Supra_Natural

From a Lamboghini America Press Release Looks good, Don't it? Source: Jalopnik.com full details, galleries

Continuing the idea had here, http://forum.autolanka.com/index.php?s...c=5657&st=0 which I had totally forgotten about till today, here's the next price band. I guess my original idea to have descriptions and experiences was quite far fetched, so lets continue in the list format... any extra info of course, will be appreciated. My choices (will probably add a few later) BMW E30 3 Series - A good one will be a decent drive, reliable, relatively economical, "interesting" and can be maintained at reasonable cost if approached right Mazda Astina - Looks cool, drives well, good prices and reliable runner. Mazda Interplay - As above, More conventional though Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno/Corolla Levin - The legendary "hachi roku", RWD Chassis, Toyota reliability, practical and with great tuning potential. Good ones are kinda hard to find though Alfa Romeo 33 - Most are at the lower end of the price band, but definitely the left-field choice here. Fun drive, not expensive to run if you find a good one (So says our resident alfisti), and it's an ALFA!!! Mini - Blast to drive, economical, characterful..... can be a hassle as a daily driver though, and reliability is questionable. Honda CRX 2nd Gen - Light weight, nice handling, decent pace, Honda reliability. Nissan Presea First Gen - All the sensibleness of a doctor sunny, in a much nicer looking wrapping. Subaru Legacy RS First Gen - Subaru, All Wheel drive, Turbo. What more do ya need? Good luck finding one though. All that comes to mind right now.... will add more soon

ah ok... that's a good price, is that for the 2.5L or the 2L? By the way, even though the gearbox is included, it still definitely wouldnt be compatible with the standard 316 Rear Axle... so you'll have to find a compatible Axle/Differential Assembly.... that isnt easy. Well It definitely cant be a 1980 machan, because the E30 was produced from '84-'91 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_E30 The normal asking range for E30's range from about 675k to around 900k depending on number, conditions, options etc... With the current state of the car market, bargains can be had if one is patient. I would say that 750-800k will get you a really nice example.

Here's another tale of an interesting discovery... from the UK http://jalopnik.com/5169307/priceless-cach...n-rural-uk-town

My goodness!! Our sympathies mate! Wish you a speedy recovery.... IMO though, this might be a project that will give a lot of headache.... the selling option might work out easier.

One incident that comes to mind was when a group of friends decided to do an early morning drive to benthota one day, Two VW Beetles and a Nissan 300ZX well after a good breakfast the two Beetle drivers(one was me) decided that it would be fun to put the beetle's fabled traction to good use and drive on the beach!! all went well for the first few minutes, until I decided to try a U turn and moved close to the sea! before I could say "oh Sh**" was stuck up to the Axles in sand!! took a hell of a lot of pushing, shoving, shouting and sweating before we finally got the car out!

Lol, you must be the oldest member whose active!!

yeah... gruesome, guess that's why the cop was pulling a tarp over that area in the last pic.... waste of a great car though!

doubt anybody here has EVER even considered doing that to an Astina!! I guess if you really wanna go ahead with it, Mazna motors in pepiliyana might be able to give you an idea. AFAIK there weren't any Auto Astinas in SL, although there were a few interplays. Btw the astina manual is not exactly the most economical car in its class as it is, an auto conversion isnt exactly going to help with that mate!! Might be better to just get rid of it and find something that came with an original auto

How much did you say one of those engines was going to cost? your post says 14 lacks (1.4 Million) is that the correct price? Im sure the engine swap can be done, but it wont end there... If i remember correctly, the six cylinder engines require different gearboxes and rear axles to the four cylinder motor that was originally on this car... and by the time you sort that lot out, you'll have wayy exceeded the cost of the very best original E30 in town!!! Remember, E30's aren't exactly ultra rare cars, there are plenty of them around , and in the current market situ, you can pick up a really nice one for not a lot of money. The key thing mate is to be a little patient. In my opinion, you should leave THIS particular car alone. 475 is not a low enough price when you consider the rest of the work that remains to be done on the car.

haha, only a couple on that list are my OWN... rest are/were parents' vehicles at various times. as for hondas, i dunno about peri, but Devinda DOES genuinely dislike them, NSX aside... so much so that even when he sees a Honda that impresses him, you'll never catch him saying so!!

