Tomsaudi@aol.com wrote:
> What a quandry I'm in. Grab a beer and ponder this one with me...
>
> My wife calls from work, and tells me her boss has an '87 Alfa Romeo Spider
> ...snip...
> a fourth car like I need a hole in the head, between my wife's Audi, my Range
> Rover, and of course, my beloved Midget.
Actually, my answer was flippant, and that was not my intent.
I have built cars since childhood. My first was a Model A Ford,
a Fiat 850 Spider followed that. ...many things happened... Today
I have two MGs, a Ferrari, a Lancia and a Mercedes. The best
observation I can put forth is that the British designers solved
problems with iron -- lots of iron. The Italian designers choose
aluminum and precision. Unfortunately, BOTH marques missed
the point that the Japanese designers brought to the scene: "Once
you have designed it, continue to improve it!" With many of the
Italian designs, the parts are just under the minimum size and
strength needed to work properly. This is addressed by, well,
doing nothing. With the British cars, Lucas, et al. designed parts
that didn't work quite right or broke upon first use -- then continued
to use the SAME design for 20 years!
But if it wasn't for these quirks, the cars that we so dearly love
would be just, well, "major appliances." If you want boring
perfection that you never think about, buy a Honda. If you
want spice in your life, buy Italian or LBC.
Rick
'99 Suburban (Nancy's motorhome
'87 Mercedes 190E (Daughter's car
'79 Ferrari 308GTB (My toy
'79 MGB (Son's toy
'70 MGB-GT (My soon-to-be daily driver
'59 Lancia Appia (Dad and son's other toy
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