Jay,
Well, I've had a night to sleep on the idea of trading the Harrington
for the Lotus. I've looked at all of the e-mails from my fellow Alpine
owners. I've also talked to Jan Servites and Bob Willis on the phone
about the situation. As much as I like the Lotus (I've wanted one for a
long time), I just don't think I can part with this Harrington Le Mans.
If I was working right now I might seriously consider buying another
"Toy", but I feel that trading for the Le Mans is definately out of the
question. Were else can I find a Le Mans that is this "right". Yah, I
know of a couple others out there that are just as good and probably
better than mine, but this one is mine and I couldn't get it back. It's
ten times the car as the Lotus, It's not real fast so it keeps me out of
trouble, and it's me. Harringtons Rule! - Ian
Jay Laifman wrote:
>
> 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
-- Ian Spencer <www.sunbeamalpine.org> '61 Harrington Series 'A' B9104782 OD HRO '62 Harrington Series 'B' BH9115930 OD LRX
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