Mike Tobin Sez:
The wrinkle is the "Dark Ages" the period between 73 (when the smog
rules got really tuff) and ~'84 (when computer controlled FI made fun
cars possible again). NOthing of real interest was built during this
period and the guys who'd buy cars from this period when they hit forty
probably won't want them (would you restore a Mustang II?).
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Ahem.
I was in high school during this period, and we were as car-crazy as
any other twentieth century grouping one would care to name. The
fallacy that nothing of interest was produced then is quite commonly
held, and totally wrong. Should I name a few examples?
Any Ferrari
Lotus Europa/Elan/Elite
Jensen Interceptor/Healey
Triumph TR6/TR7/TR8/Stag/Spitfire
Fiat 124
Alfa GTV/Spider
Citroen SM
Mercedes 350SL/450SL/6.9
And even some (American) domestic stuff like the Cosworth Vega, the various
Camaro/Firebird models, some Corvettes, and even the Avanti! And let us
not forget our Japanese friends, the Datsun 240Z and the Mazda RX7.
Sure, American smog and safety laws made manufacturing "fun" cars a little
more difficult, and fuel prices made them a lot more expensive to drive; but
to characterize a whole decade as a time when "NOthing of real interest" was
being manufactured sounds like the kind of Yuppie Imperialism one would hear
at wine tastings, if one went to them.
But in a way, this is kind of neat. A lot of the cars listed above can still
be bought and enjoyed by enthusiasts of average means, (excepting, of course,
the Ferraris), can be tinkered on with cheap and simple tools, and can be
driven without paranoid financial fears or feelings of mechanical inadequacy.
So let us conspire to spread this fallacy, knowing that we will look upon
this period with a sense of nostalgia in the future, remembering back to
our high-school days when a whole bunch of neat and cheap cars were available
from several eras; and that computer-driven jelly-beans were just a vague
forebodance of the future.
Aran (The '79 Spit is almost fixed!) Guy guy@bevsun.bev.lbl.gov
No flame intended, I'm commenting on an attitude, not people.
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