On Tue, 15 May 2001 WSpohn4@aol.com donned the asbestos suit and wrote:
> I feel like the Grinch again, but the Le Mans efforts really have nothing to
> do with our MGs. The company died, they revived the name, they stick it on a
> race car, and expect everyone with a TC to go all limp at the thought? Please!
Certainly not. However, anybody that has a real interest in racing
should be waiting with baited breath. I suppose you thought the MGA
and the MGB were nothing to get hard about either?
> It reminds me of the guys that bought the right to use the Jensen name trying
> to associate themselves with past models made before the company died (why,
> you ask - sales, he answers). Or the 'new' Bugatti.
Yeah, except in this case you can track the marque all the way to the
present owners. Would you rather BMW was still the owner and driving
what was left of MG into the ground?
> Don't you guys feel just a bit 'used' when you deliver the correct Pavlovian
> response when someone says the magic initials, or pastes them on a car
> totally unrelated to the ones we own, know and love? Makes as much sense as
> calling Ralph's Indy car - the 'Liquid Suspension Special' an MG.
No. Why? Because the car _is_ related to the car I own, know, and
love. It is funded by the same company (really!). When my car was
made, it was a part of Leyland, which became Rover Group. Rover was
bought by BMW, which drove it into the ground and broke it apart.
Ford got Land Rover, the only piece with a (current) market in the US.
A bunch of brits (heh) got MG and Rover, and are relying on MG to save
the company.
MG-Rover (isn't it nice that the marque is getting the official
recognition it deserves?) is funding and working with Lola to make
that LeMans effort. It is an MG, just as much as the EX cars ever
were.
> There is something that we do enjoy about our MGs. It may be an almost
> indefinable je ne sais quoi, but we owners generally can tell that there is
> an 'MGness' about our cars that isn't there on a Triumph, for instance. To
> reduce that to a knee-jerk reaction when the mantra is repeated (look into my
> eyes and repeat after me - MG, MG, MG......) somehow demeans the hobby, IMHO.
Yes, there is. I enjoy tinkering with my car, and there is something
special about it. However, it is just a car, not a religion.
That MG is alive and selling cars makes me happy to be an owner.
If that Lola car does well, that makes me even happier. Personally,
I am excited, and maybe, just maybe that car will be good for the
company, and perhaps even influence what is going to come out
of Longbridge in the future. I can only hope that someday those cars
will come to this side of the pond (and more importantly, I can afford
to buy one when they do).
--
Aaron Whiteman - email me with the subject 'PGPKey' for pgpkey
RCW 19.190 notice: This address is located in Washington State.
My opinions are mine and do not reflect the views of the University.
'75 B (my only car)
:wq
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