Hmm. What a concept. Ever been to the car shows and try to talk to the
other car owners? The Tiger people generally could care less that an
Alpine drove up. The MG TC/TD/TF folks sit by their cars having their
picnics, and always love to chat with anyone, even if they are half their
age. The MG B folks don't realize there are other cars there. The Jaguar
folks are so glad you had the chance to meet them. And the Lotus folks,
well those guys are so gosh darn full of themselves and their cars, that
unless you drive up in a Lotus, wearing some Lotus racing weekend t-shirt
and some Lotus hat, with the associated gold jewelry, you do not exist and
they will not even stop talking to their other Lotus folks. Then there are
us Alpine folks wondering why no one likes us.
When my Alpine was smashed, and I was looking at alternatives, I looked at
an Elan. It was all there. The DCOE's, overhead cam, hot suspension, cool
racing wheels. Here was a car that I knew could run circles around my
Alpine. The are also worth quite a bit more. When I was looking, Elans
that needed work started at $10,000, and went up fast. Here was my chance
to get as close to Mrs. Peel as I ever would. But, you know what? The fit
and finish - or complete lack thereof - is what did it in for me. The dash
looked like my neighbor did it. The trim pieces were a mess, and the brand
new ones he had to replace the old ones looked as though they would not
look any better. And finally, with today's SUV's, and how low and
insubstantial this car is, I just couldn't do it.
That being said, if I already had one Harrington . . .
Jay
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