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Miata & Elan

To: mgs@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Miata & Elan
From: "Scott Gardner" <gardner@lwcomm.com>
Date: Tue, 26 Aug 1997 01:42:19 +0000
> > But my observation still stands: the Miata is nothing more than a
> > replica/repro of the Lotus Elan.
> 
> Eh?  It's ~ 20% wider, 40% heavier, has unitized construction (Elan
> had backbone chassis), upper/lower a-arm rear suspension (Elan had
> lower a-arm, chapman strut), steel bodied (Elan was fiberglass).  Even
> the proportions of L:W:H are no closer to an Elan than they are to an
> MGB.
> 
> I admit, I see a faint resemblance in styling, but that's where it
> ends.  What ground can you stand on to call this thing an Elan
> replica?  If I were an Elan fan and bought it thinking that's what I'd
> get, I'd be pretty pissed off when it arrived.
> 
I agree with you, Matt.  I think what happens is that when a person 
isn't on intimate terms with either of two cars, he can see some 
resemblances and automatically assume they were copied from one car 
to the other.  Personally, I can't tell the difference between most 
cars from the 40's, be they Willys, Chevy, Ford, or Plymouth.  I see 
the big gaping grilles and rounded front fenders, and they look alike 
to me.  Likewise, I can't fault a non-enthusiast for mistaking an MGB 
roadster for a Karmann Ghia or an MGB-GT for a VW 412, even though I 
could tell the difference from a thousand yards, as I'm sure a VW 
aficianado could as well.
Scott

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