Hi from the UK - Newbie here.
I owned an original 1964 356C Coupe for ten years and that I'm alive to tell
the tale must be because my number wasn't up. She - Daisy - was a coffin
on wheels. A wet, freezing cold, blind, rusting devil of a beast who
fought me every mile I ever drove her.
But I loved her lines and the sound of her engine enough to keep
dreaming of replacing her one day. I haven't, because I belonged to the
"absolutely-no-replicas!" camp and didn't have enough money for the real
thing.
This article by the ever hilarious Jeremy Clarkson finally persuaded me
otherwise:
http://www.topgear.com/car-new...my-clarkson-classic-
cars
Given the weather here in the UK, I will obviously need a Coupe,
but that's all I know. My mechanical & engine knowledge can be
written on the sides of a wingnut.
Rather than take the plunge blind, I was hoping this extremely
knowledgable group would help me put together a mechanical/engine spec
that gets me what I want: an aircooled 356 replica that is safe and
reasonably reliable for 6000 miles/year.
About half the miles will be on narrow rural roads, unlit at
night, icy in winter and muddy in spring & autumn. The other half would
be motorway traffic, 70 - 80 m/hr cruising. Road rage is a problem and
being able to get out of the way of lorries bumper-chasing at 90 m/hr can be life-saving.
All maintenance & troubleshooting will need to be done by a garage. I expect
to have to take her in for maintenance every 3-4 month, but I'm not prepared
to spend a year on sorting out "teething problems".
The only given spec is an air-cooled engine. No reason. I just like the
sound.
All advice gratefully received
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