The Most Important Question of Our Generation.

In 2008: Is it possible for ANY NEW car...Porsche, Ferrari, Bugatti, Lambo, MB, BMW, Jag, Aston, Mini, Vette, Morgan, Superformance Coupe: to have soul?

 

Damn. I thought it was going to be F-1 or stick.

 

OK..second most important question.....

 

Since you threw Morgan in there, yes.

 

Despite my hating its appearance the Viper still has soul IMO. Its unlike anything else out there with a unique personality...that to me is 'soul'.

I would think Pagani and the CCX have sould but I havent had the chance to drive them

 

He said soul, not termites.

 

Lots and lots of teeny tiny souls.....

 

WTF, doc? If you want to discuss this, head on over to The Car Lounge. That bunch of losers will debate your question for weeks.

 

I say mustangs still have soul. The exhaust, the feel, and the looks its got it all. There easy to work on and easy to mod yet fun to drive with very little nannies. Same thing with the vipers its a drivers car. If you include cobras in the super performance line than its very hard to say those cars do not have soul.

 

Well I would say cars that are American, Japanese or German or have a German influence do not. So Porsche, Lambo, MB, BMW, Mini, Vette, and Superformance are a no. No sure about Bugatti but I bet it has some sort of clinical feel about it that German cars do.


Aston Martin does have a German influence but some where between the noise, the lack of reliability, the jiggles, and the wooden steering it defiantly does have soul.

Ferraris, Jags (I can really only speak for the previous style XK and XJ), Aston, Morgan (come on they have not changed the car in decades, they still don’t have suspensions, and they are made of wood!!).

 

Caterham Seven.

 

Aston Martin V8 Vantage
Maserati GT
Pagani Zonda
Lotus Elise/Exige

 

The Porsche 997 is sure a step in the right direction after the 996.

 

Pagani Zonda
Koenigsegg
Ascari A10

A few I can think of.

 

I get creeped everytime I see the Word "Ascari". An Ascaris is one of those scary big roundworms that crawl out of people's noses when they get an anesthetic.


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=ascaris&spell=1

 

Gross!! I think you just ruined my lunch plans.

 

I sure hope frequent dosages of Tequila and Scotch kill those types of things.

 

Damn you Uro! I could've gone the rest of my life without knowing that!

For those that haven't: DON'T CLICK THE LINK!

 

LOL

That word always does sound wierd to say. But the A10 is pretty damn sweet. No traction control or any other gizmo's.

 

I think there are cars that for their time have soul and maybe even a few that have soul period. But the old stuff is the best stuff

 

Game, Set, Match.

 

For me means how the car makes me feel when I drive it, and when I feel something good, then that car has soul.

 

NO!

 

For the most part y'all are right in that most new cars have the "soul" refined out of them, but there are exceptions, you just have to know what to look for...

Take for instance the Corvette C5 (2002-2004) Z06...

That is a true "hair shirt" sports car. It has no sound insulation, stiffer springs, bars and shocks, wider wheels and tires, more power than it needs, thinner side glass and windshield.. Lots of things to make it a lot lighter (it weighs in at around 3050 lbs) and faster and if you turn the traction control off and hammer it on anything but a straight road (even in third gear) it will light up the rear tires scare the bejounior out of you... Twist the height adjusters down and add in an agressive alignment and it will follow the ruts in the road like a hound dog... It has personality and if you live with one for a while you will appreciate that it indeed has "soul"

And yes the present C6 Z06 is faster in a straight line, but it too has been refined to the flavor of mush, softer, more quiet, smoother, all the "soul" refined out of it....

I have driven a Porsche GT3, and that is, much like the C5 Z06, a very different animal than a typical 997.

So, in short, yes, there are some cars out there with personality and "soul", but they aren't the garden variety of the cars you will walk into the dealerships and go for a test drive in. I also drove a development "ACR" Viper and that had a lot more personality than the regular Viper, but I didn't get to live with it long enough (it was only on the track that I drove it) to see if it had "soul".

I think that if you are looking for a great driving experience you need to look for the lightest and most nimble versions of the car in question and those are the only ones that have that eagerness for the road and the kind of feeling that you can get that creates the feeling that we call "soul". Unfortunately not many folks want this kind of driving experience, so these cars tend to be very limited in production numbers.

 

Just ask yourself, why so many people still buy or love oldtimers..
oldtimers are always focused.