Ken Streeter wrote:
>
> Mark Stahlke wrote:
>
> > How many of those million+ cars will be on the road
> > in 40 years?
>
> I have tried to stay out of this fray, but I feel I can
> quite safely state that there will be more 40-year old
> Miatas on the road in 2027, than there are TR3s on the
> road today. (Unless the government has made driving
> older cars impossible by emissions regulations.)
>
> Why? There *IS* a large following of Miata enthusiasts.
> Yes, the number of Miata enthusiasts is but a small
> fraction of Miata production, but there are so many more
> Miatas than Triumphs that even a smaller "enthusiast
> fraction" leads to much larger raw numbers.
>
> Do you not believe me? Go to http://www.miata.net and
> take a look at the Miata following -- the "Vintage Miata
> Register" :-) (Actually the "Miata Club of America".)
> There are already far more Miata clubs than Triumph clubs!
> Look at the number of vendors on their vendor list (gee,
> a lot of the names are the same -- Moss, Robbins, etc.)
> Look at their event schedules, club magazines, etc.
> Anybody insisting that there won't be a following for
> Miatas in 40 years, as there is now for Triumphs, hasn't
> checked out the Miata scene.
>
> In the same way that you and I grew up wanting a
> Triumph, there are tens of thousands of teenagers who
> would love to have a Miata (even though their parents
> only drive minivans), and don't just feel that cars
> are appliances like a refrigerator. When this teenager
> turns 40, he's going to try to find the car he lusted
> after in his youth, and will become a Miata enthusiast.
>
> As to the electronic components of the Miata -- the
> demand will keep these parts in production, in the
> same way that our Triumph parts are remanufactured
> because of the demand by enthusiasts. The free
> market will keep the Miata alive for decades, just
> as the TR2 of a bygone era.
>
> That said, I'll stay with my Triumph and do what
> I can to keep it falling the way of the Model T.
> Yet, I know that is the eventual destiny of our
> marque -- largely forgotten -- but, in the meantime,
> I'm going to enjoy the Triumphant life to the
> fullest, and try to keep the demand up for those
> remanufactured Triumph parts!
>
> --ken
> VTR WWW Maintainer -- http://www.vtr.org
> '70 & '74 TR6 Daily Drivers
>
> --
> Kenneth B. Streeter | EMAIL: streeter@sanders.com
> Sanders, PTP2-A001 |
> PO Box 868 | Voice: (603) 885-9604
> Nashua, NH 03061 | Fax: (603) 885-0631
Thank you, Ken, for bringing some objectivity to this subject!
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