Cafe racer question

Another of my odd questions. I have no affinity with bikes, they disturb me, however I am quite fascinated by the ethos of the cafe racing idea, nothing it doesn't need to make it work, enough go to get without being obsessed with horsepower top trumps, cornering ability enough to make a rabbit dizzy, essentially built for speed not comfort, you know, a cafe racer. Anyway, I have been looking for the correct term for the car equivalent of the above and haven't been able to put a name to it? What is the car equivalent of a cafe racing bike correctly called? And yes, in my case it's Ermintrude but more generally?

The car equivalent would be 'fast-road' spec surely? Most creature comforts removed, light engine work, mildly uprated suspension? Something like my 106 Rallye. An everyday budget hatchback with not much in the way of an interior, 790kg kerb weight and 135hp to drag it around. A simple recipe for fun!

hmm. more like around 100 bhp

Though, cafe racers have some kind of coolness around them. So I'm thinking more like a Lotus/caterham Super 7

Or perhaps a bmw z3 or Mazda MX3. Both fun and relatively cheap cars..

Busta wrote: The car equivalent would be 'fast-road' spec surely? Most creature comforts removed, light engine work, mildly uprated suspension? Something like my 106 Rallye. An everyday budget hatchback with not much in the way of an interior, 790kg kerb weight and 135hp to drag it around. A simple recipe for fun!

Hmm I kinda know what you mean but I always thought of fast road as being like a v6 mondeo or 3.0 bmw s you know not a super saloon but that sort of size?

TomDK wrote: hmm. more like around 100 bhp

Though, cafe racers have some kind of coolness around them. So I'm thinking more like a Lotus/caterham Super 7

Or perhaps a bmw z3 or Mazda MX3. Both fun and relatively cheap cars..

Are they not sports cars.though? Not to say they're not cool, they are very but are they cafe racer types? I always took cafe racer as something you ended up with not what you start from?

yeah I guess you have a point

Hmm.. what about a now you mention the Mondeo v6 and something to start from.

The perhaps a ford Cougar 2.5 V6 then swap the 2.5 for a 3.0? A fairly common upgrade for the Cougar

I know the Cougar is a bit of a hairdressers car, but actually drives pretty good..

Striped out Honda Civic Type R. Enough said.

A café racer (/ˈkæf reɪsər/ KAF-ray-sər or more commonly /ˈkæfeɪˌreɪsər/ KA-fei-RAY-sər) is a lightweight, lightly powered motorcycle optimized for speed and handling rather than comfort – and for quick rides over shohttps://www.bigjimny.com/index.php/forum?view=topic&layout=reply&catid=15&id=62877&mesid=187631rt distances.[1][2] With bodywork and control layout recalling early-1960s Grand Prix road racing motorcycles, café racers are noted for their visual minimalism, featuring low-mounted handlebars, prominent seat cowling and elongated fuel tank – and frequently knee-grips indented in the fuel tank.[3]

Lightly powered, theres your bmw z3...lol By all accounts an appaling car.
A cateram or lotus 7 is at least heralding back the the 60,s. Same cant be said for the other cars..
Not really sure you can use the term cafe racer for a car though?
Stripped out cars have been done to death though.. How about a diesel in a light weight car? That instant power and huge torque is very appealing as diesels become more powerfull than their petrol counterparts..
Personally i want one that new tesla coupe, 0-100 mph in 4.1 secs.. if it comes out in 2020 ! but like the g wagon, well out of my price range

1066Boy wrote: Striped out Honda Civic Type R. Enough said.

zed cars type R mini conversion :evil:

I take on board what you say about aping the 1960s and that is something I can't really do with a Jimny but much of the rest can be done the minimalist interior, the light weight and light power are almost factory installed, the handling is against all probability there hiding behind cheap factory dampers so getting the car right is the easy part. The difficulty I am having is what to call it as a style once I'm done, cos cafe racer is a bike term and of the genre of modified cars while there are many to choose from I don't know which would best suit?

Tarmac terrorist

1066Boy wrote: Striped out Honda Civic Type R. Enough said.

Especially the new one with the triple exhaust, I will own one of those before I go. But that would be a ricer. And achingly cool.