Cars & Motorbikes Let's talk cars... 2021

I'm impatiently waiting for the Tesla Y to be available to order here in Oz. Almost got tired of waiting and was tempted to order the Lexus UX300e but the Y has much better range AND it will be able to tow my little caravan so it's a big plus.
Cmon Tesla!!!

 

Yeah I think the model Y is the one to get. I gave the coming model X plaid some thought. While it will insanely fast, for $250k I expect something a little more exciting in the looks department.

I like the interior of the Tesla’s. Performance is next level at a price point no one else comes close to. If they only did something with the exterior design especially for the top end models. If your going to spend $200k plus on a car you really want something special to look at.

 

Yeah I just can't justify the price of the X - nor live down the gullwing doors. I think the Y will be just right.

 

Your right, the Y is more than enough and the X is just more for the sake of having more.

Umm I actually like the gullwing doors . I think it’s a cool feature and the only design feature of the car I like.

 

I loved them at the beginning and swooned over the idea my kids would never be able to smash the doors open onto another persons' car but now they are teenagers and their street cred probably won't stretch to me using the doors at high school pick up

 

Haha. How funny. My kids are still in primary school and would think it’s cool. Maybe gullwing doors are old man cool.

 

Tesla Roadster perhaps?

 

Yes the roadster is not a bad looking car and it’s silly fast. Will be an interesting option once it gets here. The key will be price point. It will be as fast as anything out there but regardless I don’t think they can price it even close to the exotics regardless of performance. I don’t think the brand has the status yet to be charging much above low to mid $300k for their cars. Once you start to get in the $400k plus range your getting into exotic territory and can’t imagine too many want to pay that sort of money for an American built car.

In saying that the Europeans are starting to shift their prices higher. So that might allow the likes of Tesla to ask more and still keep a gap to the euro Supercars.

 

I just wanted to ask if anyone has imported a car from the US and how successful it was in terms of getting a good deal. Also if you were to go this route, which car would be the buy at the moment. At present I feel that prices are very high here and they are high in the US but maybe less so with particular models. Obviously exchange rates, containers, shipping and compliances are costs to add up.
A few years ago people were importing 1960’s mustangs that were cheaper 6 cylinder versions and doing well with those. An Opel GT or 280z or 280zx 2 seater turbo would be interesting:

 

True, never though about that, hopefully it's priced reasonably

 

I’ve imported over 100 cars from the USA and 10 from Japan. I lost interest once the dollar got below 80c. I still feel there are better deals in Australia for quality US cars than in the USA.
My latest purchase RHD owes me $16,160 including rego. Try importing one of those from the USA and converting it to RHD. I would like a Red manual NSX from Japan though.

 

This is excellent. Over 100 cars is fantastic. Definitely the currency situation is a problem. I wonder what 2022 and 2023 trends will look like. Are cars in the early noughties now the ones at the bottom of the price cycle or is there still value in the 80’s and 90’s. The 90’s was a very good period for Japanese sports cars.
I was wondering if there is a company willing to fabricate a Toyota 2000gt or kit car one?

 

I had a TF Cortina... one slightly more yellow than beige. It was like a toyota. Never broke down but it didnt have air con. It had one fault in its design. The front steering joints would wear due to the 4.1 (manual gerrbox) weight. Every two-three years. But I knew that. Replaced it for a family friendly Falcon with air con. Its wasnt very friendly however. It was as reliable as a Lada.

Some clown drove into the back of it at a roundabout and he had to be towed. It was fine to drive on until repair. Good old BHP steel.

 

It’s interesting how in 1979 when Australia built many different cars for a population of 14 million but in 2021 with a population of over 25 million we can’t even churn out say 3 different models. This is where we have ended up.
In 1979 Holden were making the UC Torana and Sunbird, HZ Kingswood, Belmont, Statesman, sedans, Utes, panel vans and wagons as well as the new VB Commodore sedan and wagon and this was just the large car sector for Holden, they also had the Gemini.

{Note from mods: this thread continued in thread Let's talk cars 2022}