V8 Times Three: A multi-cylindrical extravaganza

This past weekend was quite a special one. There are few things more entertaining in a young car enthusiasts life than getting to drive iconic dream cars. For me, taking pictures of them as well is just like adding melted chocolate to a delicious strawberry; it´s almost too good to process. Now, driving three cars on my "100 cars I must drive before I die" list in one single weekend... well, that is too good to process. I still haven´t landed from the experience.

The three cars in question were a Ferrari 308 GTS, a Porsche 928 and a Chevrolet Corvette. All three have recently past their 30th birthday, thus getting the "Veteran car" classification. This means cheap insurance and road tax, which is quite a relief here in the Land of a Thousand Taxes (aka Norway).

Interestingly, the three cars represent totally different takes on the concept "V8 sportscar". The number of cylinders and the angle of these seem to be the only thing they have in common. With a 3-litre in the Ferrari, a 4.5-litre in the Porsche and a 5.7-litre in the Corvette, there´s a convenient spread of volume, but not in power. Actually, all three produce around 240 horsepower. Well, not actually. If the Corvette had an L82 engine like it says on the bonnet, it would. But it´s really the L48, with "only" 190 hp. Oh well, let´s not split hairs.

Let´s take a closer look at the Ferrari. It´s a US model with bigger bumpers, but it´s still a gorgeous car. It´s also one of few with the red leather interior. Mmmm... the eighties.

The Porsche 928 and Corvette proved a more interesting comparison. They both cost about the same, and they´re both front-engined rear wheel drives. The Ferrari costs about the same as both of these put together. Even though, I quickly discovered there´s a world of difference between Stuttgart and Detroit...

The Porsche 928 is quite simply a marvellous Grand Tourer. The V8 has a superb amount of torque spread evenly throughout the revrange. Transaxle layout and use of aluminium and polyurethane amounts to a 50/50 weight distribution, giving the car impressive handling abilities. Is this really a thirty year old car..? No wonder they kept building it for 17 years.

The Corvette. A visual feast of all that is manly and beefy-looking. No one can argue with the fact that it´s one of the best looking sports cars ever built. No wonder it sold over half a million units with the C3-body between 1968 and 1982. A car looking this awesome surely must be able to burst 400 km/h and do 0-100 in less than a second..! But, no. It´s really quite unnerving to drive. Huge baloonish tires ensure absolutely no feel of the road whatsoever. You could just as easily be driving a hovercraft. Sure, it moves when you floor it, but what´s the point when you have to struggle just to keep it in a straight line? Yes, it kind of goes round corners, and you could probably push it to do so at some considerable speed. But if you try it, you will soil your pants. So keep it in a straight line. Or better still, leave it alone with the engine idling. Enjoy the burbling noise. And take some pictures.

All three cars were photographed as a part of two articles due to be printed next month in a Norwegian car magazine. I doubt that I could arrange such a glorious weekend without having an agenda, but hey. Win-win!