Gentle reader,
It's been a while since I last exhibited the virtual garage and cars I had in Forza 4 when I completed it the first time. Yes, I have completed it again, this time via the "World Tour" which is the default form of racing in the simulation.
We left off with my 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS which I modified to "S" class. That is the 150th car in my stable. So, next, number 151 is:
My 2006 Pontiac GTO. Made in Australia and being (in 2004) the SECOND car exported from OZ to the USA. The FIRST being the 1990 (sold as 1991) Ford Capri. Sold in the USA as a Mercury. Of which I own one of the very earliest ones, born in May, 1990. It's a red XR2 which is the turbocharged model. But I digress. We did sit in one of these when shopping for a car for me back in 2011. BOY was it nice! I still want a real one!
Another car I'd like a real one of, is the Saturn Sky Red Line which means it too is a turbo. Also exported to Europe and sold as an Opel GT. I test drove it's predecessor, a low mileage Pontiac Solstice. It was a non-turbo model but in like-new condition. Sigh, stay on task, Scott!
Below is a newer model Audi TT quattro of which I DID own a real one, it was a 2000 model coupe like the one below in the introductory color of Denin Blue with a blue leather interior. And while it was the 180 horsepower model from the factory, a previous owner had modified and tuned it to put out almost 50% more. Was it FAST! Yes, and expensive to fix.
I'm not crazy about the body kit's looks or the heavier front end weight from the 15 degree 3.2 liter V6 engine. In Gran Turismo 4 in my now ancient SONY PlayStation 2, I have a virtual version of my real one, same color, same RS4 wheels and WAY faster.
Below, painted in authentic British Touring Car Championship racing livery is the predecessor to the Volvo V70, big brother to my V50 T5. The "R" model of the 850 and V70 is all-wheel-drive and in the latter puts out 300 HP and 300 #'. (Pound feet of torque) Yes, "#" is a pound sign, not a hash tag!
Below, only exceeded in un-loved-status by the Pacer is a super fast AMC Gremlin X. Painted in the tri-color paint scheme used by Mark Donohue on his Javelin Trans-Am racer.
Next, BMW's first foray into exotic car territory, the M1. Built for them by Lamborghini, it is an awesome car.
The Ford Sierra was sold in the USA as a Merkur. Made up name, but aren't most car names made up?
Below, another Volvo of which I lust after is the C30. Baby brother to my V50 and an homage to the P1800ES of yore, it is a turbo model. The "R-Design" is only an image package, not AWD as my virtual one is.
K-PAX is a real Volvo racing team.
Most folks have never heard of RUF. It is a German company that buys Porsches and modifies them and sells them as a RUF. The first was called "Yellow Bird" because it was, wait-for-it, yellow and really fast.
One of the last years to retain the new-for-1970 Camaro body style. Note how I chose CRAGAR S/S wheels for it.
That's ten, the last five for this chapter are, from Italy, the '10 Ferarri 458 Italia.
Called Godzilla by the automotive press, the very impressive, especially for it's curb weight, the '10 Nissan GT-R. This one a higher-performance SpecV model.
A car you are not likely to see, but super-fast as-is, the '09 M-B SLR Stirling Moss special.
Ford and Chevrolet, and a little later on, most of the other GM makers, struck gold as the Vega and Pinto came out shortly before the Arab oil embargo. The Pinto was later known for the chance of a fiery explosion if rear ended. It was a better engined car than the Vega, whose aluminum block tended to wear out quickly. This Pinto has a V8 engine and conversion to all-wheel-drive. It's amazingly fast and pisses off the AI cars it competes with.
As a young car mechanic, I had a chance to drive a '57 T-bird. I was not impressed. It was hardly true competition for the Corvette. Still, very sought after. This one is far from stock.
That makes 165 so far. I chanced upon a black XBox 360 at a thrift store marked: $20 As-Is. I took a chance and bought it. The only thing wrong with it was the CD/DVD/GAME disc drive was jammed. The Internet provided me lots of info on taking the unit apart. I wasn't able to fix the drive, but did de-dust the components. The good thing is it has a 120 gigibyte drive, much larger than my white unit has. So, after deleting the 48(!) games and eight profiles and in effect returning the hard drive to empty, I downloaded my profile and started Forza 4 from the beginning. Yes, I have four other simulations I could be trying, but Forza just has a handle on me and countless other would-be-racers around the world. I've won all the races save one second place finish and am already into the forth-of-ten seasons.
Oh, by the way, the last race in the tenth season in two laps around the Nurburgring in R1 class i.e., Le Mans top prototype class, racers. I chose my favorite Audi R8 now in Gulf Racing colors and won handily.
That's it for now, thanks for looking,
Scott
PS We passed 60,000 page views a few weeks ago and I have you to thank for that!
