously), the clock is on the passenger side so is impossible for the driver to see, my personal favourite - the switch for dipped lights or full beam is a pedal where the clutch (or foot rest) should be and there is no light on the dash to tell you which setting it's on.
All in all, I was certainly glad to have had a go in it and it kind of fulfilled an ambition, but I won't be buying one.
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