As I take another quick look out of the window to admire my soul red ND I can’t believe that after buying countless cars over five decades this is the first one where aesthetics have been a major factor in the decision. As an engineer I have always done a cold hard analysis of facts before every purchase, but not this time. In this case the fantastic styling was 50% of the decision.
Then I tried to remember past and present production models that could have made such a visual impact on me and I can’t come up with many. Quite a few almost make it but usually they look breathtaking from one view but go wrong from a different direction (most E-types for example ).
I can only come up with the late 70’s BMW 3.0 CSi ( or CSL ) which was, and still is, way outside my price range. They don’t have to be sporty, for example the Rover P6B ( V8) would possibly be a contender.
Sticking with genuine production vehicles what do you find inspirational to the point of love at first sight?
I have two canvas prints on my wall, E type, and S type Jaguars. Not the whole cars,just panels from certain angles. Jaguar really did make some beautiful cars. These days are now gone with C.A.D. And safety, and economy making all cars look the same.
Very few car lovers cannot look at an E type coupe, without touching that rear quarter panel, and I get the same thing with the MX.
There have been 5 cars that I fell for instantly: Citroen CX, Alfa Romeo SZ, Nissan 300ZX Z32 2+2 (without a spoiler), Fiat Coupe & BMW 5 Series E60 (Chris Bangle’s).
I could mention countless others I’ve grown to love but those 5 had me from the moment I first glimpsed them.
Only two really,
the white 1962 E-type Jag my Maths Master drove everywhere at lunatic high speed on the long empty roads of Rhodesia (somehow he is still alive),
and the blingy red Pagoda-top SL Mercedes coupé that shot past me on the Autobahn in 1968 like I was parked at the side of the road (my bike was cruising at 80+).
The excellent driving properties of the MX5 were well known to me, but it was the visual impact of the ND that finally decided me to buy one - Soul Red of course. The only other car which made, and still makes, that immediate and lasting impact was the first Jag. E Type, both the roadster and coupe versions. The later models with their elongated bonnets somehow detracted from the “perfect” proportions of the first cars.
To me it also signified a time of major changes in life, leaving school, the end of the blandness and austerity of the '50’s and the beginning of the promising future of the '60’s.
Of cars I have actually had, the Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon. I wanted a 156 from the first moment I saw it, and to my eyes the Sportwagon was even better looking than the saloon. Such a shame they’ve moved away from those quirky hidden rear door handles!
I first saw the DS19 when we lived in Rhodesia, a very good neighbour a few houses along the road had one. They were made in South Africa, but the quality was questionable; it always seemed to need yet another hydraulic hose replaced, and living at 5,000 feet altitude it was singularly gutless. But it looked fantastic!
And the hydropneumatic suspension meant that it effectively had a push-button built-in jacking system. My Great-Uncle Alan’s S3 Bentley had hydraulic jacks built in, but they were quite different in practice as you needed to pump them by hand. Being young and strong at the time, I can just about remember being volunteered into changing a wheel on both those cars, it seemed to take hours on the Bentley, but mere minutes on the DS.
