last weekend, i had a romantic getaway planned for me and the wife... ...the drive was two + hours away... subaru? or dino?...i thought about it for a bit (ok, A LOT), and realized i'd become a bit of a prisoner of car paranoia-what if the dino breaks down? what if she won't start once we get to our rented cabin in the woods? my wife, who has more sense than me, asked 'what's the point of having cars if you're afraid to drive them?' and she was right. so we took the dino. It took an hour to get out of manhattan, in miserable traffic, and by then of course, it was dark, so i had to use the miserable headlights (i'd have been better off with glowsticks) ..it took us about three hours-it was noisy, the heat didn't work, and it smelt of gas...but it was AMAZING...parked her outside, (car, not wife) and when i woke up, the car was covered in frost..(when was the last time THAT happened to a dino?!) sure, she was a bit reluctant to start, but after 5 minutes, she was fine... and the dino was fine all weekend...so i've remembered something important that i think i forgot-there really is no point to any of these cars, if you're not driving them
Very nice. I want to do the same thing, very romantic. I don't know about the "frost" thing and leaving the Dino outside to get covered in it. Of course, my wife would not like being covered in frost if I left her outside and brought the Dino to bed. I am glad to see you are out enjoying your car. I can not wait until I get mine up and running again!
The irony is that the more you use it like a real car the more reliable it will be and the better it will run. Think of your drive as a lowering of your maintenance costs.
You have convinced me - it's -5c today. Time to go for a drive! We've had a bit of snow (melted), but no salt yet.
I use my car most days and in all weathers, for local and longer trips. The car feels better the more I use it. The only problem I have is avoiding the salt grit that is put down on UK roads during cold spells (a good washing with the hose under the car seems to work). Its better to use and enjoy than to just watch it gather dust in the garage. Its often dirty, but wash it once a week and it soon sparkles again. Who knows, I may be speeding up the ware and tear, but its fun doing it. The reaction to a Fly Dino in the supermarket carpark on a miserable winters grey day is a sight to behold. I have a modern F car as well, but I still have the mental barrier to overcome of racking up the miles on it, keeping it for special trips etc, where as on the Dino every time a bigger number comes up on the odeometer I feel its an achievment.
I'm totally with you. I use mine at every opportunity, I took it to a business meeting in Liverpool on Friday morning -very little traffic and a round trip of 60 miles. Cold, windy and eventually rainy; oh and absolutley fantastic! On the motor way I just opened it up, sat back and soaked it all up. When I got back I just added water to get it back shiny again.
Everything is great until it conks out in the middle of nowhere then you're high and dry. I love these cars as much as anyone and they are reliable but they aren't Honda Accords.
Well done.Good to see you use your car and not leave her in the garage. We did 1050kms a few weekends ago on a bi annual Italian car run here in the South Island of NZ. We had the company of another Dino and 50 other Italian cars too. Both Dinos ran faultlessly as usual. I am always amazed how much better #2688 runs after a run of this length, and for some time after too. Will post some pics when I can get Jo to do them for me. Technology left me behind when it comes to these things. I always tell her that since she is 10 years younger than me the change in technology in that decade between us is the only reason she is better at doing computer work than me! - Cheers.-John and Jo.
Drive the Dino as much as possible! I've been using mine as my daily driver for the last 2 years now. School runs, groceries, you name it. Rain or shine. It is my personal Corbani Challenge. I've noticed that I've molded into the Dino posture. Normal cars now seem strange and the Dino feels right. Oh, and it does wonders for the view of our roads. Enjoy and Happy Holidays to all
So true! I drove mine for a few consecutive days in a row, and it started better, idled smoother, and felt like it pulled stronger. I then spent the next week scubbing, polishing and detailing. She sat for many months and was not so happy to wake back up. Starting etc. It's like it was really mad for the neglect. how we love them so.
Step One: Drive It. Step Two: Wear It Out. Step Three: Restore It. Step Four: Return To Step One. There is a guy in Winnipeg who's done just that, he bought his Dino NEW in Winnipeg, and has daily driven it ever since! Apparently, he's restored it a couple of times, it's 40 years old and has hundreds if thousands of miles on it. Talk about beating the deflation curve! I don't know the guy who own's it, but I do see it year round, dirty and in the snow or rain. AND just the other day, I did see a Lambo Gallardo Spider driving in our Winter Wonderland. I do know the guy who was driving the white Gallardo. I don't think the Lambo's depreciation will be affected by not Winter driving, they depreciate they do, drive 'em or not. Dino on the other hand is not depreciating, MAYBE not going up in value any more, but likely not to get much less expensive to buy in the near future, so imagine buying a Dino for $150K, driving it for 2 years, selling it for $126K, that's 24 months of driving a Dino for $1K per month, the same I pay to lease my Audi, seems like a great bargain to me. Of course there may be some maintenence to deal with, but an exotic classic for 1K per month!!! When I had my Dino back in the early 80s I drove it on long trips, Winnipeg to Montreal, to Boston, to Detroit, Chicago, it never let me down and was a blast on the open road and through the Laurentians, around Lake Champlain, on Cape Cod, I miss it! Actually I guess I miss the days of taking those trips, my 308 did make a wonderful trip to Minneapolis and back but my wife won't travel in it. I degress, I ramble, I know, I like Espresso!
I drove mine often in the 70's and early 80's on trips up to 150 miles and must say as much as I enjoyed it and long for it, it is was not, and is not a daily driver. It never left me by the wayside, but must say I always had the insecurity it might do so. Why to you think the Dinoplex had the switch over! Will never forget the 2am lost in downtown Atlanta episode! Docf
October 1999 for me! Please note...not my car. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Unfortunately I don't know the s/n. This car is back in Europe. Where, I don't know. It was sold by the owner a few years back.
When I had mine in the 80's when no one cared for Dinos I used it as my only car for 18 months. I drove it from LA to Phoenix twice and also LA to Monterey twice. The biggest problem was the lack of AC and the interior getting heat in the footwell. But it ran like a champ the whole time.
