You can get a Nissan Pathfinder or a Honda Odyssey minivan with automatic 6 cylinder engines, faster performance, better gas mileage, and room for an entire family
What you won't get is the haptic experience of a sports car.
Nor the potential aesthetic experience...potential because people have different aesthetic values.
But the haptic experience of a sports car can't be replicated in a mini-van or SUV because the suspension, driving position, acoustic and mechanical output, etc. are all vastly different from a sports car. And of course curb weight, suspension rates, and center of gravity.
To be clear, I am not saying there is anything wrong with SUV's and/or minivans. Only that the map is not the territory.
I often say this even as a Nissan diehard, all our hero cars are slow as snails by todays standards.
I've had the pleasure of driving a lot of these cars in factory form, like the Nissan Silvia, various years of Skyline, Supras and such. They are connected, more raw than todays cars, and that is their killer feature. But they would get gapped by a 2025 Toyota Camry.
This was an era of some pretty awful American cars. A mid-size family sedan would have a v6 with a carburetor and 110-125 hp and still weigh 1.5 tons or more. An automatic transmission with a lockup torque converter was probably a pretty new improvement at the time, and ABS brakes were still 5+ years away in high-end cars.
when I became old enough to drive, my parents decided (in the family tradition) to purchase me a car. apparently, the options that my father chose from were a 1982 Honda, or a 1978 datsun f10. he settled on the less reliable f10. it was a wonder-car, it was a 5 speed that started at reverse:
R 2 4
1 3 5
its clutch was so loose that when I was driving with my friends, I'd yell "punch it chewy!" to switch from 2nd to 3rd in one swift pull without touching the clutch.
it was a hell car, but I'm still nostalgic for it, likely more than I would have been for the honda that would probably have been much more reliable.
I still have an affinity for Japanese small cars, and am glad it was in my life.
There is a Swiss restoration youtube channel, my mechanics, that's restoring a 1973 Datsun 240Z. It's quite a project and worth watching if you're into that sort of thing. He's incredibly talented and loads of other restoration projects that are super interesting. Easily my favorite youtube channel!
My 17 y/o self (living in small-town Oklahoma) lusted heavily after this car. For a few weeks, I would drive down to the dealership in my parent's car in order to drool over it in person (yeah, I was stupid kid who loved this car). Anyway, one day I managed to convince a salesman, who wasn't much older than me and obviously bored, to take a test drive in one. We got into the car and he told me that he first was going to show me what the car could do before letting me drive it and so, I had to wear the seatbelt (which was unheard of back then). Soon, we were on the highway and he put it through its paces - demonstrating the acceleration and handling, but he got a bit overconfident and then wound up putting it into a spin. By an extreme amount of luck we managed to avoid hitting anything. After he regained control we pulled over to the side of the road to inspect the car, and much to our relief (and astonishment on my part), there wasn't any visible damage on it. To his credit, he let me drive it back to the dealership were I shook his hand and thanked him for not killing us. Just as I get over to my mom's car, the sales manager shows up to try to close the deal - but when he got a look at my 16 y/o self, his demeanor changed from optimism to mild disappointment. I said I had to discuss with my father before I could consider buying it (but the look he had on his face was that he knew I was full of crap)
My first car (hand-me-down from my Dad) was a 1980s Datsun, that I managed to total within a few weeks of getting my license, much to the consternation of my younger brother and sister who expected it to eventually be handed down to them as well.
I daily-drove a 1981 280ZX Turbo for three glorious, infuriating years. The L28ET would boost like a freight train one minute and then randomly cut out because the AFM flap got sticky or the injector harness decided it was allergic to moisture. Fuel pump relay? Shot. Turbo coolant lines? Weeping. ECU temp sensor? Lies constantly. Every single ground in the engine bay needed cleaning twice a year or it would just die at traffic lights for fun. But man, when it ran (which was most of the time) that long hood, perfect 50/50 weight, and the way the turbo spooled with that glorious whistle made every commute feel like a low-budget 80s action movie chase scene. It leaked, it overheated, it ate alternators, and I still miss it every single day. Cars were allowed to have personality back then, even if that personality was “occasionally tries to strand you on the motorway lol
And that’s the slowest F-150. The Lightning will do it in under 4 seconds (as will the Raptor R). Arguably too fast for a 6500 pound chunk of steel, but it’s certainly entertaining.
