Well, for starters, that's one of the most thought-out e-mails I've read this
year, and it wasn't even about an MG! Argh.
In any case, the arguement for something bland versus something with
personality is something we all face sometimes. As a teenager, I always
bought my cars with my own money. In this particular instance, the car in
question was a 1984 Peugeot 505 STi. No sports car by any means, but it had
an incredible ride, was exceptionally comfortable, loaded to the hilt, and
was a very attractive car.
But wow, what an unreliable car. It was amazing. My parents had enough, and
they decided it was time for a Honda. Soo, I wound up with an '86 Honda
Prelude Si. The Prelude was quiet, comfortable, had exceptional handling
(this thing could nearly outhandle a 944), and a smooth, high revving engine.
All this, with no personality.
Eventually, I traded the Honda in for an Alfa Romeo Spider. No, it's not an
LBC, but she had plenty of character. But the lesson here is that I had a
choice. The Prelude did everything extremely well, and was nearly flawless in
design and engineering for its time. In the end, I wound up driving a car
most would consider to be wildly inpractical, cramped, loud, and crude by
modern standards. What sane man would do such a thing?
While I owned the Alfa, a friend had bought one of the first Miata's to come
off the boat in '91. Granted, he loved it to death, and treated it like you
or I would treat an MG TC. But, the car had no romance, no character, and the
most critical, elusive quality in an automobile, SOUL. Like a lover, any
Alfa, MG, or Triumph has it's faults, but you accept them as a part of the
package. The high's and low's of the relationship between man and car is what
binds. A car like an MR-2 or a Miata never tests the bounds of that
relationship. The general populace would rather prefer it that way, but I
think I can speak for all of us in that we prefer a more nurturing
relationship with our cars.
No disrespect to any MR-2 or Miata owners, BTW.
Tom
78 Midget (fun)
89 Range Rover (was inclined for a Jeep, but, I had to go British)
95 Audi 90 (wife's, our long distance tourer)
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