Secret Sports Cars

[warren t claim]

Occasionally a vehicle is made that belies its humble origins and turns out to be a sports car in disguise.

 

I'm thinking of stuff like this...

 

An unladen one of these with a 1.6 CVH would give plenty of lower league hot hatches a good run for their money. Low weight and a live back end meant it handled well on a smooth road as well.

 

What have you driven that turned out to be more sporty than the makers intended?

[Albert Ross]

1999 Fiesta 1.25 16V Ghia. Loaded with kit, but revved loads higher than the 1400... much faster off the line.

1983 Sierra 2.1 Estate with twin 45s. Oh wait. Erm...

1988 FSO pick up for the same reasons as the van above.

[HillmanImp]

I can't believe how sporty the Sera's 1.5 engine is. It goes like stink. It's a boys car in a girls cars body.

 

I did know the engine was sprightly as have driven the 1.3 in my mates 84 corrola but this is ace. It's pretty rooted too. Can't wait to give it some large once its all legal.

[Cavcraft]

Nova 1.5TD. Hnaded many a 'sporty' car it's arse on a plate.

[Negative Creep]

Whilst i wouldnt call them sports cars, the k11 micra and mk1 clio are a riot to drive. Whilst ive never driven either, the Primera GT an Mondeo ST24 are suppose to be better than many actual "sports" cars to drive

[tonedepear]

Dare i say it, the Impian doesn't have a particularly eager or rev happy engine, but it handles very very very well indeed. It's a right giggle, although less so now it's pretending to be a variomatic...

[Albert Ross]

A certain Astra Estate I once owned. 1.7 TD Isuzu, mildly "tweaked", it would leave a black exhaust stripe when setting off, and if laboured in higher gears at low speeds, would obscure vision..... I once chased a BMW 8 Series into Hull... and passed it. At the time, the Astra was Flame Pink, had an odd coloured door and steel wheels/no trims. Tidy!

[Cavcraft]

Proton Satirical 1.5 'Sport'. Yes, I know it's called a 'Sport' but it looks more like a wheezy chav chariot. Abso-bloody-lutely ace fun to drive though, very grin inducing and they corner like they're on rails.

[ashmicro]

I'm fairly sure a mark 3 Scrote van was FWD and sans live axle, but anyway

 

East Antrim Motor Factors early mark 3 Transit with 2.9i V6. Bought because I said the Atmo mark 4 Escort van 1.6D was shit. Starting off in first (empty) and short shifting into 2nd without the clutch wakened that bad boy up. After my time with the firm, the van got a Turbo Technics upgrade.

[trigger]

The Mk3 Escort was FWD, The garage next door to were i used to work years ago had a B reg one as their works van, they fitted a RS1600i running gear, a set of 7 spoke RS alloys, Spot lights and sprayed it Rosso Red, It looked the bee's knees, It looked really stuttle but it went like a rocket, I drive it a few times and totally loved it, It died in the end and ended up rusting away in the corner of the yard.

[ashmicro]

Ah yer arse. What would you know about post 1980 Escorts. Oh, wait....You would, actually Trig

 

The late great Fleming Bell had a Chevanne with a 2.3 CIH, but I don't reckon that was production somehow.

[yes oui si]

A good mate has a Favorit (faded green and without a straight panel on it...) that goes everywhere flat out and corners on the doorhandles, tyres squealing...

 

GR8 4 terrifying bimmaz on the Coast Road.

 

*n

[M'coli]

Mk3 escort van was indeed FWD, and had a live axle at the rear but no diff - just a tube and some leaf springs for greater load area.

[wuvvum]

Not wanting to be pedantic, but the Mk3 Escort van had a dead beam axle at the rear, not a live one. Agree with the sentiment though - my first "car" was a Y-reg Escort van, and even though that was a 1300 CVH with a 4-speed it would still keep up with traffic pretty well and would do the ton if asked politely, and handled well enough for what it was, although it did get rather understeery in tighter corners.

 

I've had a few others in the past - the Kia Pride-shape Mazda 121 was one, it didn't really handle but went like hell in a straight line, and if you ignored the redline and revved it till the valves bounced it would stay with a 320i. Twin cam petrol Transit was another - kept up with most warm hatchbacks and handled OK once Spottedlaurel had put some air in the tyres ( ). The brakes couldn't really cope with sustained flat-out driving though. Fiat Marea estate with the 5-pot JTD engine was another - Mareas have a horribly jiggly ride but they really do grip well, and a 2.4-litre turbo diesel in what is basically an Escort-sized car makes for a bit of a beast (and sounds proper horny for a diesel).

 

I have a couple of cars in my fleet at the moment that I would contend fit into the "secret sports cars" category. The first is the Solara - quick acceleration and surprisingly good (if roly-poly) handling mean it will keep up with plenty of "sporting" cars on back roads, and has surprised a lot of modern cars in a straight line on dual carriageways too.

 

The second is a car I bought this evening and have just been driving home from just north of the M25. It's a tatty £300 shitbox in which I amused myself by leaving tailgating Audi / VW / SEAT TDIs choking in my exhaust smoke, and then completely wasting an 08-plate Fiesta ST round the Norwich ring road. More details of this one to follow in a separate thread once I get some pics taken...

 

One I've always fancied trying is a Maestro van with the 105bhp intercooled diesel engine from a Rover 600 installed - I can imagine that would be something of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

[chaseracer]

Citroen Dyane.

