by "Jonee" (Jonee)
Published 05/14/2017 at 14:09
by "Jonee" (Jonee)
Published 05/14/2017 at 14:09
No Tags
STARS: 9
My mom loves fast cars, like any good mom should. She was also a huge Magnum P.I. fan, so when I was in junior high, my dad bought her a Ferrari 308 GTS i . I always thought it was a ‘79, but it must have been an ‘80 because that was the first year with the fuel injection, apparently. We can’t seem to find a photo of it. This was in the days before camera phones, so we weren’t taking a picture ever 5 seconds. Anyway, it was the most amazing car in the world and is one of the reasons I became a jalop. It was absolutely beautiful and it felt like you were in a rocket ship with that engine roaring right behind your head. I know by today’s standards, it’s not the most impressive performance car, but who cares? It was a Ferrari and it looked incredible and everyone wanted to talk to you about it. And, when she’d pick me up at school in it, I was a hero. The car never have her any trouble, but she only kept it a few years. It’s not cheap owning a Ferrari. But, those were glorious years. Now that she’s 81, she really wants a 911, no joke. Happy Mother’s Day, ma.
"JR1" (type35bugatti)
05/14/2017 at 14:27, STARS: 1
Time to get her a mother’s day present!
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/15/2017 at 03:47, STARS: 1
I love your mum. Should have found a picture of a 308 WITH a wing though!
"Jonee" (Jonee)
05/15/2017 at 03:53, STARS: 1
Haha. I was looking for one. It actually looked kind of like this.
I don’t know which one’s worse.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/15/2017 at 04:21, STARS: 1
Well, it would have decimated the recommendations over here. Or would it...
I think that Countach style wing is even worse. That one is all about style. The black one at least tries to imply it actually does anything good for downforce.
"Jonee" (Jonee)
05/16/2017 at 02:08, STARS: 1
I think it would have been hated, but there’s always a couple wackos who like that sort of thing. The guy my dad bought the car from looked like the type of dude to stick a wing on his Ferrari. He was in Long Island, New York and looked like one of Tony Soprano’s friends. The wing didn’t do anything but add weight. The engine cover wouldn’t even stay open because it was so heavy.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/16/2017 at 09:15, STARS: 1
Did he have a moustache ? Chesthair? Sunglasses? Giorgio Moroder would be proud!
So next to NO DOWNFORCE he added weight on a place you don’t want it? Amazing...
"Jonee" (Jonee)
05/16/2017 at 23:54, STARS: 1
All of the above! Plus gold chains. And clear lucite furniture in his condo. And a big-breasted blonde. It was incredible.
Yup. Right behind the the engine. Just where you want more weight in a mid-engined car. I always said it was to provide lift.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/17/2017 at 09:02, STARS: 1
Lucite? What’s that? I know what a big-breasted blonde is, no worries there. Did he wear those Hawaii shirts Thomas showed us as well?
Weight can get you some downforce as well I suppose...
"Jonee" (Jonee)
05/17/2017 at 22:18, STARS: 1
Lucite is that clear plastic stuff. Tacky furniture like this was popular among the nouveau riche back then.
He definitely didn’t button his shirt all the way to the top. It could have been Hawaiian. Probably. And white pleated pants.
That is one way to get downforce, yeah.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/18/2017 at 04:33, STARS: 1
Yikes, terrible! That would have upset old Leonard for sure. Or didn’t he come along picking up the 308? It’s so bad there were no phone cameras back then...
"Jonee" (Jonee)
05/20/2017 at 23:29, STARS: 1
He used to design some ugly furniture back in those days, but not too much made of lucite. These days, it has a cool kitsch quality. Tacky chic. He surprised my mom with the Ferrari. It was he and I who went to look at it.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/21/2017 at 08:02, STARS: 1
Then it’s not your mom who’s the coolest but it’s Leonard! Surprising your wife with this awesomeness is epic. Sub zero!
"Jonee" (Jonee)
05/21/2017 at 23:59, STARS: 1
Oh yeah. The man’s ice cold. He didn’t drive it much, though. It was her baby.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/22/2017 at 02:41, STARS: 1
Even cooler! I wouldn’t be so cool if I’d get my girl such a car, she’d hardly be able to drive it ;-)
"Jonee" (Jonee)
05/24/2017 at 00:13, STARS: 1
Yeah, same here. Especially because at the time he had a beat up beige Oldsmobile wagon. And this was, like, a few years after he had bought her a CJ-5.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/24/2017 at 03:07, STARS: 1
I’d take the CJ-5 over the Olds as well! All fits in his Low-Profile secret agent appearance I suppose.
