I freely admit to being a car nut. That is someone who has gone past the simplicity of just being an enthusiast, into someone for whom cars have taken on a new dimension. With this affliction, there are times when driving exotic cars rates even higher than sex with Angelina Jolie (my current impossible dream).
I thought you might let me reminisce about some of the exotics I have driven. The first that comes to mind is the Shelby Cobra 427. This was brought out to Australia by the Ford Motor Company, and the driver was none other than the late, great Ken Miles. When the booming 427 was not at the race track, it was sitting on a plinth in the main Ford showrooms. Every night after finishing reading my textbooks for the forthcoming examinations, I would drive to the showroom and just stand there looking through the window and dribbling at the sight of what still is a milestone supercar. I never got to meet Ken Miles, but Editor at Large John Weinthal, did. Not only did he get to speak to Ken Miles, but he also scored a ride as a passenger around the Lakeside circuit. Full safety precautions were taken – John tucked his tie in and held on tightly.
Shelby Cobra.
While I missed out on the 427 Cobra, some years later I did manage to get a steer of a genuine 289 AC Cobra and also a 351 Cobra replica. Both were stunning motorcars, but unfortunately the 351 owner managed to shorten his with a brick wall at Mach 0.5 and did himself irreparable harm, and even more to the 351. Shame.
I have driven a Lambo, and it was the Diablo. My test of this vehicle was held on the old Brisbane Airport runway and we clocked 150 mph (240 kays) while filming the speedometer, just to prove the point. That day we also had a Porsche Carrera as a comparison test and we could let it go half way down the airstrip before we let the Lambo loose, and the Diablo was always first at the other end, at a speed by which stage Boeing 747’s would be airborne. The Diablo was an incredible supercar. It was also quite horrible to drive, other than accelerating at speed, during which the engine note just grew until I described it as “aural orgasm”. I also stated that no woman, Russian shot putters excluded, would have been able to depress the clutch. The reason for the raging bull insignia was, I felt then, that you had to be as strong as an ox to drive one!
Lamborghini Diablo.
I have driven most Porsche models, old and new, and have to say that the most exciting of them all was the 1973 2.7 liter RS Carrera. Those early Porsches were not easy cars to drive. The tail end was always nervous if you were at all tentative as you approached a corner. Full throttle produced understeer. Trailing throttle produced oversteer in prodigious amounts. It was not difficult to go through hedges backwards, as many an early Porsche punter was to find.
I also raced the RS, and it was a very exciting race car as well as being one of the fastest ‘real’ road cars as well.
The Mighty Viper
When Dodge in the USA released their mighty V10 engined Viper, this was another exotic that caught my attention. I was given a Viper to play with at the Lakeside circuit in Australia. This was today’s answer to the 427 Cobra of 30 years previous. Just a big bathtub filled with brute horsepower that you steered with the right hand go pedal. The steering wheel was not needed. It was not a car that required 100 percent concentration, or neatness, like driving the Lamborghini or the Porsche. This was a car that you threw at the corner and caught it as you came out the other side, and just stabbed the accelerator again to propel you with an almighty roar to the next corner. It took about a week to get rid of the smile from my face.
There have been others, such as an Aston Martin DB9, numerous Ferraris and Maseratis and even a F5000 Lola T430, but for the sheer lazy thump in the kidneys and the feeling of endless power, the prize goes to America. I could live with a Dodge Viper. In fact I’d rather have a Dodge Viper in the garage than Angelina Jolie in the bedroom. Brad Pitt can stop worrying!
