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Okay, perhaps your “fun cars” are the sort that only touch completely dry asphalt and only then if the weather forecast promises a sky devoid of a single cloud. And that’s reasonable; for instance do you happen to own a yellow 275 GTB like the example pictured here competing in the 1966 Rallye Monte Carlo? Nobody expects you to drive it sideways through the salt and snow for the sake of it. That’s an extreme case, but it’s valid all the way down to a vintage Pinto.
There are plenty of vintage cars that can and do see use throughout the snowy season though. So while they may not confer the same value later on as their garage-kept counterparts, remember that there are more ways of measuring value. It’s an example of the classic garage-queen vs driver argument.
It would be a shame to commute a classic to death—clumps of week-old hard-packed black snow on the trailing edge of fenders is a fate that nothing but a lease deserves—but if there’s a fresh layer of unplowed powder on your street that’s a different story, and we want to hear yours: which classics have you driven through white stuff? Also, which would you like to, given the chance?
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Hi all petrol heads. Living in Northern Norway implies 6 months of winter driving. Over the years I have had the opportunity to drive different cars with quite different capabilities on icey ground. The best, so far, is the Audi S2. Perfectly balanced for winter driving. The worst is the Ford Escort MKII. Cars with a straight rear aksel and leaf springs does not have the best of grips. Front wheel driven cars might as well Lett you down in depp snow, since there will be limited friction for both traction and turning on the same aksel. Therefor, I really loved the the feeling a Porsche 968 with studded tires gave in return. The only limitation was the ride hight of the chassi. At present I enjoy the grip in a VW Golf Alltrack withe the genius XDS differentials fitted on both the front and rear aksel. It’s superb.
When I think of winter sports cars I also envision ski chalets and fresh powdery snow. Unfortunately, the reality is quite different.
Winter driving, here in the north east, is a symphony of salt pellets and a sand blast of cinders pinging off the fender wells while a gray, clay-like brine of car eating ooze penetrates every nook like an oxidation time bomb. I tried the winter sports car thing and couldn’t do it, reality interrupted fantasy with a pronounced needle against a vinyl record sound effect.
1979 Saab 99.
In 1992, it made me feel as invincible as an 18 year old should feel while driving in several inches of fresh powder. It was almost unstoppable even in deep snow. I’m proud to have driven so “tastefully” at such an age…
As for which car I’d like to take out on a snow day: my Lancia Scorpion is staying dry in the garage, but it would be very tempting to give it a go in the snow. I’ll resist until I have it thoroughly rust proffed, but when it is…
My compliments to the 911sc driver for some snow time, you’re among the few who’d do that.
My ’79 911sc.. Took it for a tool in some fresh powder the other day, I could not resist… When I first got the car over a year ago, I would have never thought I’d be caught dead with it in the snow… Since then, my outlook on what Porsche created the 911 for has changed drastically.. Driving a car like that can have this affect…
-Cam