great stuff in this thread ! :)
Pete, Thanks for the comments! Sure a Lamborghini on the track. Why not. To the folks that just buy them, and this means Ferrari owners too, you'll never see the real soul of your car unlesss you push it like this. Forget the burst up to 150 on the interstate and then slow down. Heel and toe braking, hitting the apex and hearing the tires squeel in the corners. That's the way they're supposed to be driven, right?? The Jalpa is damn good on the track, but does have a few issues. It's a heavy car! Although it will go through corners alot quicker than a 308/328, it would be even quicker if it didn't weigh 3400 lbs. I could strip it, but, there goes any kind of originality. Also the weight affects its braking. It likes to boil the fluid, even if its a DOT4 performance fluid. Not a good feeling when you're in the heat of battle. There are brake upgrades and cooling ducts, but the cost(alot of $$$) doesn't add to the value of the car. Hmmm. Have any Bora owners put their cars on the track? How are they? Gary
Excellent reply and totally agree ... these sort of cars BELONG on the track. As for Bora's there was a semi-official attempt to race them and atleast 2 cars were made with huge flares, etc. ... in the end I'm not sure they actually raced (have to check my book) but they suffered from the usual problems with road cars trying to be race cars ... ie. way too heavy, etc. Supercars unfortunately are not designed for racing ... just show mobiles, and considering that 95% of buyers don't track them I guess that makes sense. The only supercar that really has race pedicre is the McLaren F1. The Ferrari Boxer and F40 have race histories but did not set the world on fire like the McLaren did. Pete
Have to say, this might be why I love the Bora and other cars like it, that they are designed to be pretty darn civilized, even though they breath with the heart of a champion. . . 3500gt Sebring, etc 250 Lusso 456 GTA (yes, A) xk 140 coupe espada 400gt aurelia benz 200 coupe (ok, I just like these) etc, etc BTW, great thread / chart / pics
The two cars you are refering to were the pet project of the then French importer Thepenier and are thus referred to as the Thepenier Boras #3000 and #3001. They never raced but it wasn't because they weren't good it was due to not meeting homologation rules for number produced at the time. Both were restored and #3000 (currently for sale) has been kicking ass on competition Daytonas in the Shell historics in Europe for years. I think they bumped it up to a higher class. I have a Bora and have driven it at the track (Pocono) half a dozen times and it's fun with the right tires (no longer available) but it does lean in the turns. I am able to four wheel drift it through the infield with Comp TA R1s on it. I've owned it since 1987 and put 25K miles on it driving all over the the place including Nevada at the Silver State. Great car but not a nimble sports car. There were a lot of very sophisticated (for that time) things on that car. Built like a tank with a great high speed ride. Honda copied it and called it the NSX but with a lot less weight and great handling. Too bad they left the HP and torque out of the formula. Bob S.
jalpa minus the 80's cheese attachments looks like an urraco re: jalpa or bora, bora ... or merak + khamsin
There was a comparison test in a British classic car magazin approx. 2 weeks ago, comparing the Urraco, Bora, 308, Esprit, Pantera ... I don´t remember the details but when I read the part about the Bora I thought "Wow, what a phantastic car .. ". I always loved the looks of this piece of automobile art ..
