This is the one and only "Clown Car" - my pet name for this particular vehicle because to me it always conjured up an image of the type of transport that only a Bozo could love. It even came factory equipped with what I eventually determined to be a "hydro spastic" suspension. Inasmuch as classic British vehicles are somewhat notorious for leaking all manner of fluids, usually at the most inopportune time, just who in their right mind thought that it would be a good idea to produce a sports sedan having a fluid damped suspension system? Indeed, my dear little "Clown Car" brought into clear focus the true meaning of the term "that’s a pisser".
In its original incarnation (...i.e. pre retro-refurbishment) this was my designated driver around the U-Dub campus where its quirky nature was more often appreciated than not. Only much later did this automobile morph into something of a "reverse snobbery" project that turned out to be lots of fun if not exactly understood by anyone else within my circle of family and friends. And just to keep things interesting, I elected to replace the original and worn 1098 cc four cylinder, transverse mounted, power plant (...whose rings were so worn as to inspire the immortal words "...with a puff a blue and a mighty hi-ho" every time you pulled away from a stop light) with a mildly tuned 1275 cc A series engine purloined from a Mini Cooper S.