 

Mine gave a 1600 Capri a hard time between Cirencester and Malmesbury some years ago; more recently, it kept up with a Saxo VTS on the twisties from Market Drayton to Stafford, to the amusement of all concerned...

[Tayne]

Suzuki SJ410.

950cc.

 

3/4 by Tayne, on Flickr

 

This one had a tuned 1300 Ford kent and 4speed box from a mk2 Escort.

It went like a rocket and was very tail happy in the wet.

Rust killed the body but its still rumbling around a Perthshire hunting estate, it now has a homemade wood/wriggly tin body.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Citroen AX 1.1, mainly due to the very low weight.

 

Non-Abarth Autobianchi A112, due to a combination of low weight (barely 700kg) and a rev-happy Italian engine. The old 903cc unit felt like a rocket...I took it up to an indicated 162kph!

[Volksy]

My Fiat 127 Super 5 Speed was a riot, Most small revvy Fiats spring to mind though..

 

My old Neighbours workshop had a Marina Van, which was originally a 1300cc, but when that blew they stuck an 1800cc Twincarb in it, still with the 1300 axle, went like the absolute clappers up to about 50 mph, couldn't go round corners though...

[warren t claim]

When I was 17 and driving a yellow Alfasud I was handed my arse on a plate by a Silver Shadow. I wasn't expecting that at all!

[overheadvalve]

This is also from memory, i'm old....

Citroen GSA, GSX(?) I was batting along in my 1981 X reg Alfa Sud, which was very light on account of it being 4 years old and it was the super, with suoer light weight inner wings etc etc (i.e.) they had rotted away.

This orange Citroen with a middle aged chap driving it completely blew me away, not just on the straight but around the bends too, it was a rocket. I was totally Gobsmacked! This was well over 30 years ago but i will never forget it.

Similar type of thing, a Mini Clubman 1100 of 1977/8 'S' reg. my girlfriend was driving from a village into a country lane, a guy in a Capri was behind her and he flashed his lights, she was a little miffed so she put her foot down and at the end of the lane she turned the car around, parked up and waited for him to catch up. The Mini was brilliant around country lanes.

I remember that astral blue Mini, i put a gas flowed head, Peco twin upswept exhaust, K N wheels with spacers and Kelly Dayton(?) tyres on it also a plastic wheelarch kit. It looked the nuts.... well it was probably in 1979, certainlt no later than 1980, just before the Mini Special came out.

[Pete-M]

 

Peugeot 205 XRAD. Silly quick.

 

 

 

Cavalier GLi. I'm sure these buggers were quicker than the SRi. Always seemed to be mentally nippy.

[r.welfare]

My dad had a Mk2 Cavalier 1.8 GLi, one of the last delivered in the summer of '88. Indeed, it was a rapid device. I had a Belmont GLSi a few years ago with the same engine and less weight, that was quite pokey to say the least. Albeit the handling didn't really inspire enough confidence in the classic GM style, but a great engine.

 

I've never tried one, but I would have thought a Mk3 Passat VR6 would be quite the sleeper, moreso than a Vento with the same engine. Again, they probably don't go round corners quickly in standard spec. Perhaps a 406 V6 would be better?

[HillmanImp]

the k11 micra and mk1 clio are a riot to drive.

 

I have to agree whole heartedly with this statement.

[RoadworkUK]

Triumph Acclaim

 

Fairy nuff, I'm obviously sufferingfrom "my first car" rose-tinted glasses dissillusionment, but certainly my mate with the 306 couldn't keep up with me cross country... Incredibly well judged gearing, 1335cc of twin-carb Honda goodness and mystifyingly well sorted chassis made this something of a beige missile.

 

One day I'll have another.

[Cavcraft]

Honda Ballade 1.5.

 

Try one and you'll know what I mean.

[Pillock]

I was a passenger, not driving, but a DAF 3300 without trailer is pretty good at that acceleration lark. As it spins wheels from the lights

[dollywobbler]

2CV. Obviously. Roly-poly suspension, 29bhp and the most accurate steering this side of a Mini. No reason for it to handle, but it so does. You can pitch it into a bend knowing exactly where it'll go and you learn lean against the body roll. That roll instantly tells you just how much you're pushing on.

 

The brakes are superb and the gearchange is like a rifle bolt. You can snip through the gears at a right ol' lick. The engine wants to rev and the car is so narrow that you can play with racing lines without straying the wrong side of the white line. You reach the end of a twisty road with a true sense of jubilation. How is this possible in such a small, simple car designed for French peasants?

 

The Mini. Didn't just outhandle equivalent saloons in its day, but shat all over sports cars as well. Very few cars possess such a sharp and assured turn in. You find yourself laughing like a lunatic as the corner speeds get higher and higher. I think ours would benefit from some new dampers though as the ride is truly horrific.

 

Land Rover 90. Very surprising how quickly you can punt one of these down a twisty road. Felt much more stable and sharp than the Range Rover - which has much softer springing.

[trigger]

Peugeot 205 XRAD. Silly quick.

 

My first works van was one of these on a D plate, By christ it was fast, had a quick changing gearbox as well which made it even quicker.

[RoadworkUK]

Land Rover 90. Very surprising how quickly you can punt one of these down a twisty road.

 

A university mate had a Series 3 Lightweight, which used to tear around the Coventry ring road at blistering speeds. Not actually handling as such, but no roll thanks to stiff springing.

[trigger]

The only think quick i found about the old Land Rover i once drove was how quicky i had to steer left and right to keep the bloody thing in a straight line!