1964-1974 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I'd suggest you try before you buy. It does depend a lot on how your height is distributed between your legs and your torso.
I'm 6'2" (possibly more long-torso than you) and I fit into mine -- barely. Legroom isn't a problem, as there's a lot of that (thank you fwd) although you have to splay your legs around the steering wheel; still with the flat floor, it feels pretty spacious by '70s sports car standards. None of that "both feet down the same pants leg" feeling you get trying to fit into, say, an MGB or a Datsun roadster.
It's headroom that's in short supply. When I first got mine, I thought I'd have to get used to driving with my head touching the roof. Later, I read a post somewhere on how to rake the seat back a bit by inserting 1" mending plates at the front of the seat, between the mounting tabs on the fiberglass shell and the tubular seat base. This trick gives me just enough extra headroom to fit into the car without contact (except when I'm wearing a helmet for autocross events; then I just have to slouch down more.)
So if your height is mostly in your legs, you might be fine, or you might not. Have to "try it on" to see how it fits. Of course, if you're determined to be a Sonetteer, you could always add a blister to the fiberglass roof, the way Ford had to do with the Gurney/Foyt GT-40 at LeMans so Foyt would fit in it. I've also read about a Sonett in Alaska that the owner had fitted with a "dropped" floor (he was having the floors replaced anyway because of rust damage) so his helmeted head would fit -- it reduces ground clearance, but this was a street/track car so that wasn't a major factor.
If you don't fit, how about a nice 96? Same chassis & engine as a Sonett, same fun to drive and wrench, competition heritage (lots of rally wins) and tons of headroom...
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