Parak Mate, everyone here is being extremely patient with you, but do be aware that you are treading on thin ice. First of all, what gives YOU the right to tell us ANYTHING? do YOU live here? are the taxes YOU pay contributing in any way to the development of the country? No, they are not. You are sitting several thousand miles away in a cushy job paying your taxes to a foreign country, and you have the chutzpah to lecture US? by the way, those ridiculous amounts of money we pay for cars... you should know they are mostly (i.e in some cases more than twice the value of the car) taxes, levies and duties, ALL of which goes to THE GOVERNMENT, to fund various worthy (and not so worthy) schemes and programs. If somebody here spends two, five or even ten million rupees on a car, it's bloody well because in most cases (our wonderful governing folks and their catchers excluded) they've worked their asses off for years to be able to afford it, and guess what? they DESERVE it!! so KINDLY, get off that damn high horse of yours, wake up and smell the diesel fumes!! Or even better, come and live a year in Sri Lanka, get a house in somewhere around maharagama, a job in fort, take the bus to work everyday, following your own advice and THEN tell us what you think! in the current context my dear fellow, you're only coming across as somebody blindly idealistic, and wholly ignorant as well!

errmmm..... several reasons come to mind, but since AL is a family friendly site.......

mini, just type "f@cebook" between the too "www"'s P.S. @ = a

lol, was about to fire off a lengthy reply myself to this gent, but you seem to have covered all the points ripper, slow day at work today? @ Parak, if you take some time to read through rippers posts, and the post of Thanushka, who incidentally DOES take the bus up and down every day... you'll see exactly why as soon as people can afford an alternative method of transport, they jump to it! Public transport in SL has a LOONG way to go before it becomes a viable option for say an average working professional to use day to day.... First and foremost the powers that be would need to get the private bus a**holes in line.... and then sort out the state funded transport. The key point here Parak is, as Ripper pointed out, Practice before you Preach..... and equally as important, Think before you Type.

Happy birthday Bro!

Many Happy returns of the day mate!

I didnt know you ran a driving school machan! is it named A.M.A.I.K.Y.A School of driving? (A.M.A.I.K.Y.A - Annoy Me And I'll Kick Your Ass)

yup, like i said, Get an LN107 that's been taken care of and you're set....