"Jonee" (Jonee)
05/25/2017 at 01:09, STARS: 1
The Cutlass Cruiser. It was pretty invisible. Except for those wire hubcaps.
The CJ-5 was way too flashy for a secret spy. That was a Levis Renegade, as I mentioned. Top 5 decal package on those.
She should have kept it. But, my brother once borrowed it and took it to the beach and the next thing you know, the whole undercarriage was full of rust.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/25/2017 at 03:54, STARS: 1
That’s why he got the CJ5 for your mum. That one looks damn similar to Helmuth’s Jeep. Helmuth was the spouse of a niece in the early ‘80's. Living in Switzerland. I’ll see if I can find some pictures of that one at mum and dad’s.
"Jonee" (Jonee)
05/30/2017 at 14:57, STARS: 1
How common are old CJ’s over there? AMC never had much luck exporting to Europe.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
05/30/2017 at 18:02, STARS: 1
Just some Cali-imports. The Wrangler was the first Jeep with decent sales over here.
"Jonee" (Jonee)
06/04/2017 at 14:38, STARS: 1
That’s what I figured. I guess there were plenty of free Ford built Jeeps left over after the war, so who needed new ones.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
06/04/2017 at 14:54, STARS: 1
Well, the war was over quite a few decades at that point, I hardly saw those GPs other than at “Keep them Rolling” meetings.
"Jonee" (Jonee)
06/05/2017 at 20:54, STARS: 1
What’s a “Keep Them Rolling” meet? For military vehicles? Those Jeeps didn’t get repurposed?
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
06/06/2017 at 04:10, STARS: 1
“Keep them rolling” was an organisation that, well, kept old war stuff rolling. Jeeps sure got repurposed, mainly at police forces and fire brigades. And farmers used them. After they went obsolete a lot of privateers bought ‘m and teamed up in “keep them rolling”.
"Jonee" (Jonee)
06/06/2017 at 11:34, STARS: 1
We have those organizations, too, and I guess some of them are also called Keep Them Rolling which I wasn’t aware of. That was a slogan during the war that had to do with production of military vehicles. Did you get repurposed Quonset huts, too? These used to be all over the place, but they’re disappearing now. A lot of auto repair shops used to use them.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
06/06/2017 at 12:44, STARS: 1
Quonset? These were called Romney loods over here. Romney hut. No idea who Romney was. They “went viral” here after the Heineken kidnap. During the ‘80's they all disappeared.
"Jonee" (Jonee)
06/06/2017 at 21:59, STARS: 1
They were built in the town of Quonset which is in Rhode Island. Maybe Romney designed them, or something. I don’t know. They made so many of them, they had a ton of surplus ones, so they made for cheap industrial buildings. What did they have to do with the Heineken kidnap?
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
06/07/2017 at 11:39, STARS: 1
Freddy Heineken was held captive in a Romney hut. Someone made it into a Heineken Kidnap museum but the city of Amsterdam didn’t like that, for publicity reasons. So they cancelled the lease of the property it was build on. Then it had to be destroyed 10 years ago.
"Jonee" (Jonee)
06/08/2017 at 00:01, STARS: 1
Ah, interesting. I did not know that. I vaguely remember that happening when it happened, actually. It obviously wasn’t quite the story here as it was there. How was that movie they made?
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
06/08/2017 at 04:23, STARS: 1
You should definitely see that one! Great movie. Loved it. Lot’s of ‘80's euro cars! Want me to get it for you digitally? Not sure if I can find it subtitled or dubbed.
"Jonee" (Jonee)
06/08/2017 at 21:50, STARS: 1
The one with Anthony Hopkins, right? It actually did come out here, so I put it on my Netflix queue. It must not have gotten a big release because I don’t remember it being out.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
06/09/2017 at 03:11, STARS: 1
No, the Dutch one from 2011, with Rutger Hauer! Haven’t seen the Hopkins one yet. Good call.
"Jonee" (Jonee)
06/12/2017 at 14:00, STARS: 1
Oh, I didn’t know about the Rutger one. That I have to see. I wonder where I can watch a subtitled version. Look into that for me. The movie is on Youtube, but no translation.
"Jobjoris" (Jobjoris)
06/12/2017 at 16:54, STARS: 1
Check your GDrive. There’s an .srt file in there, I’m sure you’ll know how to handle that.
"Jonee" (Jonee)
06/13/2017 at 14:06, STARS: 1
Merci!