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After having worked on numerous italian supercars and older german collectables (some in the $7-figure range), I got to drive many of them to "verify the repairs". With so much at stake, however, I only drove them cautiously within speed limits and with a concern that many of them were "magnets" for all those folk that just had to share their stories of having owned one, or their brother-in-law's doctor's son friend had one and they got to sit in/drive/touch it once ... or maybe it was the elbow of the owner that they touched, I'm not sure.
But it was very frustrating to not be able to drive them anywhere and leave them unattended for a second. Had more than one time where I drove a car to a restaurant to get a bite and came out to find somebody sitting/leaning on a fender just waiting to tell me their car stories ... as if I cared. I learned real quickly that once these cars were completed at my shop, it was best to either deliver them to the owner's location (I got to deliver/drive a few to Aspen or Vail or Sun Valley or Jackson) or have them transported/picked up from the shop so that my responsibility ended.
The worst experience I had ... early on in the game ... was to take a dealer's '71 280SE 3.5 Convertible to a restaurant in Cherry Creek (Denver area). Came out and it had been "keyed" down the right side. Thanks, pard. The car had a high end paint job ($12,000 at the time) and I had to send it back to the shop that did it in Denver. Cost over $5,000 to refinish and it came out of my pocket. Filing a claim with my business insurer would have cost me more in increased premiums ... as it was, they were nervous about an 8-bay shop with the prospect of 8 ea 6-figure cars sitting there overnight. Had the same thing happen with a '57 300SL roadster a few years later ... only this time, I'd taken the car to a private function wedding in Evergreen at a residence there. Guess one of the guests there couldn't resist the opportunity to vandalize somebody else's car with a dealer plate on it. Again, I got to pay for the damage out of pocket ... fortunately, it was an older paint job on the car in poor condition and the dealer was going to send it over for painting after the mechanical repairs (my shop) and upholstery shop were done with it. So my cost was not too bad to repair this one.
While market value and top speed can be parameters for the fun factor in a lot of cars ....
My fondest/happiest times have been in more mundane vehicles. Such as a Morgan +8, a turbo'ed 2002tii, or similar sleeper cars that don't scream "look at me" to everybody. Have had a euro BMW 745i (factory turbo'ed model) up to 135 indicated going across NV at night to deliver it to LA the next day ... for a mile or two, just to see what it was like; couldn't tell any difference in the ride between 60 mph and 3 digit speeds, the car just ambled down the road with the same grace as the road stripes passed by more quickly.
I have had the same with collector cars... people will think nothing of sitting on it... opening doors, putting the kids in the rumble seat and opening the hood... I have seen all of the above and several happened to me.
The club was at the Nut Tree restaurant off 80 in California... one of the club members found the door to his roadster open with a kid behind the wheel... this is a 98 point restoration.
Anyway my friend went to the other persons car and got behind the wheel and open the trunk and hood... it was quite an interesting discussion... old Fighter Pilot Ted was taking no prisoners...
Fastest would have been a Jag E type V12, but I never had one in a place where I could really let it out.
I was in one doing 110 on I-95, but I was not driving.
I did get an MGC roadster up to 100 on one occasion.
Most expensive would be a Rolls Royce, I worked at a RR dealership for a short time.
Rode in Ferraris a time or two, but always in town.
Actually, I have never been in anyone else's fast or expensive cars - not even on a test drive. So that leaves me with my own cars:
Fastest: My 94 RX7
Most Expensive: My X5
But really, when adjusted for inflation (Based on reviews):
My 1971 Pinto would today cost me: $12,096.54. It topped out (modified) at about 90 MPH (This really was a great/cheap car - no matter the lies told about it.)
My 1980 RX7 would today cost me: $23,782.04 It topped out (modified) at about 110 MPH?
My 1988 RX7 would today cost me: $53,836.26 It topped out at about 125 MPH?
My 1994 RX7 would today cost me: $56,197.50 It topped out (modified) at about 160 MPH
My 1995 Rodeo would today cost me: $40,182.91 It topped out at about 115 MPH
My 2006 X5 would today cost me: $78,978.55 It topped out at about 140 MPH
Most expensive, my daughter's 750 12 cylinder BMW. Fastest was my brother's Kawasaki 500, '71 or '72, claimed to be the fastest production vehicle in quarter mile back then, if I remember right. Quarter mile time aside, it was a pita. My Honda CB. 750 OTOH was a dream.
I had a few Hondas, and they proved to me then, and I still believe, the only reason to own a Harley is that you just got to own a.Harley.
Did you land it at a restaurant in Denver, and someone broke a wing off, and popped the tire?!?!
Nope ... but it would have been an act of mercy to have done so to that Jetstar. You haven't heard "loud" until you've been near an airstrip where one of these was taking off. These were responsible for 99% of the noise complaints at an airport where a client of mine had 2 of these based and was running regional flights out for an oil field service company crew and engineers. The LV delivery flight was the last flight that plane did, it was sold and never flown again.
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