Harry’s Garage

[integrale_evo]

None of us have a countach so it doesn’t matter

[mik]

None of us have a countach so it doesn’t matter

And @JonathanE sold his long ago, so we can't even pressure him to be (credibly) upset/confused/suspicious on our behalf.

[Jobbo]

I’m on tenterhooks

Are you also refreshing the MOT check?

[JonathanE]

None of us have a countach so it doesn’t matter

And @JonathanE sold his long ago, so we can't even pressure him to be (credibly) upset/confused/suspicious on our behalf.

I will chip in - yes, I sold the Countach but can confirm that the steering was VERY heavy below around 15mph - and mine was a LP400S, which is lighter and (I think) with slightly narrower front tyres than Harry's QV. It didn't particularly bother me because I was lucky enough to have a garage that could be entered in a straight line, and I very rarely drove the car in central London.

However, I did fit EZ power steering to my Pantera shortly before I sold it (at the request and expense of the purchaser, who wanted his wife to be able to drive it!). The original Pantera steering was similarly heavy, and the EZ system meant you could steer at parking speeds with one hand while not being in any way noticeable at higher speeds. It sounds trivial but it did make a significant difference to the usability of the car in London, and I would have probably kept it had I kept the car.

So I am indeed confused about Harry's decision. While the Lamborghini community is much more fussy about originality than Pantera owners, the EZ system would have been easy (no pun intended) to remove if he ever sold the car, which in any event he seems to have no intention of doing.

The mystery continues!

Jonathan

[mik]

Someone on PH has posted an MOT check for the Countach showing it expired in May

I've just checked (multitasking on a call) - it's also currently SORN. Harry has gone badass rogue.....

[Jimexpl]

None of us have a countach so it doesn’t matter

And @JonathanE sold his long ago, so we can't even pressure him to be (credibly) upset/confused/suspicious on our behalf.

I will chip in - yes, I sold the Countach but can confirm that the steering was VERY heavy below around 15mph - and mine was a LP400S, which is lighter and (I think) with slightly narrower front tyres than Harry's QV. It didn't particularly bother me because I was lucky enough to have a garage that could be entered in a straight line, and I very rarely drove the car in central London.

However, I did fit EZ power steering to my Pantera shortly before I sold it (at the request and expense of the purchaser, who wanted his wife to be able to drive it!). The original Pantera steering was similarly heavy, and the EZ system meant you could steer at parking speeds with one hand while not being in any way noticeable at higher speeds. It sounds trivial but it did make a significant difference to the usability of the car in London, and I would have probably kept it had I kept the car.

So I am indeed confused about Harry's decision. While the Lamborghini community is much more fussy about originality than Pantera owners, the EZ system would have been easy (no pun intended) to remove if he ever sold the car, which in any event he seems to have no intention of doing.

The mystery continues!

Jonathan

I had three fitted to customer cars (Jag XK, Aston DB6, Merc 190SL) when it was my day job and they do make a massive difference if you want to do city driving.
There was concern from a few mechanics/forum 'experts' that on some installations the electric motor could lead to too much torque being applied on the upper steering components that weren't designed for them - perhaps the Countach set up isn't ideal, but Harry doesn't want to criticise the company?

[Jobbo]

Harry has acknowledged the lack of MOT on the Countach in the PH thread - with an oops.

[GG.]

Anyone watch the Utopia video last night?

I really like it. A big improvement on the Huayra and probably as good as it gets in a Hypercar with a turbo'd engine. I'll have mine in the blue with exposed carbon bonnet... Shame its €2.5m!



Harry finding out the engine cover on his Countach was fibreglass not carbon was also pretty amusing It did seem implausible to me that a car from 87 would have had any carbon fibre on it.

[mik]

Anyone watch the Utopia video last night?

I really like it. A big improvement on the Huayra and probably as good as it gets in a Hypercar with a turbo'd engine.

I like the exterior, and it sounds great. Manuel a big plus. Manuel 7-speed with dog-leg 1st is a big big plus.

Interior is way too chintzy for me though. Lovely finish/materials, but too theatrical. And I'd have to remove that fanfare crap when you switch it off

1430kg is pretty impressive, but the suggestion that it's the same weight as a ZondaS would appear to be completely inaccurate - the claimed mass of the latter being 1250kg.

So, after careful consideration I've decided not to purchase a Utopia.

[Jobbo]

I bet the 1st-2nd change is interesting - Harry said that it's sprung to sit in the 4th/5th plane so you've got to release the left hand pressure enough, but not too much. Changing down to 3rd could be fun too.

[Mito Man]

Problem with Pagani for me is that the Zonda was pretty perfect. Every revision since just looks like a Zonda with added tat.

I guess the newer Gordon Murray supercars are the same, they just look like fussier versions of the F1.

[Marv]

My Euroquadrillion garage would have a Zonda or Utopia in it.

[RobYob]

The extraordinarily silly prices for Zondas show what people really still want is a big NA V12, manual, and styling that was spot on for the start.

Utopia is nicer to look at than the WhyRa but if AMG are doing a bespoke engine anyway why not a 7litre NA V12?

[Matty]

Completely agree with Harry, regarding massive tech overload and the knock on effects financially and otherwise.

However, also mentioned that he sold his Emira due to the huge depreciation, but not sure he mentioned that as the reason before? Said he felt they would continue to tumble...yet they've pretty much held steady.

[Jobbo]

Depreciation is interesting. Harry lost £28k on his Emira but if he’d been offered the same car for £56k, he’d have said it’s a bargain. If you’d buy the car at the price you’re offered for it, keep it.

[Mito Man]

I'd have thought the depreciation would be chump change for Harry.

[Jobbo]

It’s more than I can remember him saying the annual profit was from his farming in any of his round-up videos.

[RobYob]

That was a bit of a distributed rant.

On the one hand bemoaning depreciation of the most available Ferrari but lauding Porsche and its pretty smelly treatment of customers on GT3 waiting lists. Is that really what enthusiasts want?

Certainly the mandatory speed warnings will put off a lot of "enthusiast" buyers but I wonder how the general population will take to it.

As for disinterest in new performance cars, maybe it's analogous to mobile phones, each new model is only an incremental improvement on its predecessor and in some specific areas even a downgrade. The Veyron with ONE THOUSAND horsepowers was amazing, the F80 isn't (not to mention the motorsport driven V6, wonky styling, and weird interior), I thought he was wrong on the production number being "too damn high" though. The number of Billionaires has exploded (not comment on how that effects our society as a whole) and I imagine demand to supply ratio is probably far more healthy than for the F50.

I agree we're in a transition time than seems to threaten the car enthusiast outright. Lets hope someone with the genius of Gordon Murray picks up the torch for value driven performance.

[Jobbo]

Harry also doesn't acknowledge that the Fulvia Zagato and XJ-C won't be worth anything like what he's spent on them. I bet value against spend is further into the red on either one of those than the Emira. Crystallising your losses is a surefire way of suffering depreciation; if he'd kept the Emira (another year, or 10 years - it matters not) I bet he'd have lost nothing more.

[IanF]

There’s a difference between spending and losing £28k though. Plus he got YouTube revenue from those two cars, and he seemed to enjoy the videos he made where he tinkers (well, admittedly someone else does the oily stuff), whilst the Lotus didn’t seem anything special or interesting to me, or him.