Hey Gang-
The rubber bumper Bs have some advantages over chromies besides the price.
1) If you live in an urban area, those rubber appendages actually do their
job of warding off the evil park-by-ear birgade. I came back to find a
dented bonnet on my '73 more than a couple of times in both San Francisco
and in LA. Even the Moss/Amco style chrome overider bar was too low for
SUVs and I think that the raised suspension also helps in this department.
2) I used to be easily able to scrape the undercarriage on speed bumps on
the '73 that would be cleared by a later model. The city of Santa Monica,
right next to Venice, has put 2 or 3 speedbumps on most north/south streets
to encourage 15mph driving and to force drivers back onto clogged main
streets and freeways. They put tall, 5 foot wide, white striped "hills"
onto popular through streets, then were upset to find that people started
using alternative routes through neighborhoods. To rectify this they put
the big bumps on ALL n/s streets. This will probably be coming to YOUR town
real soon as most really bad ideas are copied over and over before they are
considered bad ideas and changed. This is not only good for the paving
business but it shows some sort of "progress" both in the install mode and
in the uninstall mode. (Sorry - I'm railing again!)
3) They ride better, Cornering losses can be minimised by better tyres and
sway bars and if cornering is what you're all about, buy a Bugeye or a go
kart.
Yes, the build quality of the later cars is questionable and the cat
converter does assist the heater to the point of melting most synthetic
carpeting but these are not bad cars, just different. The bumpers,
especially the rear, are not that attractive, but I've seen plastic
aftermarket units that look alot like the RV8 bumpers that look GREAT. I
think that with the stock front bumper and one of these aftermarket rears
painted body color would be a great way to update and beautify a later car
but the stock MGBs seem to look better and better each year, especially
compared to todays sportscars that seem to be styled by motorcycle helmet
designers. See you on the Funway!
Rick Feibusch - Venice, CA
|