BAD 198? Toyota Sprinter Carib 4wd - Was a nice car in many ways, very advanced with push button 4WD, TEMS electronic suspension, sports seats and a lot of other bells and whistles, and this was in the early 90's... Only problem was that everything on it had been screwed up by the time we got it, my father fell for the old car sale "wash and polish" trick... the TEMS wasn't functional, the Twin carb engine drank like a fish and worst of all, the car had been in a bad crash that left it with chassis damage that hadnt been sorted!! could have been great, but turned out to be the opposite 1984 Fiat Uno - Had this for a year or so, was bought as a runabout, had been allegedly taken care of by previous owner, appeared in good shape and mechanically ok... but was TERRIBLE! stopped running for no apparent reason, suffered from fuel blocks, random electrical shorts and all manner of other electrical maladies that would never go away... even took it to the agents at the time (Browns I think) they claimed to have sorted it (for a fancy sum)... but a couple of weeks later everything was back! Gave my family a Fiat Phobia that exists to this day! 1984 Nissan sunny B11 - Boring, Bland, Uncomfortable and slow... oh and a wheel once fell off! 1986 Toyota Carina Wagon - Boring and bland... but also for some bizzare reason hideously unreliable!! and if you cant have reliability in a toyota, what's the point? 1995 Mercedes Benz E200 Diesel (W124) - More boring than watching paint dry, and nearly as slow... almost couldn't get up steep hills with five people in the car, engine was loud and uncouth. Was still very comfy though, and built like a bank vault, but the engine ruined it! OK 2000/2002/2004 Honda Civic ES8 - Had 3 of them at various times, mother adores them for some reason. Currently have the 2004 one which is a 1.5 Auto... Not great in anyway, but reasonably pleasant, quite comfy, and with a reasonably nice engine.... all in all, a reasonable car. 1998/2001 Toyota Corolla AE110/Toyota sprinter AE111... Decent, Economical, Comfortable, Reliable. 2002 Nissan Primera TP12 - Huge interior, decent shove, nice ride and awesome stereo when you figured it out..... Thirsty though, and figuring out the all japanese controls took some time... Not a good driver's car either. 1989 Mazda 323 Hatchback 15-7767 - Was small when we had this, but remember that it seemed quite fast, and my dad loved it a lot.... still on the lookout for the car if anyone knows of it's whereabouts let me know. 2006 Mitsubishi Montero 3.0 V6 - Decent vehicle... Roomy, capable off road, comfy interior, nice Aircon.... Thirsty though, and the 3.0 Engine struggles a tad when its fully loaded. 1969 Volkswagen Beetle - Characterful, Cheap to Run and Reliable... If it were a wee bit more interesting to drive it would be in the "best" category 1995 Toyota Land Cruiser KZJ77 3.0 Turbo - The Box model 'Cruiser. Brisk, Comfy and built like a bank vault, also endlessly reliable. BEST 2000 Peugeot 406 1.8 GLX - Superbly comfortable, Lovely Handling, Comfy interior etc etc. Was the 1.8 version however, so it was kinda underpowered for the weight, AND it was thirsty because of the weight. Was also prone to random electrical/electronic maladies. The plus points made it worth it though..... Still regret getting rid of it. 1993 Honda Civic Eg8 18-7003 - I know about the image, I know all the negative connotations etc, but we got one of these brand spanking new, just after it had been introduced to SL, and back then it was fantastic.... Remember that this was the era of the corolla AE91 and the Doctor sunny!.... Again, if anyone knows what has become of this car, do let me know. 1969 Triumph Spitfire Mk3... It's British, It has Lucas Electrics, and it is prone to random, mysterious maladies..... Theoretically I should HATE it, but I dont. Its A blast to drive (when it works), it looks cool, makes a positive impression on anyone who sees it, and just has such a lot of that factor that saves most brits.... Character! 1993 Toyota Hilux Ln106 2.8 Diesel - My daily Driver. Owned from new, 415,000 KM and still going strong... engine rebuilt once, no unexpected mechanical maladies, great off the beaten track and only a defender can come close to it in the cut and thrust of urban traffic! 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited - Im not a major fan of SUV's but this somehow manages to get up there.... by all rights it shouldnt, on paper it's crude with nothing like the technical sophistication of a Discovery or even a rexton!! has a live rear axle for heaven's sake!!! Fit and finish is not great either... Somehow manages to rise above that though.... Goes like the clappers for one thing, and handles far better than anyone would believe if they read the spec sheet. Also very comfy (Bit cramped in the back though). Drinks like a fish though... Edit: Cant believe I forgot this!!! - 1967 or 68 Ford Escort Mk1 1300GT 2 door 10Sri 3452 - Popularly known as "Mrs Robinson" . turned up at the garage next door to my office one day, had no paint to speak of, but a VERy solid body, and fired first turn of the key... scrounged up the cash and bought it in two days! was just a very entertaining car, as D_z, who drove it most will attest!! sadly got a little stuck and sold it to a mutual friend who promised to restore it, only to see him later buy a fully done up escort after this was dismantled! He then sold it to someone in Kandy.... doubt I'll ever entirely forgive him for that.

Was never a part of the old forum but read a lot of it after i joined.... you guys certainly had a lot of arguments there! by comparison, this one seems quite sane and calm, although we've had our share of dust-ups too i guess! One thing thats been missing since the departure of a well known (and infamous) resident and honda driver has been a regular source of "entertainment".... sometimes one misses the comic relief...

Actually it depends... speaking about the early to mid 90's models here, If you buy the LN 106, like I have, it has leaf sprung live axles all round, and usually is in very basic spec, so one might say it's not really the most comfortable. (Personally speaking though, its my daily drive and Ive had no problems). The LN 107 had front suspension by coils, and the higher spec ones came with all the toys, one of those in good nick is really very comfortable and almost like a tall car to drive. Optimum spec would be a 58, 59 or (rare) 250- LN107 SSR-X. Good ones CAN be had for decent money if you look around.

Oh P*** off ! you'll notice i was complementary about yours too...

Indeed.... good ol' Hilux is one of the few things on the road most other road users dont mess with... along with defenders and such like... you can drive with total impunity, even bus buggers are wary of dicing with them! Note: A brand spanking, shiny new hilux probably wont do though.... for full effect it has to be a late 80's/early 90's model, preferably with faded paint!

Sigh, Booth number one all the way!! Log on every couple of hours usually, though i realize my posting frequency has dropped considerably..... AL's on my "Speed dial" tab on firefox. Definitely in the "whore" category.