I timed my first vehicle - a 1977 Chevrolet pickup - back in the day and it took around 18 seconds to get to 60. Topped out at maybe 85. Still perfectly usable for daily driving.
I remember in the late 80's/early 90s reading a Car & Driver special publication on "affordable used sports cars" (I ended up with a 1975 280Z for $2,000 in great condition). They made a point that "the sports cars of the 60's are easily beaten, at least in a straight line, by today's average family sedans."
I remember this every time something like a Cadillac Escalade leaves my 21-year-old 350Z in its dust...
True but remember the American obsession with acceleration is very different from actual speed. Driving involves moving the car round corners and bends. Many less accelerative cars will beat their betters point to point on handling.
Then there’s stoping. The less time you spend slowing down the faster you go and lighter better handling vehicles win there too.
That F-150 will get its ass handed to it by an older sports car through a city.
Drag racing is a tiny niche, it’s not the true measure of automotive performance any more than horsepower is.
My dad had one of these, I remember he took us drifting with it in a church parking lot after a snow storm (us Gen X kids grew up with out a lot of safeties).
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 60.9 ms ] threadTLDR: The review says the car is lightning fast and fuel efficient. By today’s standards, the car is turtle slow and horribly inefficient.
Nor the potential aesthetic experience...potential because people have different aesthetic values.
But the haptic experience of a sports car can't be replicated in a mini-van or SUV because the suspension, driving position, acoustic and mechanical output, etc. are all vastly different from a sports car. And of course curb weight, suspension rates, and center of gravity.
To be clear, I am not saying there is anything wrong with SUV's and/or minivans. Only that the map is not the territory.
I've had the pleasure of driving a lot of these cars in factory form, like the Nissan Silvia, various years of Skyline, Supras and such. They are connected, more raw than todays cars, and that is their killer feature. But they would get gapped by a 2025 Toyota Camry.
it was a hell car, but I'm still nostalgic for it, likely more than I would have been for the honda that would probably have been much more reliable.
I still have an affinity for Japanese small cars, and am glad it was in my life.
datsun, I miss you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B13vXFj37RI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B13vXFj37RI&list=PLN0SuqPcbL...
I always thought it was a weird car compared to the 240 or 300 since it was a 2+2. I'm not sure if I've even driven it.
One day I'll probably do a V8 or turbo I6 transplant...
The "left door is open" voice alert will forever be ingrained in my memory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hJBko3-oV4 It seemed so futuristic when the car was new.
Got a l28 turbo waiting to be refreshed as well.
I should stop working on this refactor and go work on it.
Nismo is coming out with a new DOHC head for the car... https://japanesenostalgiccar.com/nismo-dohc-nissan-datsun-l-...
There was also this gent who made his own DOHC off of a Honda head.
https://forums.hybridz.org/topic/119641-twin-cam-head-for-th...
(a) zipping around in a lightweight coupe; yet
(b) being able to load a lawnmower / week’s groceries / cat baskets / a fully equipped camp setup in the back as well.
This photo in the article shows it well:
https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/1981-datsun-280-...
I do enough trips to the dump with my TT mk3 to refer to it as a 250bhp flying dumpster. It’s like a baby El Camino with a lid :)
For comparison, here’s the TT’s trunk:
https://images.cdn.autocar.co.uk/sites/autocar.co.uk/files/a...
The 0-60mph time for a 2025 Ford F-150 pickup truck is 5.8 seconds. Today's "performance" cars are in the 2 to 3 second range.
It was a more leisurely time.
I timed my first vehicle - a 1977 Chevrolet pickup - back in the day and it took around 18 seconds to get to 60. Topped out at maybe 85. Still perfectly usable for daily driving.
I remember this every time something like a Cadillac Escalade leaves my 21-year-old 350Z in its dust...
Then there’s stoping. The less time you spend slowing down the faster you go and lighter better handling vehicles win there too.
That F-150 will get its ass handed to it by an older sports car through a city.
Drag racing is a tiny niche, it’s not the true measure of automotive performance any more than horsepower is.